The Standing Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Immigration, Security and Public Order, and Information met on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 28, 2026, with the hearings of San Marino RTV’s board chairman and general director, Pasquale Valentini and Roberto Sergio, on the agenda. Below is the full address given by Chairman Valentini.
Chairman Pasquale Valentini: I would like to stick to the role for which you appointed me — that of board chairman — by retracing the path we have followed.
I joined the board of directors in July of last year, so I have just over a year of experience, at a stage when the transformation you have been describing was already underway, even though some very significant developments came later.
The first proper board meeting, following the one marking my appointment and entry onto the board, was held on September 29. That morning the outgoing Captains Regent visited San Marino RTV’s headquarters to see the new facilities and the new studio, which would then be inaugurated on October 6 with the newly installed Captains Regent. This was meant to give an immediate, tangible sense of the changes underway and their results.
Not only that: at that same board meeting, the 2025-2027 industrial plan was presented. Bear in mind that, if you checked the website, the last industrial plan on record dated back to 2021. So there was a considerable gap, given that we were already in 2025.
The new plan already outlined a whole series of new productions and the new schedule being presented at that time for the autumn season. The committee tasked with evaluating the open selection call that had been issued was also appointed during that meeting.
Alongside the renewal of technological infrastructure and the new programming schedule, staff were being brought on board through a highly transparent process, rigorous also from a professional standpoint, via an open selection call available not only to San Marino citizens but also to candidates from abroad.
By the end of the year, a ranking list was to be finalized, from which all subsequent hires were drawn, both in the technical and journalistic fields.
This gives you a sense of the impact involved, set against the backdrop of 2024 having already closed with a positive result, while the 2025 budget was being assessed with the expectation of an even stronger outcome, despite all the investments and new programming.
This path, of course, did not stop in 2026 — quite the opposite, it saw further developments in this direction, leading up to what you have seen, and I would say what everyone has seen, not only in San Marino but beyond as well.
Beyond the phenomena linked to Eurovision, which is a special broadcast with its own particular trajectory, the moment when the TV station’s potential was perhaps most evident was during the Holy Father’s visit and then the presence at the Meeting of Rimini.
For an entire week, RTV broadcast not only what was happening inside the Meeting but also managed to build a parallel conversation connected to those themes, featuring highly prominent figures who were present at the Rimini fair during those days.
I have always told the director that we found ourselves in a situation that had never occurred before in San Marino RTV’s history: having a RAI executive as director of our broadcaster — indeed, RAI’s own director general.
This fact, combined with all the personal qualities of the new director, has certainly facilitated cooperation and optimized its results. Otherwise, certain collaborations might not have been possible in such a short time, because it may seem like much longer has passed, but in reality we are talking about two years, no more.
I would like to add a point that matters to me. My concern from the very beginning was not to get involved in the content of programs or the editorial plan, because that is neither the board’s job nor, even less, the chairman’s.
The first issue to assess was the hugely important one of economic sustainability: this was the concern that frightened us when San Marino RTV seemed on the verge of having to shut its doors. Clearly, a positive budget was a very solid and concrete foundation on which to build this relaunch.
Alongside that, my concern was to help ensure that San Marino RTV developed its own substance, including through the growth of professional expertise within the company. That it would not simply be a place where we gave others work, but a reality with professional skills that were growing, and that this would correspond as closely as possible to our country’s communication needs.
All three of you secretaries have referred to the international momentum that San Marino has had and continues to have, particularly Secretary Beccari, when he linked sovereignty to the issue of communication. It is clearly very important to be able to communicate who we are, without giving a distorted or diminished image of the country, or one tied to factors that are not part of our actual identity.
I don’t want to go on too long, because it will be useful to give the floor to the director, who can describe in more detail what has made all this possible, and then leave room for the questions for which you requested this hearing. However, I would like to point out something I think is important.
At the last board meeting in July, we discussed many matters that the director briefed us on and which are still in progress — still at a planning or testing stage. We were supposed to hold another board meeting in September, but the events that seemed intent on stirring up some turbulence along our path were still pending.
At that July meeting we made a number of recommendations that I would like to share with you, because, paradoxically, the request for this hearing had already been anticipated by the board of directors.
We had proposed a hearing with the Congress of State to brief the entire government on the progress San Marino RTV was making and on further prospects for relaunch, asking that this discussion be extended to the relevant parliamentary committees, so as to share these developments and engage in dialogue.
Last but not least, there was also a request to be able to speak with employees about these prospects, to make them even more aware of the process underway.
I would like to close with this. The picture is very positive, because it is hard to describe what is happening as negative. As chairman, however, I have voiced some concerns, of which the director is aware and which we are working together to address.
Certainly, this transformation — both technological and in terms of the expansion of the entire programming schedule — requires fine-tuning the organization of staff, a review of existing professional skills and their enhancement. At the same time, it requires identifying the skills that are missing, that can be developed in-house or need to be brought in, and determining how best to do so.
It is clear that, at this moment, the push that has been placed on some employees has translated into overwork: work that goes beyond normal hours and affects the usual need to make up for holidays and other time off employees are entitled to. This needs to be taken into account, because you cannot pull the rope so tight that it snaps.
My other concern relates to what we are doing today, and which it would be advisable to do more often: engaging in dialogue on these matters, both with political forces and with members of government. A recommendation that I believe is beneficial to the company’s wellbeing is that the two shareholders make every effort to talk and engage with one another, even though I know this is not easy.
We find ourselves in the midst of a much larger state, and we have formed a company between two entities that may seem disproportionate. Yet we can demonstrate that this collaboration can be of mutual benefit.
The less this remains an unspoken matter, the better, because it will make both cooperation and the support it requires easier. In this sense, we have a director capable of representing this aspect well, because he knows that world closely and has also begun to get to know ours.
I believe this is an important factor in ensuring that San Marino RTV’s growth does not experience the kind of jolts that have somewhat characterized its path so far: moments when things seem to be on the rise, followed suddenly by difficulties that have caused no small amount of concern, both among employees and among all of us.
I will stop here, hoping I have given you a sense of how the board of directors is following this process. I should also tell you that I was struck by the fact that the Board of Auditors — also renewed around the end of last year and made up of highly capable and professional individuals — expressed appreciation for the accuracy and thoroughness with which the financial statements are drawn up.
From this standpoint, there has been no shadow over anything, and for me, as chairman of the board of directors, that is a source of satisfaction, because it means that the issue of economic sustainability is under control. I will stop here and will be glad to answer any questions that fall within my remit.
