èTV Rete 7

èTV Rete 7 is an Italian regional television channel and the flagship station of the È TV network, a multiregional broadcaster serving Emilia-Romagna, Marche and Umbria. The channel was created on 27 December 1998 through the merger of Rete 7 of Bologna and Antenna 1 of Modena, then owned by Giuseppe Gazzoni Frascara, a former president of Bologna FC. Over the following decades the network expanded through acquisitions of local frequencies and stations, including Teletricolore, Teleparma, Itv Marche and TeleMacerata, and at its peak operated multiple regional feeds and radio stations. After a severe financial crisis, the Rete 7 – È TV company was liquidated in 2016 and its frequencies were sold. The È TV brand was taken over by the Baronio group of Cremona, which expanded it into Umbria, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Liguria. In late 2022 the network changed ownership again, passing to Netweek, an Italian company active in online commerce and publishing, with Simone Baronio confirmed as network director and the Sciscione brothers as the new publishers. Since January 2024, following Netweek's acquisition of Telecity, È TV has been part of a new television circuit alongside Gold TV, Italia 7 Toscana and third-party channels. èTV Rete 7's programming is strongly local, with multiple daily news editions produced from regional newsrooms, sports coverage, talk shows and debates focused on local issues, complemented by common programming that has included entertainment, health and medicine segments, and football talk shows. The channel is available on digital terrestrial television in its coverage areas and maintains an online presence through its website, e-tv.it.

È TV was founded on 27 December 1998 from the merger of Rete 7 of Bologna and Antenna 1 of Modena, owned by Giuseppe Gazzoni Frascara, former president of Bologna FC. In 2001 the channel was sold to the Spallanzani group, which expanded its coverage by acquiring Teletricolore and Teleparma. In 2003 it also acquired the Marche-based broadcaster Itv Marche, founded in Urbino in 1977. On 1 January 2004, È TV Marche was launched, 85% controlled by the Spallanzani group, with lawyer Francesco Ieno holding 5% and the remaining 10% reserved for new Catholic-area shareholders. Giovanni Mazzoni and Franco Grasso were called to open the Marche office. In 2005 È TV Marche also bought the frequencies of TeleMacerata. From 2004 È TV also had a Romagna newsroom staffed by journalists from Radio Icaro. The signal covered all of Emilia-Romagna and Marche and reached Tuscany's capital thanks to the purchase of three frequencies from VideoFirenze, leading to È TV Toscana. The schedule included fifteen daily news editions from ten local offices, sports segments, talk shows and debates on local issues, and common programming including music entertainment (Liscio come l'olio) and reruns of Telelombardia's prime-time shows (Qui studio a voi stadio and Iceberg). It also obtained rights for Parma's European competitions and Reggiana football matches. During these years the Emilia channel was available on Sky channel 891 and visible in parts of Veneto on former R.T.R. frequencies. The È TV group also owned three radio stations: Radio Erre of Reggio Emilia, Radio Nettuno of Bologna and Radio Center Music of Ancona; the first two were later sold. Following a severe economic crisis of Rete 7 – È TV, on 31 May 2016 the Spallanzani group decided to liquidate the company and its frequencies. At the headquarters of Coop Alleanza 3.0, owner of TRC-Telemodena, an agreement was reached with Comunicare srl for the sale of 100% of shares of Antenna, the network operator on UHF 42 in Emilia-Romagna. Coop Alleanza 3.0 was interested specifically in managing the frequency, not the rest of the activities. Among various publishers, the Baronio group of Cremona, which controls TeleColor, PrimaRete Lombardia and Telereporter, stepped forward to take over the channels in Emilia-Romagna and Marche. However, other provincial TV brands that had been part of È TV, namely Teletricolore and Radio Erre belonging to the Rtr - MediaNews group, were sold to another entrepreneurial group but continued broadcasting on the same frequency as È TV. In autumn 2016 È TV passed from the Spallanzani group to the Cremonese group founded by Pierluigi Baronio, owner of TeleColor. In addition to the established È TV Rete 7 Emilia-Romagna and È TV Marche, which maintained local productions but also aired some TeleColor programs, Baronio intended to extend his group to other Italian regions. In 2018 he reached Umbria with the birth of È TV Umbria, and during 2019 he acquired other regional televisions, first in Friuli-Venezia Giulia with È TV Friuli, then in Liguria with È TV Liguria. The schedules of all channels included prime-time talk shows and segments on medicine, health and environment produced by TeleColor studios in Cremona, such as Box, Medicina Amica, Laboratorio Salute and Cani gatti e compagnia. Through agreements with Gruppo Mediapason, weekend live football talk shows from Telelombardia and Top Calcio 24 were also broadcast. At the end of 2022 another ownership change occurred: La Nazionale srl, controlled by the Baronio family, exited and Netweek, an Italian company active in online commerce and publishing, entered. La Nazionale srl sold 100% of its shares to Netweek, and the Baronio family received shares in Netweek. Simone Baronio was confirmed at the helm of È TV, and Netweek entrusted him with the entire television division of the group. Partners Marco and Giovanni Sciscione became the new publishers. From January 2024, after Netweek acquired Telecity, a new television circuit was created including È TV networks, other owned televisions (such as Gold TV and Italia 7 Toscana) and third-party channels through agreements between Netweek and their publishers. The retransmission of Mediapason sports programs ceased, replaced by the new Netweek calcio show (formerly Diretta Stadio, renamed after the end of collaboration between Telecity and syndication 7 Gold). Local È TV productions were confirmed, new daily segments such as Aria pulita and Tg Sport from Telecity were added, and the renowned Processo di Biscardi and Rassegna stampa were included.

• È TV founded from merger of Rete 7 (Bologna) and Antenna 1 (Modena)

• Sold to Spallanzani group; acquires Teletricolore and Teleparma

• Acquires Itv Marche

• È TV Marche launched

• È TV Marche acquires TeleMacerata frequencies

• Rete 7 – È TV liquidated; frequencies sold to Comunicare srl

• È TV brand passes to Baronio group

• È TV Umbria launched

• È TV Friuli and È TV Liguria launched

• Netweek acquires È TV from Baronio family

• New Netweek television circuit launched including È TV

Multiregional Italian television network focused on local news and community programming.

• È TV Rete 7

  Main channel for Emilia-Romagna

• È TV Marche

  Regional channel for Marche

• È TV Umbria

  Regional channel for Umbria

• È TV +

  Additional channel in the network

1. 1èTV Rete 7 official websitee-tv.it
2. 2È TV - Wikipediait.wikipedia.org
3. 3Wikidata entry for È TVwikidata.org