Turned on during the holidays, with guaranteed coverage while others were on vacation. “Inside the news” gave meaning to its name by limiting the holiday days around Christmas to a minimum, unlike “Vita in diretta” which fell asleep and relaxed.

Perhaps Gianluigi Nuzzi’s comeback over Alberto Matano is all here. The two programs have the same duration but are separated in an uneven way, so that each can claim the advantage of one block over the other. However, if we consider the whole, the rapprochement of Canale 5 with Rai 1 appears evident.

On Wednesday 14 January Matano collected 18.2% of the share from 4.52pm to 5.49pm and 19.2% from 5.49pm to 6.38pm. On the other front, Nuzzi recorded 18% from 4.55pm to 5.23pm and 16.7% from 5.29pm to 6.30pm.

Twenty-four hours earlier Viale Mazzini had achieved 17.4 and 19.8% and Mediaset had obtained 18.2-18.3%. On Monday, however, the Rai flagship stood at 17.5-20.2%, compared to the competitor’s 19.8-19.3%.

In short, three clues that prove and certify a trend that is very distant from the photograph of a few months ago, when “Vita in diretta” trailed its rival by as many as 5 points, giving the sensation of an unplayable match, with an immutable outcome.

As mentioned, it was around Christmas that something seemed to have changed, with four days – between 2025 and 2026 – in which Nuzzi was broadcast, in fact, without counterprogramming.

The harmful Christmas break

In fact, Matano did not clock in on 29, 30, 31 December and 2 January, allowing “Dentro la notizia” to stabilize and show itself as a beacon lit in the total darkness of the holiday schedules. In those days Canale 5 fluctuated between 18 and 20%, continuing to update Italians and guarantee that loyalty process that is too often snubbed and underestimated.

Rai has therefore repeated the mistake – which proved fatal – of last summer, when the sudden exploit of “La Ruota della Fortuna” in access prime-time responded with “Techetecheté”, able to impose itself on “Paperissima Sprint” and, at the same time, incapable of withstanding the impact with the game of Gerry Scotti, who remained perpetually ahead upon the return of “Affari Tuoi”, without losing a viewer.

In a TV that is based on custom and rituals, eclipsing yourself can represent a serious risk. On the other hand, Nuzzi was good at starting a narrative that alternates well with “Quarto Grado”, thanks to which he knows how to create threads that extend from one context to another, without interruptions of any kind.

Nuzzi is ‘inside the news’. One perceives an adhesion to the project, an identification with what is documented, a characteristic that did not suit Myrta Merlino, distant both culturally and due to her predisposition for ultra-popular afternoon TV.

To achieve this, Nuzzi worked on himself, smoothing out defects (which partly remain, such as the inquisitorial tone and not always fluid speech) and acting on his strengths and identifying points, such as crime reporting. A drift, that of the spotlights being focused on crimes and murders, which makes the afternoons dark (the “Verissimo” by Parodi seems to belong to another geological era), but which at least are shaped by those who chew the material. Nuzzi navigates waters he knows, which is why he eliminated gossip from the lineup in favor of more sober topics, with a less ‘Dursian’ slant (which Merlino partially attempted to emulate) and more informative.

The road is long, as is the battle. But in the meantime we know it’s there.