Biz Watch

57 Channels, One Owner
TV regulation got a fuzzy reception last week as Italy's Senate waved through its media bill, which would roll back rules requiring Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to give up one of his three terrestrial channels. Lucia Annunziata, president of state-owned broadcaster RAI, has threatened to resign if the bill — which still needs lower house approval — becomes law.

Berlusconi's remote control worked better than George W. Bush's last week. The Republican-led House of Representatives voted to reverse a regulatory ruling allowing TV networks to reach up to 45% of U.S. audiences. Reverting to the previous 35% cap could trigger a White House veto, and force Viacom's CBS network and News Corp's Fox to sell stations. Good news for angry media activists, but what's a TV

INDICATORS Overtime Under Way The French Parliament approved controversial pension reforms requiring state employees to labor a further two-and-a-half years in return for a full pension. In line with the private sector, by 2008 all public workers will work for 40 years to get the maximum payout. But We Still Fly To Dublin A bad week for Irish budget airline Ryanair: a German court ordered the airline to drop the name Düsseldorf for an airport some 70 km outside of the city. Then a French court determined that a 31.4 million handout Ryanair received from a Strasbourg chamber of commerce to help set up flight services to London was illegal.

octopus to do? Don't fear: looser rules passed this month in the U.K. permitting some foreign ownership of media assets might offer Viacom a welcome distraction.

Taking Stock — And Selling It
Fiat stock tumbled for a day last week after one of its biggest shareholders, Deutsche Bank, declined to put up fresh money for the beleaguered Italian automaker, which is asking shareholders for a capital increase. It was the latest sign of a policy shift by Deutsche CEO Josef Ackermann. For decades, Deutsche amassed a huge portfolio. But now Ackermann, who has been indicted for alleged breach of trust during Vodafone's 2000 takeover of Mannesmann, is selling; he wants to focus on traditional banking. Deutsche last year unloaded 33.7 billion worth of stock, including its entire 7.2% stake in insurer Munich Re. Fiat insists that Deutsche still supports its restructuring plans, but it's likely the bank will dump its 1.6% stake altogether. True, it still has more than 35 billion left in its portfolio. But look for an eventual sale of Deutsche's 11.8% share of DaimlerChrysler and 3.2% of insurer Allianz. — By Peter Gumbel

No Light At The End
Eurotunnel, the Anglo-French Channel Tunnel operator, announced a 7% drop in revenue for the first half of this year, leaving it unable to meet interest payments on debts of almost 39 billion. Price cuts prompted by fierce competition nulled an increase in car and truck traffic, while passenger numbers on the Eurostar service slipped by 11%

The Bottom Line
	Why do we want to label games as art? Because we get more money if it is.
		DAVID COHEN-CORVAL, of Paris-based video-game firm Nevrax, on French government plans to subsidize video games to preserve European "culture and values"