The Genre and the Nation: Italian Medical TV Series and the Geography of their Consumption

This study examines the geographies of audiovisual consumption in Italy, with a specific focus on medical TV series and their consumption patterns across the country. The research aims to investigate the extent of geographical heterogeneity in television viewing within Italy, thus exploring the existence of a shared national audiovisual culture. The analysis utilizes viewing data from free-to-air broadcasters, Rai and Mediaset, which provide valuable and reliable insights into consumption patterns. The study reveals that although there is typically some variation in the popularity of TV series across different regions of Italy, medical drama series demonstrate a relatively high level of consumption homogeneity. The popularity of medical series is evenly distributed throughout the country, which is unusual compared to other genres and the typical geographic heterogeneity of TV series viewing in Italy. This can be attributed to the genre's ability to engage a nationwide audience by using neutral settings and delocalized narratives, which effectively appeal to viewers across different regions. Most importantly, the study suggests that the exceptional geographical homogeneity in the consumption of medical series indicates the vitality and effectiveness of that genre, which – for its part – contributes to the resilience of a shared national audiovisual culture in Italy.