Events

October 13: During a special evening of Porta a porta for Pope John Paul II’s twenty years of pontificate, the pope himself phones on air to thank the host Bruno Vespa.^[1]

Debuts

Le ragazze di Piazza di Spagna (The Piazza di Spagna girls) – by various directors, with Romina Mondello, Vittoria Belvedere and Alice Evans; 3 seasons. Inspired by the 1952 film Three girls from Rome, it is the story of three young would-be models.^[2]

Incantesimo (Charm) – soap opera set in a clinic in Rome, with Agnese Nano, Paola Pitagora and Delia Boccardo; 10 seasons.^[3]

Blu notte – Misteri italiani^[4] (Night blue, Italian mysteries) – 12 seasons. True crime program, hosted by the mystery writer Carlo Lucarelli; the show, in the first seasons^[5] focused on the common crimes, later is extended to the Italian history’s mysteries, as the Piazza Fontana bombing.^[6]

Ciao Darwin (Hallo Darwin) – game show hosted by Paolo Bonolis and Luca Laurenti; again on air. The theory of the natural selection is the pretext for burlesque tests of skill between diverse categories of persons and for exhibiting female flesh. The program, despite the charges to be “TV trash”, is now again one of the top Mediaset shows and the format has been largely imitated abroad.^[7]

Nicholas’ gift – by Robert Markowitz, with Alan Bates and Jamie Lee Curtis, based on the true story of Nicholas Green; coproduced by LUX VIDE.
Jeremiah by Harry Winer, with Patrick Dempsey and Oliver Reed; ninth chapter of the LUX Vide Bible project.^[8]
Più leggero non basta (Lighter is not enough) – by Elisabetta Lodoli, with Stefano Accorsi and Giovanna Mezzogiorno; drama about the disability.^[9]
La piovra 9 – Il patto (The pact) – with Raoul Bova and Anja Kling;2 episodes. Second prequel of La piovra franchise, but with a plot almost fully on its now, set in the Catania of the Sixties.

Ultimo (Last) – by Stefano Reali, with Raoul Bova and Ricky Memphis; 2 episodes. Reconstruction, very fictionalized, of the Totò Riina’s capture by a special force of carabineers, led by the “Commander Last” (Sergio Di Caprio).^[10] The movie has 4 sequels.

Anni ’50 (The Fifties) – by Carlo Vanzina, with Ezio Greggio; 4 episodes. The series is a tribute to Bread, love and dreams and to the Italian neorealist comedies.^[11]

Professione fantasma (Profession ghost) – by Vittorio De Sisti, with Massimo Lopez and Edy Angelillo. The ghost of a private eye remains on earth to watch over his girl-friend.^[12]

Italia Unz – show of disco music from the Riccione water park, care of the Radio Deejay team.^[13]

Network	Type	Launch date
Happy Channel	Satellite television	8 March
Disney Channel	Cable and satellite	3 October
Video Italia	Cable and satellite	10 December

Old network name	New network name	Type	Conversion Date	Notes	Source

Network	Type	Closure date	Notes	Source

^ "Wojtyla, il gigante della fede - S1998 - La telefonata del Papa a "Porta a porta" - Video". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-03-04.
^ "Le ragazze di piazza di Spagna". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-03-03.
^ "Incantesimo". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-03-03.
^ The show, in the years, gets various titles: Mistero in blu, Blu notte, Lucarelli racconta.
^ "Mistero in blu". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-03-03.
^ "Blu notte". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-07-16.
^ "Ciao Darwin 8 - Terre desolate". Mediaset Play. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
^ "Geremia". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-03-04.
^ "Più leggero non basta". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-03-04.
^ "Ultimo". Mediaset Play. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
^ "Anni 50". Mediaset Play. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
^ "Professione Fantasma". Mediaset Play. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
^ "Italia Unz". Mediaset Play. Archived from the original on 2020-07-29. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
^ "Ci ritorni in mente - Lucio Battisti". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-07-27.

v t e 1998 in television
Australia Belgium Brazil Canada Croatia Denmark Estonia France Germany Hong Kong India Tamil Telugu Ireland Italy Japan Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway Pakistan Philippines Poland Portugal South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Turkey United Kingdom Scotland United States (debuts)