Outsourcing... Italian TV gets in on the act

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In the past decade there has been a lot of talk about outsourcing editorial tasks in printed media (books, newspapers and magazines), but it's the first time I have heard of an Italian TV programme being made in Britain. I have heard of advertising campaigns being made in the UK, but not of a TV programme.

Italy is a big buyer of foreign TV programmes, which are dubbed to a high standard to suit Italian audiences. In Italy, there isn't such a thing as subtitled movies - except those old American films they used to show late at night for viewers who wanted to improve their language skills. Perhaps they still show them, but as far as I know, mainstream TV is strictly in Italian.

So I was quite amused to find out that a TV company is paying Italian speakers £20 each in travel expenses to attend the recordings of The Cube, a gameshow filmed in London but fully produced in Italian (presenter is Italian comedian and actor Teo Mammucari). I was quite tempted to get a ticket but then realised my train journey from Cambridge is over £20, especially since the location is not in zone one, meaning a long, expensive tube journey on top.

I'm sure they will find plenty of takers - being "rewarded" to watch a TV show is not to be sniffed at!