In the early 1950s, as Italy rebuilt after the war, television was set to enter Italian homes. Before any programs aired, Filiberto Guala, little known to most, provided the vision needed.

In 1954, the year Italian television was officially born, Guala was appointed CEO of RAI. He was neither a technician nor a showman, but a manager with a strong Catholic background and a clear understanding of the media's role: television should be an educational tool, capable of shaping citizens even as it entertains viewers. His vision fit perfectly into the political climate of postwar Christian Democratic Italy, where culture was considered a fundamental foundation for building a new democracy. For Guala, RAI should not be a simple company, but a public institution with a moral mission. One of his most important decisions was the famous "competition of 150." Through a public selection process, RAI recruited young graduates destined to become the new ruling class of Italian television. Among them were names destined to shape the country's culture, such as Umberto Eco and Furio Colombo.

Guala wanted a cultured television that could speak to everyone. Programs had to educate, inform, and convey values. In an Italy still marked by illiteracy and social inequality, television became a tool for cultural unification. But this very approach, strongly ethical and pedagogical, also drew criticism. Some deemed it too rigid, too tied to a specific moral and political vision. Guala's RAI was authoritative but not open to the lightheartedness and entertainment that audiences would soon demand. In 1956, after just two years, Guala left RAI. Italian television would take other directions, more oriented toward entertainment and audiences. But the foundations had been laid.

Filiberto Guala remains a key yet often overlooked figure in Italian media history. He was the first to envision television as a vehicle for collective education, profoundly shaping society. In a country undergoing rapid change, he realised the challenge was not simply broadcasting images, but building a shared culture—a challenge that Italian television initially set out to meet.