Record companies are threatening to pull the plug on the Sanremo song festival - one of the glitziest events in the Italian calendar - after two consecutive days of poor viewing figures.
Monday's curtain-lifter attracted a 36% draw, its smallest share of the TV audience in eight years, and the second night of the historic five-day contest fared even worse.
Broadcast live on the state's flagship RAI-1 channel, Tuesday evening's programme of on-stage music and entertainment pulled in a 32% share of the TV audience, down almost 12% on last year.
The second night of poor viewing figures came as a blow to organisers and television executives, who had played down the disappointing audience share on the festival's opening night.
They argued that viewers were distracted by breaking news in Puglia about the discovery of the corpses of two young boys who disappeared 18 months ago.
But organisers had to change their tune after the second night of proceedings failed to recoup audience share and it seemed likely that record companies would pull out of the 2009 edition.
''We need to have urgent discussions with RAI and the Sanremo city council as soon as the festival ends so that we can think about a new formula and find new reasons for why the record industry should continue to be involved in the event,'' said Enzo Mazza, president of the Italian Music Industry Federation.
He also suggested the five-day event be shortened to three days, to the fury of veteran Sanremo host Pippo Baudo.
Now overseeing his 13th festival, Baudo complained that viewers are no longer interested in watching anything except trash television and scandal-laden reality shows.
''If I'd had a fight with (co-host Piero) Chiambretti, the audience would have turned on,'' he said at a heated press conference.
''Let's beat each other up, let's spit in each others faces,'' he suggested.
''But that way we create an audience of barbarians, we f*** the public and we'll have an Italy made of sh**,'' he added.
The director of RAI-1, Fabrizio Del Noce, also stood up for the festival and said the channel would not consider withdrawing its contract with Sanremo council.
''It's easy to take pot shots at the festival as things stand, but if we had to consider the idea of not airing Sanremo any more there would be all manner of protests,'' Del Noce said.
''People would be sorry''.
Despite the drop in viewing figures, Sanremo still pulled in the largest audience share of the evening, with a humorous topical news show coming second with a 24 per cent draw.
Festival organisers have been grappling with budget constraints this year and were reportedly obliged to tell potential star guests that they will have to come to Sanremo for free, their only pay-off being the visibility.
Nevertheless, Lenny Kravitz, Duran Duran and Leona Lewis are among foreign guests who agreed to make guest appearances in between Italian acts competing for the top prize in the song contest. The festival usually draws 12-15 million viewers a night in Italy and millions more in other countries to which it is broadcast.
After the four-day lead-up, the event comes to a close on Saturday night when the winning song and singer are announced amid fanfare and - usually - mild polemics.
