ROME, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Italy's communications regulator on Thursday criticised the flagship news programs of a state television channel and two Mediaset channels, saying they were biased towards Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government.
The Agcom regulatory body said it would send complaints to the widely-watched TG1 news broadcast and two other news programmes shown by Mediaset channels over bias in favour of the centre-right government over the July-September period.
The news was immediately seized on by critics of Berlusconi who have long accused the media tycoon of having excessive sway over Italian television since he owns Mediaset and his government appoints board members at state broadcaster RAI.
"The complaint by Agcom confirms that, even in terms of basic rules, TG1 has by now become a voice of the government, and among the most biased," said Paolo Gentiloni, who deals with media issues for the opposition Democratic Party.
A spokesman for Berlusconi's coalition, Daniele Capezzone, said leftist lawmakers had forgotten that in the past the TG1 broadcast had favoured the left.
Alleged bias towards Berlusconi's government in the media is a frequent subject of controversy in Italy.
Last year, critics accused Berlusconi of intervening to get positive publicity when RAI postponed a popular show to avoid drawing away viewers from a rival show featuring the premier. (Writing by Deepa Babington; editing by Andrew Roche)