Jumblecasts and memes: Exploring the intersection of media archives and digital culture

This article examines the role of media archives from Rai and Mediaset in shaping contemporary Italian digital culture, focusing on archive-based programmes that incorporate memetic content. The article introduces the term jumblecasts to describe entertainment television programmes that remix and recontextualize archival material. Through an analysis of Mai dire and Blob , the article argues that these programmes function as precursors to digital meme production, embodying the processes of selection, remixing and retention. The article investigates how these shows contribute to Italian meme culture and examines the role of digital accessibility to archival content in the proliferation of memes. Additionally, it explores the influence of cinema on the construction of jumblecasts and their use of bad texts , demonstrating how recontextualized material persists in cultural memory and circulates online. This article contributes to the understanding of the intersection between television, cinema and archival practices in the context of Italian digital culture.