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RAI

[rahy]

Rai - Radiotelevisione Italiana, known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian public service broadcaster, and is considered the biggest public television company in Europe with the British BBC. It operates three terrestrial television channels and three radio channels, in addition to several satellite and digital terrestrial offerings. Created as URI in 1924, it started television broadcasts on January 3, 1954. RAI was one of the 23 founding broadcasting organisations of the European Broadcasting Union in 1950.

A very controversial plan to partly privatise RAI, by selling 20% of the public broadcaster, was suspended in October 2005.

Half of RAI's revenues come from the broadcast licence fee, half from advertising. RAI has a relatively high audience share of 43.55%. The fact that Berlusconi's government pushed for a sale of Mediaset's public service rival had caused a very heated debate, with some of the critics claiming that Mediaset could become the buyer and thus increase its dominant position even further. However, in October 2005 it was announced that the privatisation plan had been suspended, following the revelation that the company would make a loss of €80m ($96m, £54m) during 2006. "RAI's privatisation is de facto suspended", its new director general, Alfredo Meocci, told a parliamentary watchdog committee. RAI broadcasts three main terrestrial channels: Rai Uno, Rai Due and Rai Tre.

Early history

RAI started off as a privately owned company. The Unione Radiofonica Italiana (URI) was formed in 1924 by private entrepreneurs and part of the Marconi group. Granted a monopoly of radio broadcasts in 1924, URI made its first broadcast — a Haydn quartet — on the 24 October of that year.

In 1927, URI was renamed Ente Italiano Audizioni Radiofoniche (EIAR). It survived until 1944 when, under Allied pressure, it was reborn as Radio Audizioni Italiane, or RAI. Still a privately owned company, it operated two radio networks: Rete Rossa (red) and Rete Azzurra (blue), with Rossa playing more serious music and Azzurra featuring occasional variety shows.

It was not until 1954 that RAI took on its modern form. In this year the state-controlled holding company IRI became the sole shareholder, and RAI finally began a regular television service. The first day’s schedule featured a report on the opening of RAI’s studio in Milan, sporting events of the day, and an early evening film.

The first few decades of programming were focused on strictly educational programming. During Reconstruction, programs like Non è mai troppo tardi and Un viaggo al Po were able to take people from their villages and small communities and see what life was like in other parts of Italy. The dialects of Italy also made it difficult for people to communicate, so RAI was instrumental in building a national, common language.

Management

RAI is governed by a nine member Administrative Council. Seven of its nine members are elected by parliamentary committee, the remaining two (one of which includes the President) are nominated by the largest shareholder — that is, the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance. The Council appoints the director-general. Both director-general and members of the administrative council are appointed for a renewable term of three years.

Presidents of RAI

Name	Took office	Left office
Arturo Carlo Jemolo	April 20, 1945	August 9, 1946
Giuseppe Spataro	August 9, 1946	May 17, 1951
Cristiano Ridomi	May 17, 1951	March 11, 1954
Antonio Carrelli	June 3, 1954	January 4, 1961
Novello Papafava	January 4, 1961	March 25, 1964
Pietro Quaroni	May 29, 1964	April 12, 1969
Aldo Sandulli	April 23, 1969	February 18, 1970
Umberto delle Fave	March 24, 1970	April 22, 1975
Beniamino Finocchiaro	May 23, 1975	January 20, 1977
Paolo Grassi	January 20, 1977	June 12, 1980
Sergio Zavoli	June 12, 1980	October 23, 1986
Enrico Manca	October 23, 1986	February 19, 1992
Walter Pedullà	February 19, 1992	July 13, 1993
Claudio Demattè	July 13, 1993	July 12, 1994
Letizia Moratti	July 12, 1994	April 24, 1996
Giuseppe Morello	April 24, 1996	July 10, 1996
Enzo Siciliano	July 10, 1996	January 21, 1998
Roberto Zaccaria	February 3, 1998	February 17, 2000
Roberto Zaccaria [1]	February 17, 2000	February 16, 2002
Vittorio Emiliani	February 16, 2002	February 22, 2002
Antonio Baldassarre	March 5, 2002	February 26, 2003
Paolo Mieli	March 7, 2003	March 13, 2003
Lucia Annunziata	March 13, 2003	May 4, 2004
Francesco Alberoni [2]	May, 2004	May, 2005
Sandro Curzi [2]	June 1, 2005	July 30, 2005
Claudio Petruccioli	July 31, 2005	present

[1] Second term

[2] Temporary

Directors-general of RAI

Name	Took office	Left office
Salvino Sernesi	1949	1953
Giovan Battista Vicentini	1954	1955
Rodolfo Arata	1956	1960
Ettore Bernabei	January 5, 1961	September 18, 1974
Michele Principe	May 23, 1975	January 25, 1977
Giuseppe Glisenti	January 26, 1977	June 17, 1977
Pierantonino Bertè	July 12, 1977	June 18, 1980
Villy De Luca	June 19, 1980	July 21, 1982
Biagio Agnes	July 29, 1982	February 1, 1990
Gianni Pasquarelli	February 5, 1990	July 23, 1993
Gianni Locatelli	July 23, 1993	August 3, 1994
Gianni Billia	August 3, 1994	December 31, 1994
Raffaele Minicucci	January 16, 1995	February 29, 1996
Aldo Materia [3]	March 6, 1996	July 15, 1996
Franco Iseppi	July 15, 1996	February 8, 1998
Pier Luigi Celli	February 9, 1998	February 17, 2002
Pier Luigi Celli [4]	February 17, 2000	February 9, 2001
Claudio Cappon	February 9, 2001	March 19, 2002
Agostino Saccà	March 19, 2002	March 27, 2003
Flavio Cattaneo	March 27, 2003	August 5, 2005
Alfredo Meocci	August 5, 2005	June 20, 2006
Claudio Cappon	June 22, 2006	present

[3] Vice Director-general acting as Director-general

[4] Second term

Television

RAI broadcasts three main terrestrial channels. Rai Uno is the main channel, and targets the family market. Rai Due has in recent years lacked clear focus, but now attempts to focus on a slightly younger audience than Rai Uno. Rai Tre is the ‘alternative’ channel, with a definite public service remit. Rai Due has been broadcasting since November 4, 1961 (it was called the "Secondo Programma", while Rai Uno was the "Programma Nazionale") and Rai Tre first went on air on December 15, 1979 as "TV3". RAI color television broadcasts started in an experimental capacity in 1971, with the two existing RAI channels at the time starting full-time color broadcasting on February 1, 1977.

Terrestrial channels

Analogue Rai Uno (also on DTT and on Hotbird, Astra, Atlantic Bird and Hispasat) Rai Due (also on DTT and on Hotbird, Astra, Atlantic Bird and Hispasat) Rai Tre also on DTT and on Hotbird, Astra, Atlantic Bird and Hispasat) Rai Sender Bozen (German-language opt-out of Rai Tre for the province of Bolzano-Bozen)	Digital Rai News 24 all news (on DTT and on Hotbird) Rai Sport Più sport (on DTT and on Hotbird) Rai Gulp kids and teens (on DTT and on Hotbird) Rai Edu 1 education, culture and entertainment (on DTT and on Hotbird) Rai Quattro youth entertainment (only on DTT) Rai 5 (coming soon) Rai Test HD HDTV channel (available only in the cities of Turin, Rome, Milan and Sardinia, Aosta Valley on DTT and Alice Home TV)

Satellite channels

Free-to-air Rai News 24 Rai Sport Più Rai Gulp (from 1 June 2007) Rai Kids.tv Rai Kids.tv 2 Rai Nettuno Sat 1 Rai Nettuno Sat 2 Rai Med (news in Italian and Arabic language, now relays Rai News 24 and Raitalia) Camera dei Deputati Senato Italiano	On SKY Italia Raisat Extra entertainment Raisat Premium entertainment Raisat Cinema cinema Raisat Gambero Rosso Channel cooking Raisat Smash teens Raisat YOYO babies Raisat Cinema +1 cinema Raisat Cinema HD cinema

IPTV channels

On Alice Home TV Rai Fiction Rai Fiction HD Viva la Rai entertainment Rai Supercult entertainment Rai Magazine Rai Storia Rai Ritratti Rai Junior	On Tiscali TV Rai Teen Rai Teen +1 Rai di Più	On TV di FASTWEB Rai Click Cinema Rai Click Fiction Rai Click Fiction Live Rai Click Junior Rai Click News Rai Click Spettacolo Rai Click Culture Rai Click Oggi

International

Raitalia — Broadcasts the best of RAI to International audiences

Defunct Channels

RaiSat Album (30 June 2003)
RaiSat Art (30 June 2003)
RaiSat Fiction (30 June 2003)
Rai Azzurri UEFA Euro 2004 (2004, broadcasted using Rai Olimpia / Rai Utile frequencies)
Rai Doc cultures, styles (31 May 2007)
Rai Futura technologies, games, etc. (1 February 2007, broadcasted on the same frequences of Rai Doc at settled times)
Rai Olimpia 2004 Summer Olympics (2004, broadcasted using Rai Utile frequencies)
Rai Sport Satellite sports (11 May 2008, changes his name in Rai Sport Più)
Rai Utile (1 January 2008)
Rai Widescreen 1998 FIFA World Cup (1999)

Radio channels

Rai Radio 1 News/information
Rai Radio 2 Adult Contemporary
Rai Radio 3 Classical music
Rai FD4 Leggera (also known as IV Canale) - broadcasting easy listening music
Rai FD5 Auditorium (also known as V Canale or Classica) - broadcasting classic and opera music
Rai GR Parlamento a radio station broadcasting the Italian Parliament
Rai Isoradio a radio station designed for motorway users
Radio Trst A - a radio station for the Slovene minority in Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Notturno Italiano - a radio service for the Italian communities in the EU - broadcasting mainly Italian pop music, classic and opera music, as well as hourly news bulletins in Italian, French, German and English - operating from the Milan, Rome and Naples RAI Medium Waves transmitters every night 00:00-06:00 Cental European Mean Time.
Rai Satelradio - International radio service that broadcasts 'best of RAI' abroad.

News

TG 1 - Telegiornale Uno (News broadcasting)
TG 2 - Telegiornale Due News broadcasting)
TG 3 - Telegiornale Tre (News broadcasting)
TG Regionale (Local News broadcasting)
GR 1 (Radio News broadcasting)
GR 2 (Radio News broadcasting)
GR 3 (Radio News broadcasting)
GR Regionale (Radio Local News broadcasting)
Tagesschau (German speaking news from Bolzano)
Meteo Rai (Weather)
Sports

Other programmes

Sanremo Music Festival (Festival della canzone italiana)
Uno Mattina — morning magazine programme (Rai Uno) (Hosted by Eleonora Daniele and the journalist Luca Giurato)
Affari Tuoi (Italian version of Deal or No Deal?) - shown every day at 8.35pm on Rai Uno. The show is hosted by Flavio Insinna.
Domenica In — Sunday show (Rai Uno) hosted by Pippo Baudo, Lorena Bianchetti, Massimo Giletti and Luisa Corna.
L'Isola dei Famosi (Italian version of Celebrity Survivor) shown on Rai Due on 9.00pm every Wednesday night and hosted by Simona Ventura
Che Tempo Che Fa talk show (Rai Tre) hosted by Fabio Fazio and the comedian Luciana Littizzetto. It's one of the most seen talk shows in Rai networks.
DS - Domenica Sportiva and 90° minuto (90th minute) sport programming blocks shown on Saturday and Sunday respectively on Rai Tre and Rai Due. 90th minute deals with Italian Serie B, the second Italian football (soccer) championship.