RAI


RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels and radio stations. It is one of the biggest broadcasters in Italy competing with Mediaset, and other minor radio and television networks. RAI has a relatively high television audience share of 35.9%.
RAI broadcasts are also received in neighbouring countries, including Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, Slovenia, Vatican City, Switzerland, and Tunisia, and elsewhere on pay television. Half of RAI's revenues come from broadcast receiving licence fees, the remainder from the sale of advertising time. In 1950, RAI became one of the 23 founding members of the European Broadcasting Union.

History

1924

Unione Radiofonica Italiana was formed in 1924 with the backing of the Marconi Company following a model adopted in other European countries. URI made its inaugural broadcast — a speech by Benito Mussolini at Teatro Costanzi — on 5 October. Regular programming began the following evening, with a quartet performing Haydn's Quartet No. 7 in A major from the Palazzo Corradi. At 21.00 CET, Ines Donarelli Viviani announced for the first time: "URI—Unione Radiofonica Italiana Rome station 1RO 425 metres wavelength. To all those who are listening our greetings, good evening". Guglielmo Marconi's S.A. Radiofono—Società Italiana per le Radiocomunicazioni Circolari held 85% of URI shares and Western Electric's Società Italiana Radio Audizioni Circolari held the remaining 15%.
Under the provisions of Royal Decree No. 1067 of 8 February 1923, wireless broadcasting became a state monopoly under the control of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs; URI was commissioned to provide services for a minimum of six years pursuant to Royal Decree No. 2191 of 14 October 1924 "Concessione dei servizi radioauditivi circolari alla Società Anonima Unione Radiofonica Italiana". However, when URI's contract expired in 1927, it was succeeded under Royal Decree Law No. 2207 of 17 November 1927 by the partially nationalised Ente Italiano per le Audizioni Radiofoniche, which became Radio Audizioni Italiane S.p.A. with investment from Società Idroelettrica Piemontese in 1944.

1940s

During the reconstruction following World War II, much of RAI's early programming was influenced by the "Reithian" style of the BBC. The emphasis was on educational content. Programs like Non è mai troppo tardi and Un viaggio al Po introduced people to what life was like in other parts of the country, at a time when most people could not afford to travel.
Over the following years the RAI made various changes to its services. It reorganised its radio stations in November 1946 into two national networks, Rete Rossa and Rete Azzurra. It added the culture-based Terzo Programma in October 1950. On 1 January 1952 the Rete Rossa became the Programma Nazionale and the Rete Azzurra became the Secondo Programma. The three radio channels eventually became today's Rai Radio 1, Rai Radio 2, and Rai Radio 3.

1950s

In 1954 the state-owned holding company Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale became the sole shareholder and IRI – now renamed RAI—Radiotelevisione italiana to reflect its extended responsibilities – finally began a regular television service. On 3 January at 11.00 CET, the first RAI television announcer presented the day's schedule, which was broadcast from the service's Milan headquarters and relay stations in Turin and Rome. At 14.30, the first regular programme in Italian television history was broadcast: Arrivi e partenze, hosted by Armando Pizzo and Mike Bongiorno. The evening's entertainment was a theatre performance, L'osteria della posta, written by Carlo Goldoni. 23.15 saw the start of the day's concluding programme, La Domenica Sportiva – the first edition of a weekly series which continues to this day.

2000s

RAI was originally the subsidiary of RAI Holding S.p.A. RAI Holding was absorbed into RAI
as of 1 December 2004, per Article 21 of Law 112/04.
The RAI is governed by a nine-member Administrative Council. Seven of members are elected by a committee of the Italian Parliament. The other two are nominated by the largest shareholder: the Ministry of Economic Development. The Council appoints the Director-General. The Director-General and the members of the Administrative Council are appointed for a renewable three-year term.
In 2005, the government of Silvio Berlusconi proposed partial privatisation of RAI by
selling 20% ownership. This proposal was very controversial, in part because Berlusconi was the head of the leading private broadcaster Mediaset. Some critics claimed that Mediaset could become the buyer and thus increase its dominant position. However, after the revelation that RAI would lose €80m in 2006, the privatisation plan was suspended in October 2005.

2010s

On 18 May 2010, Raisat received a major upgrade and re-branded with a new logo and a new name. It and all of the sister channels dropped the sat part from the name and became Rai YoYo, Rai 5, Rai Premium, and Rai Movie.
On 11 June 2013, RAI was one of the few known European broadcasters to condemn and criticize the closure of Greece's state broadcaster ERT.
RAI company has been criticized because as of 2015 it had 46 directors and 262 head offices and they are considered too many; RAI Spa is a private company but it is 100% owned by the Italian Government and all the TV owners in Italy have to pay an annual tax of 100 euros.
RAI Spa company is 99% owned by the Italian Government Ministry of Economy and Finance, so it is said that it broadcasts content that may politically influence people.

Corporate identity

The Alberto Ribera logo was introduced in 1967, however, this did not have significant application except on studios and portable cameras. A second variation of the Carboni logo was introduced in 1977, which was not officially adopted but appeared in some graphics, including that of the time signal.

TV channels

Current channels

Discontinued channels

On FM, AM, Satellite, DAB/DAB+, DTT, Filodiffusion, Web:
Only on Satellite, DAB/DAB+, DTT, Filodiffusion and Web:
Rai Libri is the print publishing arm of Rai, headquartered in Turin. They primarily publish magazines and periodicals for news, entertainment, the broadcast industry, and since their beginning, broadcast schedules. They also have published since 1969 the , the largest Italian dictionary of its kind.

Publishing history

RAI's history in print with the Unione Radiofonica Italiana 's weekly magazine Radio Orario which debuted in January 1925 and became Radiocorriere in 1930. Edizioni Radio Italiana was founded in 1949 in Turin, formed entirely from RAI capital to build on Radiocorriere's success. In 1954 primary ownership was split between RAI and Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale . That same year Radiocorriere became Radiocorriere TV, which would continue to be published until RAI divested in 1995.
During the 50s and 60s the ERI published Classe Unica, ' and ', and in 1969 the first edition of the DOP. The 80s saw the premiere of the monthlies Moda and King, along with registering a new company name in 1987: Nuova Eri Edizioni Rai-Radiotelevisione Italiana S.p.A., or "Nuova ERI".
Since the 90s RAI/ERI has increasingly focused on publishing books written by its own broadcast stars, both in news and entertainment. In 1995 Nuova ERI closed and reopened in 1996 as "Rai Eri". On 15 October 2018 they renamed to "Rai Libri".
Rai Libri also edits technical publications: Elettronica e telecomunicazioni since 1946, Nuova rivista musicale italiana since 1967, and Nuova civiltà delle macchine since 1957. It produces its own reports on communications and media, with the second edition of the book-and-documentary RicordeRai released in 2004 in collaboration with Rai Teche.

''Radiocorriere TV''

RAI had printed its broadcast schedules nearly without interruption starting in 1925 as Radio Orario, then from 1930 as Radiocorriere, then continuously from 1954 as Radiocorriere TV, until RAI divested in 1995.
The magazine was restarted under publisher with a print edition from 1999–2008, closing due to poor sales. It reopened in 2012 as an online-only publication, with a handful of special-occasion independent print runs in the intervening years, including 2005, 2010, and 2011. The "Rai Ufficio Stampa " website has meanwhile published programming schedules and television blurbs online since 2011 under the magazine's name. On 3 January 2014 Rai Teche published online the complete 1925–1995 archives of URI/RAI's Radio Orario/Radiocorriere/TV.

Headquarters and offices

SeatCenters of television productionAuditoriums/theatresStudios
RomeCentro radiotelevisivo "Biagio Agnes", Saxa Rubra16
RomeCPTV Via Teulada, 669
RomeCPTV Studi "Fabrizio Frizzi", Via Ettore Romagnoli, 306
RomeTeatro delle Vittorie1 theatre
RomeAuditorium of Foro Italico1 auditorium
MilanCP Corso Sempione, 273 auditoriums5
MilanCPTV Via Mecenate, 764
NaplesCP Viale Marconi, 91 auditorium7
TurinCP Via Verdi, 161 auditorium6

Local offices

There are RAI offices in foreign countries, which produce news reports that are broadcast live in Italy. These offices are in: Brussels, Paris, Berlin, London, New York City, Beijing, Cairo, Jerusalem, Nairobi, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro.

Finances

Debt level

As March 2015, the RAI has a debt of 442 million and the Italian Court of Audit was worried about the size of RAI's debt for the impact that this may have on Italian people, as the company is owned by the state.

Mandatory annual fee on all televisions in Italy

Italians must purchase an annual television licence for about €90 every year in order to legally own a TV or HDTV. It is known as Canone Rai, "Rai Tax" because it is used to part-fund the RAI. Since 2016, it is financed through the electricity bill.