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'Radiotelevisione Italiana', usually known as 'Rai', is the Italian public service broadcaster. 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%, and its only serious competitor on Italian television is Silvio Berlusconi’s media conglomerate Mediaset with a 44% market share. 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. [1] [2]
RAI broadcasts three main terrestrial channels: Rai Uno, Rai Due and Rai Tre.

Contents

Early history

Management

Presidents of RAI

Directors-general of RAI

Television

Terrestrial channels

Analogue

Digital

Satellite channels

Free-to-air

On Sky Italia

International

Defunct Channels

Radio channels

News

Other programmes

Foreign Series

Other satellite TV programmes

See also

External links

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 and Rete Azzurra, with Rossa playing more serious music and Azzura 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 Ministero delle Finanze. 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
Vincenzo Siciliano	July 10, 1996	January 21, 1998
Roberto Zaccaria	February 3, 1998	February 17, 2000
Roberto Zaccaria	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	May, 2004	May, 2005
Sandro Curzi	June 1, 2005	July 30, 2005
Claudio Petruccioli	July 31, 2005	''present''

Second term
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	March 6, 1996	July 15, 1996
Franco Iseppi	July 15, 1996	February 8, 1998
Pier Luigi Celli	February 9, 1998	February 17, 2000
Pier Luigi Celli	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''

Vice Director-general acting as Director-general
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".

Terrestrial channels

Analogue

★ Rai Uno (also on DTT and on satellite)

★ Rai Due (also on DTT and on satellite)

★ Rai Tre (also on DTT and on satellite)

★ RAI Sender Bozen (German-language opt-out of Rai Tre for the province of Bolzano-Bozen)

Digital

★ Rai News 24 ''all news'' (also on satellite)

★ Rai Sport Sat ''sport'' (also on satellite)

★ Rai Utile ''information'' (also on satellite)

★ Rai Gulp ''kids and teens'' (also on satellite)

★ Rai Edu 1 ''education, culture and entertainment'' (also on satellite)

Satellite channels

Free-to-air

★ Rai News 24

★ Rai Sport Sat

★ Rai Utile

★ Rai Gulp (from 1 June 2007)

★ Rai Edu 1

★ Rai Edu 2

★ Rai Nettuno Sat 1

★ Rai Nettuno Sat 2

★ Rai Med

★ Camera dei Deputati Channel

★ Senato Italiano
(Rai Doc disappeared in 31 May 2007)

On Sky Italia

★ RaiSat Extra ''entertainment''

★ RaiSat Premium ''entertainment''

★ RaiSat Cinema ''cinema''

★ RaiSat Gambero Rosso Channel ''cooking''

★ RaiSat Smash ''teens''

★ RaiSat Yoyo ''babies'' (from November 2006)

International

★ RAI International — Broadcasts the best of RAI to International audiences

Defunct Channels

★ 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)

Radio channels

★ Rai Radio Uno

★ Rai Radio Due

★ Rai Radio Tre

★ FD4 Leggera (also known as IV Canale) - broadcasting pop music

★ FD5 Auditorium (also known as V Canale or Classica) - broadcasting classic and opera music

★ GR Parlamento - a radio station broadcasting the Italian Parliament

★ Isoradio - a radio station designed for motorway users

★ Radio Trst A - a radio station for the Slovenian minority in Friuli-Venezia Giulia

News

★ ''TG 1''

★ ''TG 2''

★ ''TG 3''

★ ''TG Regional''

★ ''Tagesschau'' (German speaking news from Bolzano)

★ Meteo

★ Sports

Other programmes

★ ''Sanremo Music Festival'' (''Festival della canzone italiana'')

★ ''Uno Mattina'' — morning magazine programme (Rai Uno)

★ ''Affari Tuoi'' (Italian version of Deal or No Deal?) - shown from Monday to Saturday on Rai Uno.

★ ''Domenica In'' — Sunday show (Rai Uno)

★ ''Club Disney'' — shown on RaiDue

★ ''Winx Club'' — since exported worldwide

★ The Rat-Man Animated Series

Foreign Series

★ ''McLeod's Daughters'' - shown on Rai Uno

★ ''ER'' — shown on Rai Due

★ ''Friends'' — shown on Rai Due

★ ''The District'' — shown on Rai Due

★ ''Charmed'' — shown on Rai Due

★ ''JAG'' — shown on Rai Due

★ ''The Practice'' — shown on Rai Due

★ ''Without a Trace'' — shown on Rai Due

★ ''Desperate Housewives'' — shown on Rai Due

★ ''NCIS'' — shown on Rai Due

★ ''Cold Case'' — shown on Rai Due

★ ''Lost'' — shown on Rai Due

★ ''Rome'' — shown on Rai Due

Other satellite TV programmes

★ ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' — shown on RAI Sat Extra

★ ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' — shown on RAI Sat Extra

★ ''Dallas (TV series)'' - shown on RAI Sat Premium

★ ''Mujeres'' - shown on RAI Sat Premium

See also

★ List of Italian language television channels

★ Prix Italia

External links

★ Official website

★ Sito of Rai Uno

★ Sito of Rai Due

★ Sito of Rai Tre