RAI

RAI â€" Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. (pronouncedÂ [Ëˆraj]; commercially styled Rai; born as URI in 1924, is an Italian broadcasting company, owned by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance.

RAI operates many DVB and Sat television channels and radio stations, broadcasting via digital terrestrial transmission (15 television and 7 radio channels nationwide) and from several satellite platforms. It is the biggest television broadcaster in Italy and competes with Mediaset, Sky Italia, and other minor television and radio networks. RAI has a relatively high television audience share of 33.8%.

RAI's broadcasts are also received in neighboring countries, including Albania, Croatia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, Slovenia, Vatican City, and southern Switzerland.

Half of RAI's revenues come from broadcast receiving licence fees, the rest from the sale of advertising time.

In 1950, RAI became one of the 23 founding broadcasting organizations of the European Broadcasting Union.

History

1924

The Unione Radiofonica Italiana (URI) was formed in 1924 with the backing of the Marconi Company following a model adopted in other European countries. URI made its inaugural broadcast â€" a speech by Benito Mussolini at Teatro Costanzi â€" 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: "URIâ€"Unione Radiofonica Italiana Rome station 1RO 425 meters wavelength. To all those who are listening our greetings, good evening." Guglielmo Marconi's S.A. Radiofonoâ€"SocietÃ Italiana per le Radiocomunicazioni Circolari (Radiofono) held 85% of URI shares and Western Electric's SocietÃ Italiana Radio Audizioni Circolari (SIRAC) 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 SocietÃ 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 (EIAR), which became Radio Audizioni Italiane S.p.A. (RAI) with investment from SocietÃ Idroelettrica Piemontese (SIP) 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 Ã¨ 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 couldn't afford to travel.

Over the following years RAI made various changes to its services. Rai reorganized its radio stations in November 1946 into two national networks, Rete Rossa and Rete Azzurra ("Red Network" and "Blue Network"). Rai added the culture-based Terzo Programma in October 1950. On 1 January 1952 the Rete Rossa became the Programma Nazionale (focusing on informational content) and the Rete Azzurra became the Secondo Programma (with a greater emphasis on entertainment). 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 (IRI) became the sole shareholder and RAI â€" now renamed RAIâ€"Radiotelevisione italiana to reflect its extended responsibilities â€" 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 â€" the first edition of a weekly series which continues to this day.

2000s

Management

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.

RAI is governed by a nine member Administrative Council. Seven of members are elected by a committee of the Italian Parliament. The other two (one of which is the President) 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 privatization 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 â‚¬80m ($96m, Â£54m) in 2006, the privatization plan was suspended in October 2005.

2010s

On 17 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 (formerly known as Rai Extra), Rai Premium, and Rai Movie (formerly known as Raisat Cinema).

On June 11, 2013, RAI was one of the few known European broadcasters to condemn and criticize the closure of Greece's state broadcaster ERT.

Criticism

Managers amount

RAI company has been criticized because as of 2015 it can counts on 46 directors and 262 head offices and they are considerated too many; RAI Spa is a private company but it's 100% owned by the Italian Governament so Italian People have to pay a high taxes in order to sustain Private Spa Italian Governament owned company like Rai.

Political propaganda

RAI Spa company is 99% owned by the Italian Governament Ministry of Economy and Finance, so it was said that it broadcasts contents that may politically condition people.

Debt Level

As March 2015, Rai has a debt of 442 million euro and the Italian "Corte dei Conti" (an Italian public finance examination institution) was worried about the dimension of RAI debt for the impact that this may have on Italians people (Italians have to mandatory pay annual 100 â‚¬ Rai tax in order to own a TV or an HDTV).

Rai Mandatory Tax

Italian people have to mandatory pay Canone Rai (Rai Tax) of 100â‚¬ in order to own a TV or an HDTV even if people just want to see Mediaset or Sky Channels only; even if people wants to see a DVD or a Blu Ray or its own personal videos on an HDTV using a computer or a DVD Player. This tax exists in Italy since 1938, it's a Kingdom of Italy law.

TV channels

Discontinued channels

RaiSat Album (30 July 2003)
RaiSat Art (30 July 2003)
RaiSat Fiction (30 July 2003)
RaiSat Smash Girls (1 August 2009)
RaiSat Gambero Rosso Channel (1 August 2009)
Rai Med (2013)
Rai Azzurri: UEFA Euro 2004 (2004, broadcast using Rai Utile frequencies)
Rai Doc: cultures, styles (1 June 2007)
Rai Futura: technologies, games, etc. (1 February 2007, broadcast on the same frequences of Rai Doc at settled times)
Rai Olimpia: 2004 Summer Olympics (2004, broadcast using Rai Utile frequencies)
Rai Utile (1 January 2008)
Rai Widescreen: 1998 FIFA World Cup (1999)
Rai On Cultura (IPTV)
Rai On Fiction (IPTV)
Rai On Fiction Live (IPTV)
Rai On News (IPTV)
Rai On Ragazzi (IPTV)
Rai On Spettacolo (IPTV)
Rai On Sport (IPTV)

Radio channels

Rai Radio 1: News and information
Rai Radio 2: Adult contemporary music and conversation
Rai Radio 3: Classical music and culture
Rai Radio FD 4: easy-listening music, formerly known as IV Canale
Rai Radio FD 5: classic and opera music, formerly known as V Canale
Rai GR Parlamento: coverage of proceedings in the Italian Parliament
Rai Isoradio: for motorway users
Rai SÃ¼dtirol: German-language programmes for the Trentino-Alto Adige/SÃ¼dtirol region
Radio Trst A: Slovene-language programmes for the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region

Webradio

Rai webradio 6: featuring items from the radio archives
Rai webradio 7: music
Rai webradio 8: music from the web

Headquarters and Offices

Local offices

In every region and autonomous province of Italy, there is an RAI local office that produces local programs.

Foreign 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, Beijing, Cairo, Jerusalem,Nairobi, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro.

References

External links

http://www.rai.it/
http://www.rai.tv/
Rai Expo official multilanguage site, a library of about 1000 videos exploring and explaining "Expo di Milano 2015" theme

History