Digital Terrestrial Television

Digital terrestrial television represents the opportunity for Rai and the Italian television system to create a farreaching publishing innovation, keeping free television in first place in the offering of information, entertainment and culture. It is a unique opportunity to articulate the free offering on several channels, enhancing programming, experimenting and reaching the most critical public groups for traditional general-interest television. And consequently it is an opportunity to maintain the ratings, resources, creativity and centrality within the television system of free television.

Besides a broader choice of channels, DTT also offers better quality pictures: viewing in cinema format (16:9) and the possibility for broadcasting in high definition.

Upon completion of the digitalisation process, all the broadcasts will be digital and it will no longer be possible to receive the analogue signal. 2012 has been established as the final deadline for the switchover to digital television for all the EU member countries.

The EU directives have been implemented by the Italian Government, which adopted a progressive regional calendar which will lead to the complete switchover of Italian television from analogue to digital within three years.

In November 2008, Sardinia was Europe's first all-digital region. During 2009, Valle d'Aosta, Lazio, Campania, Trentino, Alto Adige and Western Piedmont (Turin and Cuneo) were all 'digitalised', with more than 30% of the population receiving the digital signal only.

Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Liguria to digital, over 70% of the Italian population will switch to digital (about 14 million citizens involved in 2009 and 23 in 2010 for a total of about 37 million).

Tivù and TivùSat

Tivù Srl was established on 24 September 2008 and became operational in January 2009, supplying services for the digital terrestrial platform. As of 31July 2009, the company launched the free satellite platform TivùSat which, at the end of the year, had reached the target of 100,000 cards activated and 260,000 cards sold to the manufacturers of decoders and televisions, with 6 TivùSat certified decoders. The new satellite platform replicates the free television offering available in DTT from Rai, Mediaset, la7 and other operators, via satellite, and hosts numerous international channels. With the digital offering, TivùSat proposes, free of charge, to reach those areas where terrestrial broadcasting does not arrive fully or at all. Rai's participation in the platform ensures the observance by the public service of the neutrality restriction regarding technology.

Throughout the whole of 2009, the company carried out communication campaigns, especially during the switchoff, to promote the terrestrial platform (Tivù) and the satellite platform (TivùSat).

Rai's new digital terrestrial offering

The current national DTT offering consists of an increasing number of channels: 9 free in simulcast from the analogue terrestrial signal, numerous other free national channels and a growing pay TV offering. Mediaset and Rai are the broadcasters with the broadest offering and Rai has the broadest free offering.

Rai's digital terrestrial offering on the national territory comprises:

- RaiUno, RaiDue, RaiTre, Rai 4, Rai Gulp, Rai Sport Più and Rai Storia.

In the switch-off areas (and consequently progressively throughout the whole country) these are joined by:

- Rai Extra, Rai Premium, Rai Cinema, Rai YoYo, RaiGulp+1, RaiEdu 1, RaiUno in High Definition, an HD test channel used so far for the broadcasting of sporting events (e.g.: Champions League matches).