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Rai’s offering
Rai covers all Rai covers all the
platforms in the Italian marketplace,
consolidating its position as the most
active Italian broadcaster in digital
media. This is in line with the provisions
of the 2007-2009 Service Contract,
which commits Rai to developing its
programming activities and
broadcasting rights on the various
platforms in line with its position in the
marketplace and its role as public
service broadcaster (Article 6).
Analogue terrestrial broadcasting and
FM radio remain the two segments
traditionally covered by general-interest
television and by radio stations.
For a detailed description of the
television programming and networks
and the radio stations and genres, see
the chapters below concerning television
and radio programming in detail.
Digital Terrestrial Television
Digital terrestrial is the digital platform
of reference for the public service
broadcaster and Rai is extremely
committed to a significant project for the
development of programming and
broadcasting, and for the support of the
consolidation of the platform in line with
the guidelines of the 2008-2010
Industrial Plan, contributing to the
fulfilment of the plan to gradually switch
over the television system to the digital
standard.
It is with this in mind that Rai supports
Tivù, the joint project launched with
Mediaset and Telecom Italia Media
with the aim of making digital
terrestrial broadcasting a veritable
television service capable of
competing with that operating on
other platforms.
During 2009 work continued on the
redefinition of the offering parameter,
which led to:
- the national launch, in February, of
Rai Storia, the cultural channel
curated by Rai Educational;
- the shutdown, in July, of the
broadcasts by the RaiSat channels
(Premium, Cinema, Extra, YoYo,
Smashgirls, Gambero Rosso) on the
Sky pay satellite platform;
- the launch, in August, within the
areas which have already switched
over to DTT, of the RaiSat Premium,
RaiSat Cinema, RaiSat Extra, RaiSat
YoYo channels.
At the end of 2009, Rai's offering on
DTT available at national level consisted
of eight free channels:
- simulcast of the three general-interest
channels - RaiUno, RaiDue and RaiTre;
- five specialised channels - RaiNews
24, Rai Gulp, Rai Sport Più, Rai 4
and Rai Storia;
while in the "all digital" areas, these are
joined by five more channels:
- in simulcast with free satellite TV - Rai
Scuola;
- four specialised channels - RaiSat
Premium, RaiSat Cinema, RaiSat
Extra, RaiSat YoYo.
At the end of the digitalisation process,
which will be completed in 2012, these
five channels will be available
nationwide.
Furthermore, in the "all digital" areas,
Rai has launched an experimental
broadcast in High Definition.
All this configures the broadest free
offering available in Italy and among
the main European countries.
The profiles of the Rai specialised
channels are presented below.
Rai 4 is a channel created to stand
apart from the traditional generalinterest
offering, targeting new
communication media viewers aged 15
to 35.The programming comprises TV
series, Japanese animation, extensions
of general-interest TV programmes and
original productions, also in foreign
languages, dedicated to new trends and
to Internet.
Rai Gulp is the channel dedicated to
children up to the age of 12, with
quality programming based on the
experience and tradition of Rai branded
children's TV. The programming is
varied: cartoons, TV series,
documentaries, educational
programmes, magazines and musical
shows involving children themselves.
RaiNews 24 is the 24-hour news
channel, with programming consisting
mainly of news bulletins aired every half
hour, completed with analytical
programmes, theme-related live
broadcasts, inquiries, weather reports,
traffic reports, as well as political and
cultural programmes.
Rai Sport Più proposes live
broadcasts of Italian and international
competitions in all sporting events, from
the most popular to those with a smaller
viewer basin made up of loyal
enthusiasts. The programming is
completed with news reports and
analytical programmes.
Rai Storia, the programming of the
'memory channel', is dedicated to
Italian history, art and culture.
It consists of documentaries, reportages,
inquiries and programmes the draw
mainly on visual documents kept in Rai
"Teche" and on the much appreciated
productions of Rai Educational.
Rai Scuola is produced by Rai
Educational in collaboration with the
Ministry of Education, University and
Research. The channel proposes
educational and learning-based
television products aimed primarily at
students and school teachers of every
level.
The programming spans from scientific
divulgation to IT subjects, from
humanistic issues to English language
lessons.
RaiSat Cinema is the channel
dedicated to cult films; the
programming follows a path of genres
and titles ranging from the new
American classics to noir films, from
Italian popular films to quality titles that
appeal to film buffs. The channel also
monitors the leading Italian and
international film festivals.
RaiSat Extra broadcasts 'the best of
Rai from the day before'. This is the
public service broadcaster's showcase,
in which the programmes broadcast by
the Rai channels over the previous days
are rerun: the programming reference
genres are information, inquiries,
analyses, talk shows and variety
programmes.
RaiSat Premium is the Italianproduced
television fiction channel
which makes up one of the main
elements of Rai's broadcasting heritage
and has always been very popular with
viewers. The channel proposes the best
of Rai branded fiction programmed in
the past or in more recent television
seasons.
RaiSat YoYo is the learning
entertainment channel dedicated to preschool
children (aged 2-5). The very
safe and meticulously selected
programming consists of cartoons,
fairytales, original productions and
container productions. The channel
offers the best Rai and international
productions.
2009 was also the year of the
consolidation of the passage to DTT,
defined by the Ministry of Economic
Development on the basis of a
calendar which envisages a
progression on a regional basis, to be
completed by the end of 2012. After
Sardinia (October 2008), the
switchover from analogue to DTT
involved the following regions, in the
order of listing: Valle D'Aosta
(September), Western Piedmont
(October), Trentino Alto Adige and
Lazio (November) and Campania
(December). The digitalisation process
involved about 30% of the Italian
population.
Digital satellite television
Rai sees satellite television as a
complementary broadcasting platform
with respect to digital terrestrial, which
will make it possible to reach areas
which are not served, even just
partially, by this broadcasting
technology, and to further diversify the
offering in terms of breadth and
business model.
As regards the theme of
complementariness, from the point of
view of distribution of the signal, we
ought to point out the strategic choice
made by Rai, together with Mediaset
and Telecom Italia Media, in the wake
of the decisions made for digital
terrestrial broadcasting, to create a free
satellite platform (Tivù Sat), which,
launched in July 2009, offers viewers
the chance to access free digital
channels via satellite.
Satellite is also used to distribute Rai's
international offering, which includes
Raitalia, aimed at Italians living abroad,
Rai Med, aimed at the Arab community,
and Yes Italia, dedicated to promoting
the country-system abroad. These
channels are joined by Euronews, a
news and information channel
broadcast by a consortium of European
public broadcasters, including Rai.
Digital Internet protocol television (IPTV)
Iptv is another complementary
broadcasting channel with respect to
digital terrestrial television for Rai,
offering opportunities to expand and
diversify its offering. Unlike digital
terrestrial and satellite broadcasting, Iptv
allows a high level of interaction with
the public, as well as the customising of
view consumption thanks largely to the
video on demand (Vod) services
guaranteed by this technology.
Also in this segment, which is still
marginally used by Italian families, Rai
has always been highly active, with the
development of a dedicated offering
which aims to exploit the potential of
this platform.
Rai is present, only on the platform
managed by the Fastweb operator, with
the rebroadcasting of the generalinterest
channels and Rai Sport Più, and also with a video on demand service
called 'Rai On', split into several themebased
channels featuring current and
past Rai programmes.
Internet
Together with DTT, the web represents a
central platform in Rai's programming
and industrial strategy, both in the light
of its growing popularity with Italian
families and due to its ability to
determine in-depth innovation in the
offering, consumption and business
models.
Rai's Internet offering was renewed in
terms of form and content in 2009,
making it very extensive and even more
well known for its wealth of multimedia
elements (video, audio etc.).
Exploiting the growing diffusion of
broadband among Italian households
and the increased interest of users in
this type of content, it is manifesting
important growth trends as regards
traffic.
Rai.it aggregates and increases the
accessibility to the vast web offering of
the public service broadcaster, which
comprises the information websites of
Rai news programmes, those of the
main radio and television channels and
programmes, as well as an area
dedicated to children. Rai.it also
proposes a series of important and
interesting services for users, such as
the programming guide to all Rai radio
and TV channels and the community,
which enables interaction with the
favourite Rai personalities and
programmes, as well as with other fans
who share this passion. The
appearance and content of Rai.it can
be customised.
Rai.tv is the environment through
which it is possible to access the whole
Rai audio-video offering available on
the Internet, via an advanced graphic
interface.
Through Rai.tv it is possible to watch all
Rai television channels live, from the
general-interest channels to the
specialised channels. It is also possible
to listen to all the radio channels.
Tens of thousands of audio-visual items
are also available on demand, some of
which can even be downloaded.
The Rai.tv offering is completed with a
selection of video on demand contents
proposed in high quality, along with
web TV channels which propose themebased
contents taken from recent and
past Rai productions, as well as events
or original contents produced especially
for this purpose. Ra.tv can also be
customised by users.
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