Rai Trade

Turnover in 2009 amounted to 79 million euros, with a net result of 2.4 million euros, in line with 2008. This result, which is of particular significance considering the general and severe market recession, was achieved thanks to various initiatives in a number of different business areas.

Sport

Revenues from the sales of Sport amounted to about 22 million euros in 2009, growing compared to 2008, and contributed significantly to company margins.

The final results were characterised by the following main activities:

- the joint distribution deal with Sportfive of the international broadcasting rights for the Italian Football Championship;
- the cycling events included in the RCS packet (Giro d'Italia, Milano- Sanremo, Giro di Lombardia and Tirreno-Adriatico), the home matches played by the Italian national football team (qualifying rounds and friendly matches);
- the acquisition of the media rights to market the friendly match played by the Italian national football team against New Zealand, in South Africa;
- the international sale of the themebased channels of Inter, Juventus and Roma, which confirmed the previous year's excellent results.

Musical productions and publications

During 2009, the Musical Productions and Publications Division consolidated its performance level, with revenues of over 19 million euros. In detail: soundtracks, radio and TV productions, record production, contemporary and cultured music and prose, media wave (the customisable communication system for the management and diffusion of audio and video programming, pictures and texts in public areas).

Marketing of TV, Home Video and Theme-based channels

As regards foreign sales, this sector recorded a result of 5.5 million euros, despite the economic recession and the lack of serial products of international level.

The results achieved by the Cinema and TV Fiction Series sector in terms of Italian sales were satisfactory, with revenues amounting to about 8 million euros and significant growth linked to the increase in revenues from the sale of licences.

During 2009, Home Video production activities enabled the distribution of 22 series through newsagents, for a total of 225 products.

The distribution activity was made possible thanks to entry into commercial agreements with the main Italian publishers. These included:
- a set of 30 DVDs distributed by the Corriere della Sera, entitled 'Viaggio nella Scienza';
- a set of 16 DVDs distributed by La Gazzetta dello Sport and dedicated to the programme SuperGulp which went on air in the 70s, to give youngsters the chance to rediscover the legendary characters of the cartoons broadcast at the time;
- a set of 16 DVDs dedicated to the Giro d'Italia;
- a set of 13 DVDs, curated by Piero Melograni, dedicated to the Second World War.

The turnover of the Theme-based channels exceeded 7 million euros, including revenues from foreign sales.

Subscribers in 2009 were down slightly in comparison to 2008, as the permanent introduction onto the market of digital terrestrial broadcasting, the new frontier for distribution, increased the rate of cancellation of subscriptions to Sky by users of the channels dedicated to football.

The stability of revenues, in the current economic situation, was achieved by renewing the distribution agreement with Sky, subject to renegotiation during the year, at much better conditions than before. A development plan for the relaunch of advertising income was developed, as this sector had touched extremely unsatisfactory levels in 2008, leading to the change of the concession holder by mutual agreement.

2009 confirmed the importance of the framework agreements entered into by Rai Trade to enhance the value of Rai's repertory, consolidating revenues by over 2.5 million euros. The framework agreements allowed Rai Trade to disseminate knowledge of the Teche and the heritage of the archives.

Initiatives within the New Media sphere

In comparison with the previous year, 2009 was particularly favourable for Digital Extension activities, with a significant improvement in sales (about two million euros compared to the one million of 2008). This was largely due to the Sanremo Web and Ballando Web initiatives developed, with a commitment towards promotion of direct interaction of the Rai programmes with viewers, also prior to their going on air, offering anyone the possibility to get up on stage during the finals of both programmes to display their talents.

These new forms of interaction were also beneficial to Rai web offering which, thanks to the above initiatives, obtained a record number of contacts and access to the website linked to the two formats.

In 2009 the first games for prizes (serials) linked to Affari Tuoi, la Prova del Cuoco and L'Eredità were developed, the latter having much better results than expected, which had very positive effects on economic results overall.

Lastly, the Digital Extension sector released onto the market the first application in Italy for Apple iPhone terminals linked to the television programme X Factor and is getting ready to launch one for L'Isola dei Famosi and for RadioRai.

Cartoons

The thirteenth edition of Cartoons on the Bay, the International Television Cartoons Festival, was held for the first time in Rapallo and Portofino from 5 to 8 April 2009.

Thanks to a series of factors like an opening up to cross-media, the change of location and a new editorial programme to renew content, the event was extremely successful with both audiences and the press. 404 programmes from 46 countries were chosen to compete in the Official Selection of the Festival.

Proof of the effectiveness of the new formula, which attracted a broader range of sponsors, lies in the fact that Cartoons on the Bay succeeded in bringing to Italy for the first time Yoshiyiuki Tomino, the creator of Gundam, and Talus Taylor, the creator of Barbapapa.

Promotional events

Once again in 2009 Rai Trade Screenings and international markets represented the most important means of communication and promotion for Rai Trade, which was present with its sales force on about 25 international markets, also taking part in the most important international festivals and awards ceremonies.

Consumer product

In 2009 the Licensing sector confirmed the previous year's turnover levels; once again, the brands that contributed most to the excellent performance were those linked to the two programmes which have also been confirmed as Auditel champions for years: Affari Tuoi and La Prova del Cuoco.