The idea of establishing an international award for radio art gradually germinated between 1947 and 1948 among some top RAI executives, first of all Salvino Sernesi, then General Director, together with Giulio Razzi, Sergio Pugliese, Alberto Mantelli and Gian Franco Zaffrani.
After much networking and diplomacy, finally on September 13th, 1948, the delegations of 14 radio broadcasters convened in Capri: Austria, the Vatican State, Egypt, France, Great Britain, Italy, Monaco, Holland, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia and Trieste, at that time a free territory, were all represented. An invitation to join the community was also extended to several other countries, and a number of cultural bodies, such as UNESCO, were attending as observers.

Thus founded in Capri in 1948 and inaugurated the following year, the Prix Italia was originally dedicated only to radio, then, in 1957, extended to TV productions and later, in 1998, to the new frontier of the Web. The establishment of the Prix Italia, in the years immediately following the catastrophe of the war, was part of the spirit of rebuilding and European cultural rebirth. However, the 14 founding organisations that drafted the first regulations were joined by representatives from Eastern European countries and from all over the world: the Prix Italia soon established itself as a bridge of peace and dialogue between cultures and social, political and religious differences.
The Prix Italia has accompanied all the great revolutions in broadcasting, at times orienting them and contributing to their affirmation: from the first public TVs to stereophonic radio, satellite broadcasting, the convergence to digital, up to the affirmation of modern VOD services, the social platforms, VR experimentations, the use of AI. The almost 12,000 products that have been presented in the competition over the years mirror the ongoing advancement of the technological and cultural frontier, the taste and the creative genius of countless men and women who have created and continue to shape a planetary language, and who meet every year at the Prix Italia around a common value of broadcasting quality.

Learn more about our history: read the Prix Italia Milestones and consult our Historical Roster.

Our historical booklets are available for download and consolidate the factual knowledge on Prix Italia, or deal with specific aspects of its history and culture. It is a small library that we plan to enrich over time: surely over 75 years of tradition offer plenty of material to get to work on! Please note: some publications may be updated periodically.

As early as the mid-1960s, the Prix Italia began to preserve the tapes of the works submitted for competition. In 2012, this vast repository was recovered and digitised. We are pleased to share with you our Historical Audio-Visual Archives, which is the result of a decades-long process of conservation, safeguarding, restoration and digitalising - a universal cultural heritage mirroring the memory and the identity of all of us.

For Prix Italia this is a fundamental asset at the service of its Community: you may access with the same credentials used for our competition platform (EPRIX number and password).
Consultation is also possible for students, academics and researchers prior to a written request sent to prixitalia@rai.it.

Historical Archive website:
https://archive.prixitalia.rai.it

If you forgot your password:
https://www.passwordmanagementrai.rai.it/Reset

The Prix Italia also has its own dedicated channel on RaiPlay, Rai's VOD player and OTT streaming service. Here you can find recordings of the events and media coverage over the last few years: for example, the Award Ceremonies, meetings and panels, interviews and so on.

Watch the Prix Italia on RaiPlay:
https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/prixitalia

We offer the catalogues of the latest editions for download. The catalogues are the official annual publication of the Prix Italia, featuring the profiles of all programmes presented in competition, complete with credits and synopsis. The catalogues of all editions, starting from 1949, can be consulted in our Historical Archives (see above).