Rai 1


Rai 1 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's flagship television channel and is known for broadcasting mainstream and generalist programming, usually aimed towards families, including TG1 news bulletins, prime time drama, cinema and entertainment, and major breaking news, sports and special events.
It was launched on 3 January 1954 as the first regular television service in Italy. It was the only one until 4 November 1961, when RAI launched a second channel. The channel was initially referred to as "Programma Nazionale". It received other names, such as "Rete 1" and "Raiuno" until it adopted its current name "Rai 1". It has the highest viewership in Italy and regularly competes with Mediaset's Canale 5.
In Europe, it is available in free-to-air satellite broadcast from Hot Bird 13B. Since Sky Italia receives the signal directly from its satellite, the Rai channels are subject to content restrictions, as the same satellite signal is used to cover all of Europe. In September 2020, the Rai and Mediaset channels on Sky started airing commercials for Tivùsat during encrypted programming.

History

Early years

The first television channel receivable in Italy started its experimental broadcasts in 1934. After the interruption caused by the Second World War, it was reinstated in 1949 from Triennale di Milano and for its presentation, Corrado Mantoni was selected, already noted for his radio work and especially for the announcement of the end of the conflict. Its regular broadcasts started at 11am on Sunday, January 3, 1954. Initially, the channel had no official name, because it was directly identified as Rai TV, which was the name of the company.
The first set of programming for Rai 1 was almost completely educational with no advertising, except for the popular Carosello. Early shows were meant to teach a common language to a country torn apart by World War II. Shows like Non è mai troppo tardi... were simply shot in a classroom setting and meant to help with reconstruction. While televisions were not widely available nor affordable, those who could spend the money on them became community leaders and often invited the neighbourhood to visit. Bars and cafés turned from places where men would meet to argue or play cards into miniature cinemas where arguments over what show to watch would break out. Women and children were also more accepted inside the bars due to the lack of men post-war and their need to enter working society. Churches also bought televisions are a means of drawing people to spend time as part of those communities.
The Sanremo Music Festival, until then broadcast exclusively on radio, began television broadcasts in 1955, and since 1956, it carried the Eurovision Song Contest, which was derived from Sanremo.

1960s

In the 1960s, with the advent of the economic boom, television, up until then a luxury item, turned into a mass object. On 4 November 1961, Rai launched its second network while the existing Rai channel was renamed Programma Nazionale.

Rai reforms

The Rai reforms of 1975 introduced new norms related to the television reform: among other things, control of the public service passed from the Government to Parliament, cable broadcasts were regulated and each channel was assigned its own management. Telegiornale, which until then was a single unit that produced bulletins for both networks, was divided into two different newspapers: TG1 for the first channel and TG2 for the second. The first news programs under the new names were broadcast starting from 15 March 1976. On 5 April 1976, the National Program took on the name Rete 1.
The reform also provided for the establishment of the role of network director, guarantor figure for the contents broadcast by the channel, as well as that of the news director; the first directors of Rete 1 and TG1 were respectively Mimmo Scarano and Emilio Rossi, both Christian Democrats, appointed on 2 December 1975.
In 1977, the Carosello strand ended after a 20-year run; in the same year, Rai, after six years of trying, started producing its own programs in color, giving birth to the Italian neotelevisione period.

1980s

After losing its television monopoly at a local scale in the previous decades, Rai lost it at a national scale; in 1980 the broadcasts of Canale 5 began, and in 1982, those of the Italia 1 and Rete 4 began.
Shortly after the launch of Rete 4, the three public channels changed names: on 2 October 1983, the three channels removed the word "Rete", replacing it with the current "Rai". In the same year, the logos for the three networks were created: Rai 1 was represented by a blue sphere. The name change occurred to prevent Rete 4 from being mistaken for a RAI channel.
By early 1988, some 14 million viewers watched TG1, with the vast majority of which remaining with the channel after the main edition ended.

2000s

In 2002, Fabrizio Del Noce, akin to Forza Italia, became the channel's director.

High-definition feed

The channel launched an HDTV 1080i simulcast in September 2013, available nationwide on subscription-television providers and on DTT. Previously, HD programmes used to be aired on Rai HD.

Broadcast in outside Italy

In Slovenia, France, Greece, Austria, Lebanon, Hungary, Switzerland, Croatia, Lithuania, San Marino and Vatican City. The channel is also available to watch on satellite via Hellas Sat 4.
The channel used to be carried terrestrially in northern Tunisia. The secular audience in its catchment area preferred it to Tunisia's two channels, which were religiously charged at the time. It was also included on the legal Israeli cable networks when they started in 1989.
The three main Rai channels distributed over satellite are subject to content restrictions. This issue was criticized by Eurodeputee Gianni Pittella in September 2005, especially following its acquisition of the rights to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, claiming that the Italian diaspora in Europe was penalized for the blocking.

Logos

Directors of Rai 1

From June 2022, as part of a management reorganization of Rai, network management has been abolished in favour of gender ones.

Current programmes

Events

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  • David di Donatello
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  • Eurovision Song Contest
  • Festival di Castrocaro
  • Junior Eurovision Song Contest
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  • Notte della Taranta
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  • Prix Italia
  • Oscars - La notte in diretta
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  • Sanremo Music Festival
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  • TIM Music Awards
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  • ''Zecchino d'Oro''

    Shows in prime time

  • Ballando con le stelle
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  • The Voice Senior
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  • The Voice Kids
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    Game shows

  • L'eredità
  • Affari tuoi
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    Daytime entertainment

  • Domenica in
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  • Unomattina in famiglia
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    Disclosure and culture

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  • ', focusing on the Mediterranean Sea and shores
  • Overland
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  • Milleeunlibro - Scrittori in tv
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    News and information

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  • TG1
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  • Unomattina
  • TG Parlamento
  • Porta a porta
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  • Storie di sera
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  • Editing

  • , a programme using video clips, images, and vintage films from the RAI archive and connected to each other based on a specific. theme, thread, or character.
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    Entertainment

  • Il cantante mascherato
  • Arena Suzuki

    Documentaries and culture

  • Quark Atlante, SuperQuark Saturday afternoon spin-off, focusing on wilderness and adventure
  • Linea Verde, focusing on wilderness, agriculture and rural cooking, hosted by Patrizio Roversi and Daniela Ferolla
  • Overland World Truck Expedition, adventure and documentary expeditions
  • Rewind – Visioni private, focusing on TV history
  • Magazzini Einstein, focusing on arts and culture

    TV series

  • Il Commissario Montalbano, with Luca Zingaretti, produced in HD since Season 9
  • Il giovane Montalbano, with Michele Riondino and Alessio Vassallo, produced in HD
  • Don Matteo, with Terence Hill, Nino Frassica and Natalie Guetta, produced in HD since Season 7
  • Un passo dal cielo, with Terence Hill, produced in HD
  • Fuoriclasse, with Luciana Littizzetto, produced in HD
  • Che Dio ci aiuti, with Elena Sofia Ricci, produced in HD
  • Der letzte Bulle, with Henning Baum and, produced in HD
  • Provaci ancora prof, with Veronica Pivetti and Enzo Decaro, produced in HD since Season 5
  • Questo nostro amore, historical drama with Anna Valle and Neri Marcorè, produced in HD
  • Um Himmels Willen, with Fritz Wepper, produced in HD since Season 8
  • Un medico in famiglia, with Lino Banfi, Giulio Scarpati and Margot Sikabonyi, produced in HD since Season 6
  • Una pallottola nel cuore, with Gigi Proietti, produced in HD

    Sports

  • FIFA World Cup Finals
  • UEFA Europa League
  • UEFA Conference League
  • UEFA European Championship
  • UEFA European Under-21 Championship
  • UEFA Nations League
  • Italy national football team: Nations League, qualifiers, friendlies, and finals tournament