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|
| Logo used since 2016 | |
| Country | Italy |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Rome, Italy |
| Programming | |
| Language | Italian |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | RAI |
| Sister channels | Rai 2 Rai 3 Rai 4 Rai 5 Rai Gulp Rai Movie Rai News 24 Rai Premium Rai Scuola Rai Sport Rai Storia Rai Yoyo Rai Ladinia Rai Südtirol Rai Italia |
| History | |
| Launched | 3 January 1954 |
| Former names | Programma Nazionale (1953–1975) Rete 1 (1975–1983) Rai Uno (1983–2010) |
| Links | |
| Website | rai.it/rai1 |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Digital terrestrial television | Channel 1 (HD) Channel 501 (HbbTV) |
| Streaming media | |
| RaiPlay | Live streaming (only in Italy) |
Rai 1 (Italian: [ˈraiˈuːno] ) 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. [1] 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. [2]
The first television channel receivable in Italy started its experimental broadcasts in 1934. [3] 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, [4] 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. [5] [6] Initially, the channel had no official name, because it was directly identified as Rai TV, which was the name of the company.
La Rai − Radiotelevisione Italiana inizia oggi il suo regolare servizio di trasmissioni televisive.
Rai – Italian Radiotelevision starts its regular television broadcasting service today.
— Fulvia Colombo announcing the start of TV broadcasting, 3 January 1954
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, [7] and since 1956 (though for a few years seen on other networks of the corporation), it carried the Eurovision Song Contest, which was derived from Sanremo.
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 (Secondo Programma, the current Rai 2) while the existing Rai channel was renamed Programma Nazionale. [8]
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 (thus encouraging the creation of local private TV) and each channel was assigned its own management. [9] 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 (Network 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. [10]
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.
After losing its television monopoly at a local scale in the previous decades, Rai lost it at a national scale; [11] in 1980 the broadcasts of Canale 5 (owned by Fininvest of Milanese publisher Silvio Berlusconi) began, and in 1982, those of the Italia 1 (owned by Rusconi) and Rete 4 (owned by Mondadori) 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. [12]
In 2002, Fabrizio Del Noce, akin to Forza Italia, became the channel's director. [13]
The channel launched an HDTV 1080i simulcast in September 2013, available nationwide on subscription-television providers and on DTT (channel 1). Previously, HD programmes used to be aired on Rai HD.
In Slovenia, France (except Monaco), 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. [14] It was also included on the legal Israeli cable networks when they started in 1989. [15]
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. [16]
| Name | Period |
|---|---|
| Giuseppe Matteucci | 3 January 1954 - 14 March 1976 |
| Mimmo Scarano | 15 March 1976 - 6 March 1980 |
| Paolo Valmarana | 7 March - 9 October 1980 (ad interim) |
| Emmanuele Milano | 10 October 1980 - 6 April 1987 |
| Giuseppe Rossini | 7 April 1987 - 8 December 1988 |
| Carlo Fuscagni | 9 December 1988 - 25 October 1993 |
| Nadio Delai | 26 October 1993 - 16 September 1994 |
| Brando Giordani | 17 September 1994 - 14 August 1996 |
| Giovanni Tantillo | 15 August 1996 - 31 May 1998 |
| Agostino Saccà | 1 June 1998 - 18 June 2000 |
| 30 April 2001 - 5 May 2002 | |
| Pier Luigi Celli | 19 June - 10 September 2000 |
| Maurizio Beretta | 11 September 2000 - 29 April 2001 |
| Fabrizio Del Noce | 6 May 2002 - 27 May 2009 |
| Mauro Mazza | 28 May 2009 - 28 November 2012 |
| Giancarlo Leone | 29 November 2012 - 17 February 2016 |
| Andrea Fabiano | 18 February 2016 - 11 October 2017 |
| Angelo Teodoli | 12 October 2017 - 26 November 2018 |
| Teresa De Santis | 27 November 2018 - 14 January 2020 |
| Stefano Coletta | 14 January 2020 - June 2022 |
From June 2022, as part of a management reorganization of Rai, network management has been abolished in favour of gender ones.
Until the autumn 1976/77 season, regular broadcasting was in monochrome (black and white), with very few exceptions (shown in bold). Regular colour broadcasting began during the winter 1976/77 season.
Auditel data related to the average monthly day on the target of viewers over the age of 4. [31]
Since May 2022, the ratings evaluation criteria have changed. [32]
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 19,22% | 21,10% | 19,32% | 18,31% | 18,36% | 19,09% | 15,84% | 14,47% | 17,08% | 17,99% | 18,83% | 18,07% | 18,09% |
| 2013 | 18,59% | 20,89% | 19,38% | 18,47% | 18,26% | 16,48% | 15,98% | 15,91% | 16,51% | 17,22% | 17,86% | 16,64% | 17,81% |
| 2014 | 17,58% | 18,84% | 17,52% | 16,83% | 16,26% | 17,94% | 16,63% | 15,30% | 16,84% | 17,95% | 18,11% | 17,54% | 17,35% |
| 2015 | 17,33% | 19,70% | 16,86% | 16,84% | 16,57% | 15,54% | 15,34% | 15,61% | 16,89% | 17,50% | 17,30% | 17,11% | 16,96% |
| 2016 | 17,60% | 20,01% | 17,72% | 17,31% | 16,59% | 17,94% | 14,97% | 13,45% | 15,49% | 15,85% | 15,79% | 15,65% | 16,63% |
| 2017 | 17,19% | 19,26% | 17,30% | 16,95% | 16,54% | 15,99% | 14,99% | 15,20% | 16,25% | 15,90% | 16,68% | 16,55% | 16,64% |
| 2018 | 17,22% | 19,86% | 17,05% | 17,09% | 16,51% | 14,38% | 14,59% | 16,20% | 17,23% | 16,36% | 16,41% | 16,47% | 16,70% |
| 2019 | 16,86% | 19,64% | 16,58% | 16,60% | 16,29% | 15,44% | 14,31% | 14,05% | 15,65% | 16,20% | 16,41% | 16,19% | 16,28% |
| 2020 | 17,12% | 20,56% | 16,94% | 15,76% | 15,69% | 15,85% | 14,55% | 14,80% | 15,50% | 16,55% | 16,78% | 16,27% | 16,36% |
| 2021 | 16,41% | 16,57% | 19,10% | 15,76% | 16,96% | 18,77% | 17,05% | 14,55% | 16,31% | 17,15% | 17,52% | 17,20% | 17,13% |
| 2022 | 17,32% | 21,20% | 17,42% | 16,69% | 18,63% | 17,08% | 15,89% | 16,09% | 18,56% | 19,01% | 19,08% | 20,15% | 18,18% |
| 2023 | 19,34% | 23,52% | 18,76% | 17,90% | 18,21% | 16,93% | 15,98% | 15,83% | 17,10% | 18,48% | 18,22% | 17,76% | 18,28% |
| 2024 | 18,55% | 23,46% | 19,08% | 18,34% | 17,60% | 18,09% | 15,83% | 14,01% | 17,25% | 18,01% | 18,19% | 18,60% | 18,19% |
| 2025 | 19,42% | 23,93% | 19,55% | 18,93% | 18,60% | 17,16% |