Television in Italy was introduced in 1939, when the first experimental broadcasts began. However, this lasted for a very short time: when fascist
Italy entered World War II in 1940 all transmissions were interrupted,
and were resumed in earnest only nine years after the end of the
conflict, on January 3, 1954.
There are two main national television organisations responsible for most viewing: state-owned RAI, accounting for 37% of the total viewing figures in May 2014,
and Mediaset, a commercial network which holds about 33%.
The third largest player, the Italian branch of
Discovery Communications, had a viewing share of 5.8%.
Apart from these three free to air companies, News Corporation's satellite pay TV platform
Sky Italia is increasing in viewing and shares.
According to BBC, the Italian television industry is widely considered both inside and outside the country to be overtly politicized.
Unlike the
BBC which is controlled by an independent trust,
the public broadcaster RAI is under direct control of the parliament.
According to a December 2008 poll, only 24% of Italians trusted
television news programmes,
compared unfavourably to the British rate of 38%, making Italy one of
only three examined countries where online sources are considered more
reliable than television ones for information.
Satellite television
Italy has had digital satellite broadcasts since 1997, with the launch of
Stream TV and
TELE+. In 2003 these merged into
SKY Italia, today this pay TV platform is broadcasting from Hotbird satellites. HDTV regular services started in June 2006 under the name
SKY HD, with the broadcasting of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in High Definition. Additional movie and sport channels are planned for the service.
Tivù Sat, a Free Satellite Service similar to the UK version
Freesat,
was launched in June 2009, ensuring access to national television
channels from digital terrestrial television networks. Shareholders
include Mediaset, Telecom Italia Media and the State Owned Company RAI.
Cable television
Italy currently has the lowest percentage (less than 1%) of transmissions from cable television of almost all of the world's developed countries.
In the 1960s the public television network RAI was a monopoly and the
only network authorized to broadcast in Italy. Giuseppe Sacchi, a
former RAI editor, launched on April 21, 1971 the first "free"
television station, called
Telebiella and based in Biella. It started to broadcast on April 6, 1972, devoted primarily to news and information. Immediately the government led by Giulio Andreotti
forced Sacchi to dismantle Telebiella. Later a new law was issued to
regulate and allow cable broadcasting, although with tight limitations:
only one cable system for every city and only one TV channel for each
system. Cable television remained undeveloped for many years, with the
exception of a few amateur projects. In the 1990s, first
Telecom Italia and then
FASTWEB created
Optical fiber networks and launched their
IPTV offers (however associated with
SKY Italia or
Mediaset Premium subscriptions). IPTV was the only service to offer Video On Demand up until 2009.
Pay television providers
Current providers
- Cubovision (Telecom Italia), with almost 500,000 households (transmission: IPTV)
- Europa 7 HD (Centro Europa 7 srl), unknown households (transmission: DTT)
- Mediaset Premium (Mediaset), with more than 3 million households (transmission: DTT; IPTV)
- Sky Italia (BSKYB), with about 5 million households (transmission: DTH; IPTV)
- Luci Rosse TV (porn, erotic pay TV)
Defunct providers
List of nationwide television stations
Most important all national free-to-view channels
All channels broadcast 24 hours, are in 16:9 SDTV format and also FTA ond digital satellite. The channels from 10 to 19 are made available for Italian regional television.
RAI is Italy's national public broadcasting company, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI's broadcasts are also received in neighboring countries, including Albania, Croatia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, Slovenia, Vatican City, and southern Switzerland. It's one of the 23 founding broadcasting organizations of the
European Broadcasting Union.
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
|
Rai 1 |
001 |
1954 |
generalist |
|
|
Rai 2 |
002 |
1961 |
generalist |
|
|
Rai 3 |
003 |
1979 |
generalist |
|
|
Rai 4 |
021 |
2008 |
TV series, movies and entertainment for young audience |
|
|
Rai 5 |
023 |
2010 |
cultured-oriented entertainment, documentaries |
|
|
Rai Movie |
024 |
1999 |
movies |
|
Rai Premium |
025 |
2010 |
best RAI's past programs |
|
|
Rai Gulp |
042 |
2007 |
cartoons, TV series and entertainment programs for teens |
|
|
Rai Yoyo |
043 |
2006 |
cartoons, TV series and entertainment programs for kids |
|
|
Rai News 24 |
048 |
1999 |
all news |
|
Rai Storia |
054 |
2009 |
documentaries focused on history |
|
|
Rai Sport 1 |
057 |
1999 |
live sports and news |
|
|
Rai Sport 2 |
058 |
2010 |
live sports and news |
|
|
Rai Scuola |
146 |
2009 |
educational |
Mediaset is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The group competes primarily against the public broadcaster and market leader
RAI. Due to their proximity to (or encirclement by) Italy, Albania, Croatia, Switzerland, Malta, San Marino, the Vatican City and Slovenia also receive Mediaset broadcasts. In addition to its domestic television interests, Mediaset also operates a series of news, entertainment and sport websites; holds 50.1% of the
Spanish broadcasting firm
Mediaset España Comunicación; owns the film production company Medusa Film; and heads a consortium which owns the television production house Endemol.
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
|
Rete 4 |
004 |
1982 |
generalist |
|
|
Canale 5 |
005 |
1980 |
generalist |
|
|
Italia 1 |
006 |
1982 |
generalist |
|
|
Iris |
022 |
2007 |
TV series, movies and cultured-oriented programs |
|
La 5 |
030 |
2010 |
TV series, movies, entertainment, reality shows, female-oriented channel |
|
Mediaset Extra |
034 |
2010 |
past and current cult shows from Mediaset channels |
|
Italia 2 |
035 |
2011 |
TV series, movies, entertainment, reality shows, male-oriented channel |
|
Top Crime |
039 |
2013 |
TV series and movies on the world of crime |
|
|
Boing |
040 |
2004 |
cartoons, TV series and entertainment programs for teens |
|
|
Cartoonito |
046 |
2011 |
cartoons, TV series and entertainment programs for kids |
|
TgCom24 |
051 |
2011 |
all news |
|
Novela |
123 |
2015 |
soap opera and TV series, female-oriented channel |
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
|
DeeJay TV |
009 |
2009 |
music, TV series and light entertainment |
|
|
Real Time |
031 |
2005 |
lifestyle |
|
Giallo |
038 |
2012 |
TV series and crime movies |
|
|
K2 |
041 |
2009 |
cartoons, TV series and entertainment programs for teens |
|
Frisbee |
044 |
2010 |
cartoons, TV series and entertainment programs for kids |
|
|
DMAX |
052 |
2011 |
factual-entertainment for the male audience |
|
Focus |
056 |
2012 |
documentaries |
Cairo Communication
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
|
La7 |
007 |
2001 |
TV series, movies, entertainment, cultured-oriented programs and news |
|
|
La7d |
029 |
2010 |
women infotainment, TV series, movies, light entertainment, La7 reviews |
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
|
Cielo |
026 |
2009 |
TV series, movies, light entertainment and news |
|
Sky Tg24 |
027 |
2015 |
24h all news |
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
|
MTV Italia |
008 |
1997 |
24-hour music and youth entertainment |
|
|
MTV Music Italia |
067 |
2011 |
24-hour music |
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
Super! |
047 |
2010 |
cartoons, TV series and entertainment programs for teens |
LT Multimedia
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
Alice |
221 |
2000 |
entertainment focused on food and cooking |
|
Leonardo |
061-222 |
2000 |
entertainment focused on home and design |
|
Marcopolo |
062-223 |
1997 |
entertainment focused on travel |
|
Nuvolari |
060-224 |
2000 |
entertainment focused on motors |
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
Radio Capital TV |
069 |
2011 |
music vintage |
|
m2o TV |
158 |
2011 |
music |
|
Onda Latina |
162 |
2012 |
Latin American music |
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
Gazzetta TV |
059 |
2015 |
sports and news |
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
|
Fine Living |
049 |
2014 |
factual entertainment |
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
La Effe |
050 |
2013 |
TV series, movies, cultural entertainment, news |
Becchetti Editore
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
Agon Channel |
033 |
2014 |
light entertainment and news |
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
|
RTL 102.5 TV |
036 |
2000 |
radio broadcast and news |
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
|
QVC |
032 |
2010 |
home shopping |
Home Shopping Europe
| Logo |
Channel |
LCN on DVB-T |
Launched |
Description |
|
HSE24 |
037 |
2011 |
home shopping |
