| Rai News 24 | |
| Picture Format: | 1080i HDTV |
| Country: | Italy |
| Language: | Italian |
| Area: | Italy |
| Headquarters: | Rome, Italy |
| Owner: | Rai |
| Sister Channels: | Rai 1 Rai 2 Rai 3 Rai 4 Rai 5 Rai Gulp Rai Movie Rai Premium Rai Scuola Rai Sport Rai Storia Rai Yoyo Rai Ladinia Rai Südtirol Rai Italia |
| Former Names: | RaiNews 24 (1999–2010) Rai News (2010–2013) |
| Terr Serv 1: | Digital terrestrial television |
| Terr Chan 1: | Channel 48 (HD) Channel 548 (SD) |
| Online Serv 1: | RaiPlay |
| Online Chan 1: | Live Streaming |
| Online Serv 2: | Sling TV |
| Online Chan 2: | Channel 138 |
Rai News 24 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's all-news television channel, and is known for its 24-hour rolling news service and its live coverage of breaking news.
It was launched on 26 April 1999, at 6am. Until 19 May 2000, the channel broadcast live on weekdays only and re-aired previous recordings during the weekend. On 4 January 2017, the channel launched its own HD feed. Since 25 March 2022, during the Russo-Ukrainian war crisis, the channel has started broadcasting the news in the Ukrainian language, too.
In the beginning, Rai News 24 was directed by .
The channel experimented with solutions that were then unusual in Italy, integrating television, Network and digital technologies: the choice of multi-screen graphics, designed by Giuseppe Rogolino, was significant, as was the widespread use of connections in video conference with correspondents and experts. In particular, to reduce the number of bits necessary for coding of the signal, the screen was divided into various windows: the window occupied by the television signal occupied just under half the number of total pixels, as the other parts of the screen contained informative texts regarding the exact time, major news headlines, stock exchange and currency indices, the weather forecast, the addresses of the in-depth Internet sites for the various news and the logo of the news or column on air at that moment.
In the graphics, three text fields and two videos appeared simultaneously, so as to make the news come up even without listening to the audio, with an architecture based on HTML.
Until 19 May 2000, the channel broadcast live from Monday to Friday, offering only re-runs on Saturdays and Sundays. From the next day, the live broadcasts are also extended to these last two days.[1]
At the end of 2005, Rai News 24 scored various exclusives on the war in Iraq, informing of the use of weapons such as white phosphorus or napalm (through an investigation by Sigfrido Ranucci[2]) by the US military, and the combat behaviour of some Italian soldiers in Nassiriya. These and other journalistic results have been obtained despite the considerable scarcity of economic and technological resources compared to the other major Rai newspapers (the first budget was only 42 billion lire, of which 10 was only for editorial expenses). The issue recurred several times in the following years.
On 10 November 2006, Rai News 24 opened its own official channel on YouTube,[3] with videos taken from the news and programmes aired, removed in 2014 due to the end of the collaboration between Rai and the video sharing site.[4]
On 25 November 2006, with the direction of Corradino Mineo, the channel inaugurated a new logo, a new initials and a new full-screen graphic design, designed once again by Giuseppe Rogolino, which will subsequently undergo a modification by the graphic designer Marco di Cesare.[5] Double conduction was also introduced for some editions of the news. In collaboration with Rai 3, we are working on the creation of a newscast in Arabic for Rai Med. In the same period, the channel also lands on digital terrestrial.
Between 2010 and 2012, thanks also to the transition to digital terrestrial, Rai News 24 recorded a development in terms of ratings, but some contrasts arose between the editorial staff and the publisher Rai for various reasons.
On 3 May 2010, Rai decided that the simulcast of the channel on Rai 3 would end early at 7 am, to make room for Buongiorno Italia, a new programme by TGR, but this decision is not welcomed by the editorial staff.[6]
On 18 May 2010, on the occasion of the television transition to digital terrestrial in Lombardy and eastern Piedmont,[7] Rai launches the new corporate graphic identity and the new television offer. In this perspective, Rai News 24 simply became Rai News (without the 24), consequently adopting a new graphic, for which the editorial staff reports technical problems, readability and functionality, in particular during the broadcast of the latest news.[8]
On the same day, the range of channels was expanded, with the birth of Rai Sport 2. This involves Rai Way moving the channel from mux B to mux A (from mux 3 to mux 1 in all-digital areas). Due to a change in the technical parameters related to tuning, on the satellite frequency previously in use, the Rai Sport 2 signal is activated: therefore Rai News is inadmissible until a new tuning.[9] Spectators from various parts of Italy complain of reception problems on both platforms[8] and interruptions of live TV.
Following this, journalists decide to interrupt the programming of Rai News and convene an extraordinary meeting of the editorial committee in the studio, broadcast live on the channel (under the control of Vittorio Di Trapani). The assembly is attended by the secretary of the Associazione Stampa Romana, Paolo Butturini, who announces his intention to denounce Rai for interruption of public service and talking openly about obscuring the channel.[10] [11] [12]
Rai responds with a statement[13] in which they have recisively denies having obscured the channel and declares to have notified the editorial staff of the imminent technical intervention. On another note the publisher reiterates the strategic role of Rai News, assuring that it has duly alerted viewers to the need for a new tuning of the devices (Rai Way communication of May 17, 2010[14]). Rai states, among other things, that the displacement of multiplexes guarantees Rai News greater national coverage and the possibility of broadcasting regional programs (a technically impossible procedure on a multiplex with isofrequency transmission such as Rai Mux B). For September, in fact, the shift of the night edition of the regional news from Rai 3 to Rai News is foreshadowed, but both the editorial staff of TGR and that of Rai News will not approve this choice and will later obtain its cancellation.[15]
On 29 August 2011, Rai News 24 passed into a new interim studio to allow some renovations of the previous one. On this occasion, new technical solutions were tested: diode lighting, capable of reducing fuel consumption and thermal dispersion, and new remote-controlled cameras.[16]
Starting from October 2011 the channel, by corporate choice, hosts some daily columns of the TGR, namely Piazza Affari (currently broadcast on Rai 3) and Italia Sera (scheduled at 22:00 and closed the following December). Both TGR and Rai News do not approve of these variations of the scheduling.[17]
In the same month, the director Corradino Mineo explained (in an editorial and in some interviews with other newspapers) the difficulties of Rai News in operating efficiently, due to the scarce technical means and collaborators available, a circumstance in his opinion linked to the company's lack of interest in the network.[18] [19] The director complains, in particular, of the lack of recording operators in the studio, with the consequent obligation to adopt fixed cameras (and therefore a low quality of the television image),[20] the poverty of graphics, (due to the absence of a newsroom specifically in charge of its management), the shortage of staff and multiple other problems.
On 15 December 2011, Rai News renewed the theme song and graphics, with the transition to the panoramic format, becoming the first Rai newscast to broadcast with this aspect ratio. Rai also announced the new version of the historic studio of the channel for the first months of 2012,[21] but in fact the project only materialized in early 2013.
Since March 2012, along the lines of the competing news channel TGcom24, Rai News has begun to make flash news broadcasts on other Rai digital channels as "information pills" (which among other things have the effect of promoting the network). In addition, for the cost containment policy practised by Rai, the channel's budget is reduced by 300,000 euros,[22] which thus drops to just over five million euros.
In the same year, Rai planned a merger of Rai News and Televideo, entrusting the task to deputy general director Antonio Marano, but this idea also did not meet the approval of the two newspapers.[23]
On 8 January 2013, Corradino Mineo left the management of the channel, as a candidate for leader in the Senate of the Republic in the Sicilian lists of the Democratic Party. Two days after the Board of Directors of Rai, the former presenter and head of the TG1 specials Monica Maggioni was appointed to the management.
On 24 February 2013, at 7:00, the channel resumed the historical name of Rai News 24, while setting up a new studio.[24] [25] [26]
On 14 June 2013, the Board of Directors of Rai[27] ratified the merger of the editorial staff of Rai News 24 with that of,[28] prodrome to the birth of the unified newspaper Rai News and the portal of the same name, which becomes a reality on 1 December, to which Rai entrusts the task of acting as the main reference of Rai information on the network, joining the sites of Rai News 24 and Televideo in a single portal.
Maggioni also modified the editorial line of the channel, focusing mainly on current events and live events.[29] The schedule also changes, also launching new program: Di Mattina, conducted initially by Silvana Pepe, then by Roberto Vicaretti and Emanuela Bonchino; With the time running, conducted by Alessandro Baracchini and Paolo Cappelli; All in an hour, conducted by Silvana Pepe from 20:00 to 21:00. In addition, the economic resources and the technical and human resources available are considerably increased.
On the ratings front, in 2013 Rai News 24 showed a slight increase in average listening compared to the previous year, while the 2014 index revealed a drop of 11% compared to the previous year and the previous year. Nevertheless, Rai News 24 however its primacy among the news channels in Italy.[30] [31] Some newspapers and political exponents judged such results poor compared to investments,[32] while the Rainews.it portal obtained the 300º place among the most visited sites by Italian users.[33] [34]
On 24 May 2024 Rai News 24 started using YouTube again with videos not from the news and programs broadcast on TV.[35]
Note:
Press Review is where newspapers are reviewed and read to the television audience with commentary that is watching from home.
During the evening press review that is broadcast as Sera24 or Rassenga Stampa (22:30-00:00 on weekdays and 23:15-00:00 on weekends), there are usually guests (mostly journalists from newspapers) that discuss the next day headlines/topics with the presenter.
Morning press reviews are done at 7 am and 8:30 am on weekdays. In the 8:30 am morning press reviews edition, there is usually a guest invited to discuss the newspaper headlines. On weekends, press reviews are broadcast at 7:30 am and then rebroadcast at 8:30 am. On holidays, press reviews are done at 7:30 am and at 8:30 am.
The world (or international) press review is done on weekdays at 7:45 am and is later rebroadcast at 9:45 am to discuss the world newspapers' headlines.
| Program Name | Description | Time slot | Presenter | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cronache dall'Italia | Weekday show featuring Italy top news headlines with live reporting | Weekdays, 9:30 to 9:45am | Various presenters but it usually the person that does Rassenga Stampa during Mattina 24 | |
| Economica 24 | Discussion of the economy with guests | Weekdays, 17:30 to 18:00 (except summer and holidays) | Cristina Raschio, Riccardo Cavalliere, Raffaele Cappuccio, Annalisa Salsano, Alessandro Marchetti | |
| Focus 24 | This is a rebroadcast of an earlier interview or discussion that happened earlier in the day or from the previous day that focuses on a specific topic. The run time is usually between 5 and 12 minutes. | Various times throughout the week but usually after 19:30 and the next day between 12 am and 5 am. | Not applicable | |
| In un'ora | Discussion of today's headlines in 1 hour with guests | Weekdays, 18:30 to 19:30 (except summer and holidays) |
| |
| Lo Stato dell'Unione | Discussion of European Politics with guests | Sundays, 10:30 to 11:30 am | Donato Bendicenti | |
| Mattina 24 (2022–present) | Weekday morning show featuring the top headlines. When the show is broadcast again at 7:30 am, the presenter summaries the news headline and then proceed to discuss Italy's arts, culture and society, news and events with guests. This broadcast is also known as Finestra sull'Italia | Weekdays, 6 to 7 am and 7:30 to 7:45 am (except summer and holidays) |
| |
| News in English (2022–present) | Top stories of the day presented in English language | Weekdays, 13:30 to 13:35 | Helen Viola | |
| Periferie (2023-) | TBA | Saturday, 11:05 am to 12:00 pm | Lorenzo Lo Basso and Annalisa Fantilli | |
| Pomeriggio 24 | TBA | Weekdays, 14:30 to 16:00 (except summer and holidays) |
| |
| TEЛEНOBИHИ - TG in lingua ucraina (26 March 2022 – present) | Ukraine News in Ukrainian language | 7 days a week, 15:00 to 15:05 | Not applicable | |
| Specchio dei tiempi | Discussion of politics, economy and other news with guests | Weekdays, 10 to 11am (except summer and holidays) | Roberto Vicaretti | |
| Sport 24 |
|
|
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Note: The above programme may be reaired at other times throughout the week until a new episode of that programme is aired. Dates indicated in parentheses are when a new episode of that programme is usually out.