Rai 2 is an Italian

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...

television channel owned and operated by state-owned

public broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting '' TG2'' news bulletins, talk shows, reality television, drama series, sitcoms and

infotainment Infotainment (a portmanteau of ''information'' and ''entertainment''), also called soft news as a way to distinguish it from serious journalism or hard news, is a type of media, usually television or online, that provides a combination of in ...

. In the 1980s it was known for its political affiliation to the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892 ...

, it has shifted recently its focus towards the youth, including in its schedule reality shows, entertainment, TV series, news, knowledge and sports. The second television channel in Italy, it was launched on 4 November 1961, seven years after RAI's first channel was launched on 3 January 1954. The channel was initially referred to as "Secondo Programma". It received other names, such as "Rete 2" and "Rai Due" until it adopted its current name "Rai 2". Its direct competitor to

Mediaset Mediaset Italia S.p.A., also known as Mediaset, is an Italian-based mass media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company is controlled by the holding company MFE - MediaForEurope. Founded in 1987 by forme ...

Italia 1 Italia 1 (Italian pronunciation ) is an Italian free-to-air television channel on the Mediaset network, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It is oriented at both young and adult people. Italia 1 was launched on 3 January 1982 and, originally, was ...

. It is also a state-owned channel like Rai 1.

Logo

File:Logo Raidue 1983.svg, 3 October 1983 - 26 September 1988 File:Rai22000.jpg, 23 October 2000 - 18 May 2010 File:Rai 2 logo.svg, 18 May 2010 - 12 September 2016 File:Rai 2 - Logo 2016.svg, In use since 12 September 2016

Programmes

A few programmes include: *'' TG2'' (Newscast) *'' Quelli che... il Calcio'' *''

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

'' *''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a to ...

'' *'' ER'' *'' Eurovision Song Contest'' (finals until 2015) *'' The Voice of Italy'' *'' Felicity'' *'' JAG'' *''

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

'' *''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering o ...

'' *''

Life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...

'' *'' FBI *''

FBI International ''FBI: International'' is an American crime television series that airs on CBS. It is the second spin-off from Dick Wolf's drama ''FBI'' and the third series in the ''FBI'' franchise. The series follows a team of FBI special agents who inve ...

'' *''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

'' *'' NCIS: Los Angeles'' *'' NCIS: New Orleans'' *''

NUMB3RS ''Numbers'' (stylized as ''NUMB3RS'') is an American crime drama television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 23, 2005, to March 12, 2010, for six seasons and 118 episodes. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heu ...

'' *'' Once Upon a Time'' *'' Past Life'' *'' Popular'' *'' Primeval'' *'' SIX (TV Series)'' *''

Starsky and Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a '' Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired by ...

'' *''

S.W.A.T. In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

'' *''

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

'' *''

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on the ...

'' *''

Bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species '' Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, incl ...

'' *'' Il collegio'' *''

Pechino Express ''Pechino Express'' is the Italian TV version of the reality show ''Peking Express'' created by Ludo Poppe. It has been broadcast on Rai 2 since 2012 and on Sky Uno since 2022. Seasons Winning couple, runner up and third placed

{{A ...

Cartoons

* ''

Baby Felix is a Japanese children's animated television program that follows the adventures of a young Felix the Cat and infant versions of the characters from Joe Oriolo's ''Felix'' television program from the 1950s. It is the third Felix television seri ...

'' * ''

Digimon , short for "Digital Monsters" ( ''Dejitaru Monsutā''), is a Japanese media franchise encompassing virtual pet toys, anime, manga, video games, films and a trading card game. The franchise focuses on the eponymous creatures, who inhabit a " ...

'' * ''

The PowerPuff Girls ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic T ...

'' * '' Kid Paddle'' * ''

Ashita no Nadja is a romance anime produced by Toei Animation and aired between February 2, 2003 and January 25, 2004 on ANN. In 2009, William Winckler Productions produced two all-new English-dubbed movie versions edited from the original series. Producer W ...

'' * '' Pretty Cure'' * ''

Teletubbies ''Teletubbies'' is a British children's television series created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport for the BBC. The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on t ...

'' * '' Monster Allergy'' * ''

Chaotic Chaotic was originally a Danish trading card game. It expanded to an online game in America which then became a television program based on the game. The program was able to be seen on 4Kids TV (Fox affiliates, nationwide), Jetix, The CW4Kids ...

'' * '' NASCAR Racers'' (Gare Nascar) * ''

Inazuma Eleven is an association football-themed media franchise created by Level-5. The franchise began with the release of '' Inazuma Eleven'' in 2008, with the game series selling over 8 million copies worldwide by 2016. In addition to video games, the franch ...

'' * '' Franny's Feet'' * '' The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' * '' Robotboy'' * '' Sammy & Co.'' * ''

Tom Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

'' * '' Wheel Squad'' * ''

Anne of Green Gables ''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, t ...

'' * '' Vicky the Viking'' * '' Sea Princesses'' * ''

Code Lyoko ''Code Lyoko'' () is a French animated television series created by Thomas Romain and Tania Palumbo and produced by Antefilms Production (season 1) and MoonScoop Group (seasons 2-4) for France 3 and Canal J, with the participation of Conseil Gén ...

'' (Note: did not air the second, third and fourth series) * ''

Winx Club ''Winx Club'' is an animated series co-produced by Rainbow SpA and later Nickelodeon. It was created by Italian animator Iginio Straffi. The show is set in a magical universe that is inhabited by fairies, witches, and other mythical creatures. ...

Kids Block

* ''

Random In common usage, randomness is the apparent or actual lack of pattern or predictability in events. A random sequence of events, symbols or steps often has no order and does not follow an intelligible pattern or combination. Individual rando ...

/ Cartoon Flakes '' (2005–2014) * '' Go-Cart mattina '' (1997–2005) *''

Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently—Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil, an ...

'' (1995–2007) (NOTE: It did not air the eighth and ninth season) *'' Hey Arnold!'' (1998–2009) *'' CatDog'' (2000–2006) *'' Rocket Power'' (2001–2014) (2017) *''

All Grown Up! ''All Grown Up!'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. It served as a continuation of the series ''Rugrats'', as explores the daily lives of protagonist Tommy Pickles ...

'' (2005–2011) *''

All That ''All That'' is an American sketch comedy television series created by Brian Robbins and Mike Tollin. The series originally aired on Nickelodeon from April 16, 1994, to October 22, 2005, lasting ten seasons, and was produced by Tollin/Robbins P ...

'' (1997–2006) (Moved To Rai Uno) *

ChalkZone ''ChalkZone'' is an American animated television series created by Bill Burnett and Larry Huber for Nickelodeon. The series follows Rudy Tabootie, an elementary school student who discovers a box of magic chalk that allows him to draw portals ...

(2009–2020)

Not longer aired programmes

Until 1975 regular broadcasting was

monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, monochr ...

, with very few exceptions. Since late 1975, then called Rete 2 began airing some new shows in colour, then beginning semi-regular colour broadcasting during the autumn season (a few hours a week).

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 ge ...

followed its "sister network" a few months later. Eventually, regular broadcasting in colour began on 1 February 1977. *''Rischiatutto'', one-hour-long Italian version of ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given ge ...

'', hosted by Mike Bongiorno, aired on Thursday night, from 5 February 1970, at 9:15 pm (in 1972 season at 9:30 pm). About 20 million viewers watched every episode of the show, the first one aired on Rai 2 to enter in the list of the Ten Most Watched Programmes on Italian TV during the year. The final two seasons (1973 and 1974) were aired on

. *''Ondalibera'' (known popularly as Televacca, ''Cow TV''), was a one-hour-long comedy and satirical show hosted by a very young Roberto Benigni in his television debut. In the show, the Tuscan peasant Mario Cioni (Benigni) hosts a programme aired in the fictional local channel Televacca, which has its headquarters in a stable full of hay and animals. Using a sometimes vulgar and desecrating speech, with a heavy Tuscan accent, Benigni improvised monologues and satirised the TV medium and the society. Co-hosts were the boor Monna ( Carlo Monni) and his "daughter" Donatella, a Daisy Mae Yokum stylish young woman. Considered one of the most controversial programmes in Italian TV history, censored and interrupted after only four episodes despite being relatively successful, the programme debuted on 19 December 1976, airing on Sunday nights at 8:45 PM.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knc8aUslmDw The "opening theme" of the show, titled "La Marcia Degli Incazzati" (''Pissed Off Guys' March'')

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Television channels and stations established in 1961 2 Italian-language television stations