Rai Internazionale Radio, formerly known as ''Rai Italia Radio'', ''Rai International Radio'', ''Rai Satelradio'' and ''Raitalia Radio'', was the official

international broadcast International broadcasting, in a limited extent, began during World War I, when German and British stations broadcast press communiqués using Morse code. With the severing of Germany's undersea cables, the wireless telegraph station in Nauen was t ...

radio service of Rai Internazionale, a subsidiary owned by

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

, Italy's public broadcaster.

History

Rai Internazionale Radio has been broadcasting from

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to the rest of the world for the past 72 years under various names. In the 1930s Italy was one of the first countries to begin international

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...

broadcasts.

Guglielmo Marconi Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi (; 25 April 187420 July 1937) was an Italians, Italian inventor and electrical engineering, electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegrap ...

, the man who invented radio, oversaw the construction of the first short-wave transmitter at Prato Smeraldo outside Rome on July 1, 1930. Four years later two more transmitters were completed and broadcasts began in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

to North America. In 1935 broadcasting of programmes in

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

began to South America. In 1939, after the completion of six new transmitters, programmes in

were beamed to the Far East, Europe and countries around the Mediterranean. It is from the short-wave radio centre at Rome-Prato Smeraldo that all Rai International's programmes are broadcast. During the Second World War political and strategic motives were added to the original aim of linking Italy with the vast community of Italian migrants around the world. These new motives included international broadcasting common to all the Great Powers, beginning with the former colonial nations:

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, the

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, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. After Italy entered the war short-wave broadcasts were suspended following the armistice signed with the Allies on September 8, 1943, and were only resumed on September 3, 1946, with the broadcast of news bulletins in

, French,

and

. A 1962 law allocated management of international short-wave broadcasts, for which a special committee of the Cabinet Office is responsible, to state broadcaster Rai. As the years went by the programmes lost their character of official - sometimes even propaganda - broadcasts to become a news source that fully reflects the democratic nature of the Italian Republic. Up to the last broadcast, Radio Roma offered a comprehensive news service on Italian politics, society and culture, not least within the context of the European Union. In 1975 the setting up of a special management section for foreign broadcasting and journalism laid the foundations for significant development of the sector. Subsequently the existing services for foreign broadcasting were expanded to include Rai International's new intercontinental television channels. In the near future Rai International is destined to be transformed into an autonomous company within state broadcaster Rai.

Last broadcasts

Each day Rai Internazionale's editorial team turned out ten editions of "''Italia chiama Italia News''" in

: this 25-minute news programme was designed for Italian listeners throughout the world. The editorial team also produced ''Racconto Italiano'', ''Taccuino Italiano'', ''Tutto di Prima'' and ''Storia e Storie''. In many countries it was possible to receive several Rai Internazionale programmes or the entire programme schedule of Rai Internazionale through local radio stations that re-transmit the signal in their own zone, on AM, FM, short wave or via cable. On October 1, 2007, all broadcasts on short wave were discontinued and foreign language services were closed. On December 31, 2011 Rai Internazionale Radio closed down its operations. English news items were transmitted as part of "Notturno Italiano" programme on medium wave until December 31, 2011.

Rai Internazionale Radio

Rai Internazionale Radio transmitted its channel online and on satellite, 24 hours a day. Thus the radio and news programmes produced by RAI were available worldwide without any special technical devices (apart from a computer and Internet connection). Rai Internazionale Radio has broadcast the best of Rai International Radio and the three Radio Rai networks daily, 24 hours a day. This included music, information and entertainment programmes until it closed down on December 31, 2011.

External links

Rai Internazionale Radio Website

Live Streaming

information about the closing down
{{RAI RAI radio stations International broadcasters Radio stations established in 1930 Radio stations disestablished in 2011

History

Last broadcasts

Rai Internazionale Radio

See also

External links