Rai Radio 2 (''radio due'') is an Italian radio channel operated by the state-owned public-broadcasting organization

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 ...

and specializing in talk programmes and popular music from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

History

The origins of the channel can be traced back to 21 March 1938, when the

EIAR Ente Italiano per le Audizioni Radiofoniche (EIAR, "Italian Body for Radio Broadcasting") was the public service broadcaster in Fascist Italy and the only entity permitted to broadcast by the government. History The company was established in 1 ...

– which was to become Radio Audizioni Italiane (

) in 1944 – began transmitting a second, separately programmed radio service in major cities. Following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and reconstruction and improvement of the surviving transmitter network, radio broadcasting was reorganized (with effect from 3 November 1946) to provide two national channels covering most of the country. The first channel was known as the ''Rete Rossa'' (red network) and the second as the ''Rete Azzurra'' (blue network). These "neutral" names were chosen to imply that, while at any one time each channel aimed to provide programming of a contrasting style to that available on the other, the two channels were nominally equal in status and had an equally wide-ranging remit. On 1 January 1952, as part of a move aimed at giving each of its channels a more distinctive "personality" – a cultural ''Terzo Programma'' (third programme) having already been added on 1 October 1950 – RAI renamed the Rete Azzurra as the ''Secondo Programma'' (second programme), later to become RAI Radio 2.

Programmes

Rai Radio 2 is among the highest-rated Italian radio stations in terms of audience share. '' Viva Radio2'', has been one of the most famous and successful programs of the channel, it was hosted by the popular comedian and TV/radio personality Fiorello, together with Marco Baldini. The most popular shows are ''Il ruggito del coniglio'', ''Caterpillar and 610''. Radio 2, like its sister channels

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

and Radio 3, has its own radio news service (''Giornale Radio''), known as ''GR2''.

Logos

External links

Rai Radio 2
at Rai Play Radio Free-to-air Cable radio Radio stations in Italy RAI radio stations Radio stations established in 1924 {{Italy-media-stub