It was launched on 26 April 1999 at 6am. Until 19 May 2000, the channel broadcast live 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 Ukrainian language, too.
At the beginning, Rai News 24 was directed by Roberto Morrione [it].
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 May 19, 2000, the channel broadcast live from Monday to Friday, offering only re-reuns 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 behavior 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 only for editorial expenses). The issue recurred several times in the following years.
The Mineo Direction
On November 10, 2006, Rai News 24 opens its own official channel on YouTube,[3] with videos taken from the news and programs aired, removed in 2014 due to the end of the collaboration between Rai and the video sharing site.[4]
On November 25, 2006, with the direction of Corradino Mineo, the channel inaugurates 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.
Developments and contrasts with Rai
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 arise between the editorial staff and the publisher Rai for various reasons.
On May 3, 2010, Rai decides that the simulcast of the channel on Rai 3 will end early at 7 am, to make room for Buongiorno Italia, a new program by TGR, but this decision is not welcomed by the editorial staff.[6]
On May 18, 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 becomes 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 ran 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[12] 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 17 May 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 August 29, 2011, Rai News 24 passes into a new interim study to allow some renovations of the previous one. On this occasion, new technical solutions are 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 explains (in an editorial and in some interviews with other newspapers) the difficulties of Rai News to operate 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 December 15, 2011, Rai News renews the theme song and graphics, with the transition to the panoramic 16:9 format: it is therefore the first Rai newscast to broadcast with this aspect ratio. Rai also announces the new version of the historic study 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 begins 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 practiced 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]
The Maggioni management and the birth of the Rainews.it portal
On January 8, 2013, Corradino Mineo leaves the management of the channel, as a candidate as 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 is appointed to the management.
On February 24, 2013, at 7:00, the channel resumes the historical name of Rai News 24, while setting up a new studio.
[24][25][26]
On June 14, the Board of Directors of Rai ratifies the merger of the editorial staff of Rai News 24 with that of Televideo [1],[27] prodrome to the birth of the unified newspaper Rai News and the portal of the same name, which becomes a reality on 1º 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 modifies the editorial line of the channel, focusing mainly on current events and live events.[28] The schedule also changes, also launching new headings: 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 shows a slight increase in average listening compared to the previous year, while the 2014 index reveals 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.[29][30] Some newspapers and political exponents judged such results poor compared to investments,[31] while the Rainews.it portal obtained the 300º place among the most visited sites by Italian users.[32][33]
Night editions (00:00-06:00): Piero Marrazzo, Josephine Alessio, Emanuela Gialli, Valentina Dello Russo, Gabriele Martelloni, Dario Marchetti, Maria Buono, Renata Petillo, Pierfrancesco Pensosi, Giorgio Santelli, Antonella Alba, Federico Zatti, Eugenio Francesconi
Morning editions (06:00-12:00): Paolo Cappelli, Francesco Musi, Laura Squillaci, Micol Pieretti, Chiara Burtulo, Cristina Raschio, Elena Scotoni, Mariagrazia Abbate, Roberto Rizzo, Valeria Ferrante, Alessandro Marchetti
Afternoon editions (12:00-18:00): Alessandro Baracchini, Francesca Biagiotti, Giuseppina Testoni, Barbara Di Fresco, Lorenzo Di Las Plassas, Laura Cervellione, Annalisa Fantilli, Carlotta Macerollo, Laura Tangherlini, Annamaria Esposito, Francesca Piatanesi, Eva Giovannini, Cecilia Tosi
Evening editions (18:00-00:00): Giancarlo Usai, Emanuela Bonchino, Sabrina Bellomo, Francesca Piatanesi, Massimiliano Melilli, Lorenzo Lo Basso, Elisa Dossi, Daniele Lorenzetti, Emilio Fuccillo, Andrea Vaccarella, Giulia Bosetti, Elisa Dossi
Note: TG LIS (Italian Sign Language) is broadcast at 11:00 and at 20:00 each day that lasts between 5 and 10 minutes. Following it, network returns to normal programming.
Press Review
Press Review is where newspapers are reviewed and read to the television audience 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 7am and 8:30am on weekdays. The 8:30am morning press reviews edition, there is usually a guest invited to discuss the newspapers headlines. On weekends, press reviews is broadcast at 7:30am and then rebroadcast at 8:30am. On holidays, press reviews is done at 7:30am and at 8:30am.
The world (or international) press review is done on weekdays at 7:45am and is later rebroadcast at 9:45am to discuss the world newspapers headlines.
Evening press review: Giancarlo Usai, Emanuela Bonchino, Valentina Dello Russo, Laura Tangherlini, Emilio Fuccillo, Lorenzo Lo Basso, Massimimiliano Melilli
Focus24— This is usually 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.
In un'ora (weekdays from 18:30 to 19:30): Gianluca Semprini (2022), Giancarlo Usai (September 25, 2023-)
Lo Stato dell'Unione (Sundays, 10:30 to 11am): Donato Bendicenti
Mattina 24 (2022-), weekdays from 6 to 7am and 7:30 to 7:45am: Chiara Paduano (April 2022-June 29, 2023), Roberta Ammendola (September 25, 2023 – present)
News in English (2022-), weekdays from 13:30 to 13:35: Helen Viola
Periferie (2023-), Saturdays from 11:05am to 12pm: Lorenzo Lo Basso and Annalisa Fantilli
Pomeriggio24 (2022-), weekdays from 14:30 to 16:00: Alessandro Baracchini (2022-2023), Giuseppina Testoni (September 25, 2023-)
TEЛEНOBИHИ - TG in lingua ucraina (April 3, 2022 – present), 15:00 to 15:05
Specchio dei tiempi (2023-), weekdays from 10 to 11am: Roberto Vicaretti
Sport 24 (12:30 and 19:30): Laura Cervellione, Francesco Musi, Marco Lollobrigida
Other programs
24MM L'Approfondimento
AR - Frammenti d'arte [it] (Saturdays): Costantino D'Orazio
Altri Mondi (2023–present, Thursday at 16:45): Dario Marchetti
Amarcord (Mondays through Fridays at 17:20-17:30, 10 minutes)
Basta la Salute (Wednesdays): Gerardo D'Amico
Cammina Italia (Weekends): Alfredo Di Giovampaolo
Central Park West (Saturdays): Antonio Monda
Futuro24 (Mondays at 16:45 and 21:45)
Rai Meteo (approximately every 30 minutes)
Motori24 (Saturdays): Gemma Favia
La via dei libri (Tuesdays, 21:45): Loretta Cavaricci | Former presenter(s: Paola Marinozzi, Enrica Tommasini, Mario Forenza, Carlotta Macerollo
Note: The above program may be reaired at other times throughout the week until a new episode of that program is aired. Dates indicated in parentheses is when a new episode of that program is usually out.
^Tra le inchieste più significative trasmesse ricordiamo Iraq, la strage nascosta e Uranio Impoverito, guerra e bugie, documented on the historical website of historical website of RaiNews 24Archived 6 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine
^The problem should not have occurred with the decoders supplied by Sky, where the reception parameters are automatically updated by the decoder; however, the updating of the Rai News parameters by Sky Italia occurs with a delay, even though the new frequency has already been active for days.
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