Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI) is the national public broadcaster in Italy. With a high audience share, close to 36%, RAI is the largest broadcast company in Italy. It runs over 40 television and radio channels. The group also operates a few commercial companies in charge of ad sales, distribution of programs, and management of satellite television.
Media assets
Television: RAI 1, RAI 2, RAI 3, RAI 4, RAI 5, RAI Gulp, RAI Movie, RAI News24, RAI Premium, RAI Scuola, RAI Sport, RAI Storia, RAI Yoyo, RAI 1 HD, RAI 2 HD, RAI 3 HD, RAI 4 HD, RAI 5 HD, RAI Movie HD, RAI Premium HD, RAI Sport+ HD, RAI 4K, RAI Italia, RAI World Premium, RAI Ladinia, RAI Sudtirol, RAI 3 BIS FJK
Radio: RAI Radio 1, RAI Radio 2, RAI Radio 3, RAI Radio 3 Classica, RAI Gr Parlamento, RAI Isoradio, RAI Südtirol, RAI Radio Trst A, RAI Radio Tutta Italiana, RAI Radio Techete, RAI Radio Live, RAI Radio Kids, RAI Radio 1 Sport, RAI Radio 2 Indie
State Media Matrix Typology: Captured Public/State-Managed (CaPu)
Ownership and governance
RAI is owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The highest governing body at RAI is the Board of Directors whose seven members are appointed for a period of three years, as follows: two elected by the Chamber of Deputies and two elected by the Italian Senate, two appointed by the Council of Ministers (Italian government) and one named by the RAI staff. The Board of Directors appoints the CEO of the broadcaster.
Source of funding and budget
RAI is funded through a combination of license fee (a levy that all of the country’s households are legally required to pay, worth some €90 a year) and advertising revenues.
In 2021, RAI had a budget of nearly €2.68bn, according to an annual report published by RAI. The revenue from the license fee accounted for some 68% of that. The state also allocated a subsidy to RAI in 2021, but it was a small amount in the overall RAI budget.
In 2022, RAI operated with a total budget of €2.73bn, according to a company annual report. License fee generated some 68% of the total budget of the company.
On 16 October 2023, the government in Italy announced plans to cut the license fee for RAI by 20%. Thus, RAI is to see its budget reduced by 20% as of 1 January 2024. Government officials are also floating the idea of changing the RAI’s funding model to replace the license fee with a tax linked to the ownership of a telephone account, arguing the RAI’s programming is also made available on such devices.
Editorial independence
There are no formal rules imposed by the government on RAI forcing the broadcaster to favor the authorities in its programming. Yet, by appointing the governing bodies at RAI, the government indirectly exerts influence over the station’s editorial coverage and policies. Academic studies found problematic the lack of RAI’s editorial independence.
More recently, the broadcaster was at the center of a public scandal following the appointment of two controversial people to RAI’s Board, namely Giampaolo Rossi and Marcello Foa, both notorious for their aggressive and extremist pro-Kremlin views.
In a separate development, Carlo Fuortes, RAI’s CEO resigned from his position in May 2023, accusing the RAI Board of interfering with the editorial agenda of the broadcaster.
The public mission of RAI is governed by a series of principles laid down by the Italian Constitution as well as by the RAI Reform Law, latest updated in 2015. However, these documents do not guarantee the editorial independence of the station, allowing political forces and state authorities to exert influence over the station’s editorial agenda.
RAI also has a Code of Ethics that regulates the rights, duties and responsibilities that the RAI has towards its stakeholders. However, this document doesn’t establish the independence of the station either.
Italian media accountability mechanisms are weak, which has an impact on RAI’s editorial independence, too.
AGCOM, the broadcast and telecom regulator in Italy, in charge of regulation of the entire Italian media, also intervenes in RAI’s affairs. In recent years, AGCOM has criticized and fined RAI for failing to fulfil its public service mission, which was quite uncommon as AGCOM is a government-appointed body as well.
This being said, there is no independent assessment mechanism in place at RAI tasked to monitor and validate the broadcaster’s editorial independence.
October 2023