Rai News 24

Rai News 24 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's all-news television channel, and is known for its 24-hour rolling news service and its live coverage of breaking news.

History


It was launched on April 26, 1999 at 6am. Until May 19, 2000, the channel broadcast live weekdays only and re-aired previous recordings during the weekend. On January 4, 2017, the channel launched its own HD feed. Since March 25, 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.

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.

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 ) 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 opened its own official channel on YouTube, 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.

On November 25, 2006, with the direction of Corradino Mineo, the channel inaugurated 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. 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 decided that the simulcast of the channel on Rai 3 would 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.

On May 18, 2010, on the occasion of the television transition to digital terrestrial in Lombardy and eastern Piedmont, Rai launches the new corporate graphic identity and the new television offer. In this perspective, Rai News 24 simply became 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.

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. Spectators from various parts of Italy complain of reception problems on both platforms 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.

Rai responds with a statement 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 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 May 17, 2010 ). 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.

On August 29, 2011 Rai News 24 passed into a new interim studio to allow some renovations of the previous one. On this occasion, new technical solutions were tested: diode lighting, capable of reducing fuel consumption and thermal dispersion, and new remote-controlled cameras.

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.

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. 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), 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 renewed the theme song and graphics, with the transition to the panoramic 16:9 format, becoming the first Rai newscast to broadcast with this aspect ratio. Rai also announced the new version of the historic studio of the channel for the first months of 2012, 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, 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.

The Maggioni management and the birth of the Rainews.it portal
On January 8, 2013 Corradino Mineo left the management of the channel, as a candidate for 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 was appointed to the management.

On February 24, 2013, at 7:00, the channel resumed the historical name of Rai News 24, while setting up a new studio.

On June 14, 2013, the Board of Directors of Rai ratified the merger of the editorial staff of Rai News 24 with that of Televideo, 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 modified the editorial line of the channel, focusing mainly on current events and live events. The schedule also changes, also launching new program: 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 showed 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. Some newspapers and political exponents judged such results poor compared to investments, while the Rainews.it portal obtained the 300º place among the most visited sites by Italian users.

Petrecca's Management
On May 24, 2024 Rai News 24 started using YouTube again with videos not from the news and programs broadcast on TV.

Directors of Rai News 24

 * Roberto Morrione (from 1999 to 2006)
 * Corradino Mineo (from 2006 to 2013)
 * Monica Maggioni (from 2013 to 2016)
 * Antonio di Bella (2016–2020)
 * Andrea Vianello (2020–2021)
 * Paolo Petrecca (since 2021)

Programs and presenters

 * 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, Maria Grazia 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, Adele Grossi

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.
 * The above list of presenters may not be accurate as some hosts may be temporary for one year only or be "relief hosts" (meaning they fill in as needed)

Press Review
Press Review is where newspapers are reviewed and read to the television audience with commentary that are 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: Emilio Fuccillo, Lorenzo Lo Basso, Massimiliano Melilli, Francesca Biagiotti, Chiara Paduano
 * Relief presenters: Daniele Lorenzetti, Giancarlo Usai, Laura Tangherlini, Giuseppina Testoni
 * Former presenters: Valentina Dello Russo, Emanuela Bonchino, Sabrina Bellomo, Gianluca Semprini and Emanuela Bonchino
 * Morning press review: Roberto Vicaretti (weekdays) and Macro Silenzi (weekends)
 * Relief presenters: Micol Pieretti, Annalisa Fantilli, Chiara Burtulo, Paolo Cappelli
 * Former presenters: Sabrina Bellomo, Gianluca Semprini, Carlotta Macerollo,


 * World press review: Paolo Cappelli

Other programs

 * 24MM L'Approfondimento (Mondays between 19:30 and 20:00 and rebroadcast on Friday between 19:30 and 20:00)
 * AR - Frammenti d'arte (Saturdays): Costantino D'Orazio
 * Altri Mondi (2023–present, Thursday at 16:45): Dario Marchetti
 * Amarcord (Mondays through Fridays at 17:20-17:30, 5–10 minutes)
 * Basta la Salute (Wednesdays): Gerardo D'Amico
 * Cammina Italia (Saturdays at 14:30 and rebroadcast at 21:30): Alfredo Di Giovampaolo
 * Central Park West (Saturdays): Antonio Monda
 * Futuro24 (Mondays at 16:45 and rebroadcast at 21:45): Andrea Bettini and Marco Dedola
 * Rai Meteo (approximately every 30 minutes)
 * Motori24 (Saturdays at 13:30 and rebroadcast on Sundays at 13:30): Gemma Favia
 * La via dei libri (Tuesdays at 11:45 and rebroadcast at 21:45): Loretta Cavaricci | Former presenter(s): Paola Marinozzi, Enrica Tommasini, Mario Forenza, Carlotta Macerollo
 * Scienze e Tecnologia: Andrea Bettini and Marco Dedola
 * Spotlight (Fridays, except summer)
 * Tutti Frutti (Fridays): Laura Squillaci
 * Sapori e colori (Thursdays): Silvia Rita
 * Pillole di Poesia (weekdays after Specchio dei tiempi and Pomeriggio 24 program, 2022-present): Luce Cardinale

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.

Former programs

 * Piano Pianissimo: Guido Zaccagnini
 * DigiTango (2 May 2022 - 26 June 2023, Mondays at 20:30)
 * Ma che Mu (2022-2023): Fausto Pellegrini and Alessandra Sacchetta | Program interviews music artists.
 * Pillole di fisica