Unione Radiofonica Italiana

Rai — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A.

Type	(State Owned)
Industry	Media
Genre	TV Broadcasting
Founded	1924; 93 years ago (1924) (as URI), 1944; 73 years ago (1944) (as RAI), 1954; 63 years ago (1954) (as RAI Spa)
Founder	Government of Italy
Headquarters	Rome, Italy
Area served	Italy
Key people	Mario Orfeo (CEO), Monica Maggioni (Chairman)
Revenue	€2.4 billion (2014)
Operating income	€257 million (2014)
Net income	€48 million (2014)
Owner	Ministry of Economy and Finance
Number of employees	11635 (2014)
Subsidiaries	Rai Corporation Rai Way Rai Pubblicità S.p.A. Rai Com S.p.A. RaiNet S.p.A. Rai Cinema S.p.A. 01 Distribution S.r.l.
Website	Rai.it RaiPlay

The RAI (full name Rai – Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. (pronounced [ˈrai ˌradjoteleviˈzjoːne itaˈljaːna]; commercially styled Rai; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The RAI operates many DVB and Sat television channels and radio stations, broadcasting via digital terrestrial transmission (15 television and 7 radio channels nationwide) and from several satellite platforms. It is the biggest television broadcaster in Italy and competes with Mediaset, and other minor television and radio networks. The RAI has a relatively high television audience share of 33.8%.

RAI broadcasts are also received in neighboring countries, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, Slovenia, Vatican City, Switzerland, and Tunisia, and elsewhere on cable and satellite. Sometimes Rai 1 was received even further in Europe via Sporadic E until the digital switch off in July 2012.

Half of the RAI's revenues come from broadcast receiving licence fees, the rest from the sale of advertising time.