Rai Sport

Two new additions have been made which enrich the public service operator's sports offering. The birth of these two digital channels has contributed considerably to 'spreading' the broadcasting of big sport events across several platforms, with live coverage and immediate analyses. Dozens of reports and detailed coverage were used on the Rai Sport website, which received hundreds of thousands of visitors in 2010.

Rai Sport consolidated its role as an internal theme-based agency for the three general-interest channels: RaiUno, RaiDue and RaiTre, with dozens of live broadcasts, reports and interviews released to the three news departments. Thanks to the investment of human and technical resources - albeit within a cost containment framework - in 2010 fans of the various sporting disciplines were able to follow a range of events in real time: the World Cup in South Africa (11 June / 11 July 2010); the Vancouver Winter Olympics (13/28 February 2010); the Winter Paralympics (7/15 March 2010); the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona (27 July / 1 August 2010); the European Swimming Championships in Budapest (4/15 August 2010); the World Fencing Championships in Paris (7/13 November 2010). Not forgetting the commentary and analysis of the Serie A and Serie B football matches, with the usual appointments which are now distributed across several days of the week and not just Sunday, as used to be the case. Rai Sport also covered the prestigious Champions League, with two appointments a week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, with 90° Minuto Champions.

Thanks to Rai Sport, its reporters and technicians, millions of Italians were able to watch the amazing and roaring Formula One Motor Racing 'circus' and top class cycling with the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France, the world championships and the great classics. Then there were the World Ski Championships and World Cup 2010/2011, broadcast on the three free channels and on Rai Sport 1 and Rai Sport 2, managing to exploit the purchasing rights 100%.

Rai Sport also aired sporting disciplines that weren't broadcast by its satellite and digital rivals, with record viewing figures and with the consequent growth of revenues from advertising for the public service operator. A success in terms of the number of viewers, on the three general-interest channels and the two digital channels, also obtained thanks to the support of the Production Management.

This is the general picture which enables us now to go into detail. Rai Sport 1 characterised its programming with dozens of live sports broadcasts, increasing its offering of programmes compared to last year and covering the 24 hours with three fixed daily appointments: at 9.00 a.m., 2.30 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.. In addition to a new programme on football, broadcast before the Serie A matches, Primo Stadio, characterised by forecasts and all kinds of information, interviews with players and fans. Another new arrival was represented by the evening broadcasts after the match on Rai Sport 1, which involved all the Serie A and Champions Cup matches.

Rai Sport 2 represented almost a sort of integration of Rai Sport 1: Its programming was based on the deferred repeats of the events broadcast an hour earlier on Rai Sport 1. Nevertheless, on several occasions, Rai Sport 2 offered live broadcasts of various sporting events, increasing the so-called live offering.

The best of the Rai Sport offering continues to be the range of daily and weekly features and analyses: the Tg Sport at 5.50 p.m. on RaiDue, La Domenica Sportiva, Dribbling, 90° minuto, Sabato Sprint, 90° minuto Serie B and the features on Formula Uno Racing: Pole Position, Pit Lane, Reparto corse, Numero Uno.