RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy. It competes with three major private television companies, Mediaset, Telecom Italia Media, and Sky Italia. Rai operates several television channels and radio stations, broadcasting in analog terrestrial , in digital terrestrial and in several satellite and IPTV offerings. In 1950, Rai became one of the 23 founding broadcasting organisations of the... European Broadcasting Union. Half of Rai's revenues come from the broadcast licence fee, the other half from advertising. Rai has a relatively high audience share of 42.3%. Due to their close proximity, Albania, Switzerland, Monaco, Malta, San Marino, Vatican City, Montenegro, Slovenia and Croatia also receive broadcasts. Unione Radiofonica Italiana was formed in 1924 with the backing of the Marconi Company following a model adopted in other European countries.
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