BC-DX 789 05 Jan 2007 Private Verwendung der Meldun

mediumwave broadcasts during the night (Notturno Italiano) and are also
relayed throughout several FM outlets, especially in the US, Canada and
Australia.
Italy has been active with shortwave broadcasts since 1 July 1930, and
since 1934 in foreign languages under the Mussolini fascist regime. Italy
- which became a democratic republic directly after World War II - has
been active with its international service since 3 September 1946, when
English, Spanish, French and Portuguese broadcasts restarted in a totally
new setting, and were expanded to the 26 languages in which it broadcasts
today.
Since 1995 the broadcasts have been the responsibility of the 100% Rai-
owned company Rai International, which took over from the 'Direzione
Esteri' of Rai.
Rai International is currentlyfocusing more on its television activities.
The workers' union Libersind has sent a petition to the Italian government
in order to keep the foreign broadcasts.
Additional History From Wikipedia.
In the 1930's Italy was one of the first countries to begin international
shortwave broadcasts. Guglielmo Marconi, the man who invented radio,
oversaw the construction of the first short-wave transmitter at Prato
Smeraldo outside Rome on July, 1 1930. Four years later two more
transmitters were completed and broadcasts began in English and Italian to
North America. In 1935 broadcasting of programmes in Italian, Portuguese
and Spanish began to South America.
In 1939, after the completion of six new transmitters, programmes in
English were beamed to the Far East, Europe and countries around the
Mediterranean. It is from the short-wave radio centre at Rome-Prato
Smeraldo that all Rai International's programmes are broadcast.
During the Second World War to the original aim of linking Italy with the
vast community of Italian migrants around the world were added the
political and strategic motives for international broadcasting common to
all the Great Powers, beginning with the former colonial nations: France,
Germany, Great Britain, Holland, the Soviet Union and the United States.
After Italy entered the war short-wave broadcasts were suspended following
the armistice signed with the Allies on September 8, 1943 and were only
resumed on September 3, 1946 with the broadcast of news bulletins in
English, Italian, French, Portuguese and Spanish.
A 1962 law allocated management of international short-wave broadcasts,
for which a special committee of the Cabinet Office is responsible, to
state broadcaster Rai. As the years went by the programmes lost their
character of official - sometimes even propaganda - broadcasts to become a
news source that fully reflects the democratic nature of the Italian
Republic. Today Radio Roma offers a comprehensive news service on Italian
politics, society and culture, not least within the context of the
European Union.
In 1975 the setting up of a special management section for foreign
broadcasting and journalism laid the foundations for significant
development of the sector. Subsequently the existing services for foreign
broadcasting were expanded to include Rai International's new
intercontinental television channels.
In the near future Rai International is destined to be transformed into an
autonomous company within state broadcaster Rai.