RAI gearing up tto conquer the (Italian) world outside Italy.

Are you confused about RAI, RAI Corp., RAI America, RAI USA and RAI International? Have no fear, Video Age is here! Let's begin by saying that RAI International is the newly established Italian-language foreign service of RAI, Italy's state-owned broadcasting organization. The New York State-incorporated RAI Corp. (fully owned by RAI International) has become the production and marketing arm of RAI and RAI International for the Americas. In addition, RAI Corp. is the umbrella organization for all of RAI's activities (including news) in the U.S. Based in New York City and run by president Giuliana Del Bufalo, RAI Corp. also maintains offices in Toronto, Canada and Montevideo, Uruguay, while RAI has news bureaus in 10 countries.

Based in Rome at the new Saxa Rubra complex and now under the direction of Angela Buttiglione (also the chairman of RAI Corp.), RAI International was created in 1995 and includes: * RAI America, a TV service that transmits 14 hours a day (20 hours on Sunday) via satellite (DTH) from Rome to North and South America * RAI USA, a tailored TV service from RAI Corp. that transmits two hours a day (six on Sunday) via cable to the New York metropolitan area, is uplinked to a satellite for free reception throughout the U.S., and is also available in Canada and Latin America * TeleLatino, a cable service that transmits RAI programming in Italian (seven hours daily) and Spanish throughout Canada * Production and distribution of radio and television programs designed to promote Italian culture to the Italian communities outside Italy (programs distributed via videotape to the local media include Together (Un'Ora Con Voi), Viva L'Italiano, an Italian language course for children, and Italian Encyclopedia, which is also available on CD-ROM) * Satelradio, a 24-hour radio service transmitted via satellite to North America, and * Radio Roma, a medium- and short-wave radio broadcast with daily news bulletins in 26 languages.

RAI International's first phase included TV coverage of Canada, the U.S., Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina. Soon Australia will be covered with rebroadcast from SBS. In Europe, RAI-Uno and RAI-Due have been available for some time in 11 countries via Eutelsat's Hot Bird-1. RAI-Uno is also available in Tunisia; with RAI-Due and RAI-Three, it is also received over the air throughout the Mediterranean Coast. Future plans include coverage of the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South Africa, which have an estimated seven million residents of Italian origin. Also in the future, RAI America and RAI USA services will be phased out and fully replaced with RAI International services, which will run 16 hours of programming a day at first and then increase the number to 24.

The success of RAI International seems assured, but it wasn't easy. The first obstacle came two years ago when KayFourCast's Europlus Group - the Swiss-based company that RAI contracted to market RAI International's satellite services worldwide - went out of business. This problem caused a temporary and embarrassing suspension of RAI International broadcasts in South America. Subsequently, the KayFourCast shares belonging to its president, Fauad Abourousse, were acquired by shareholder Al Baraka's Dallah Albarak Group, in which Saudi Prince Al Waleed (Fininvest's shareholder) is also a partner. This group has inherited RAI International's contract to seek cable TV clearances throughout the U.S. up until June 1996. Meanwhile, all the original Europlus Group pay-TV services belonging to RAI International have been discontinued and RAI programs are now available via satellite in unscrambled form. RAI International executives hope that the group's strong financial presence in the U.S. (it owns Citicorp) would help to clear cable affiliates willing to pay a fee per sub. Eventually, the group would invest an estimated $100 million in the RAI International venture. For its part, RAI (in cooperation with the Italian government) has earmarked some $60 million for the RAI International project. Silvio Berlusconi's Fininvest has developed Canale Italia for the same purpose and is reportedly in the process of reaching an agreement with TCI, America's largest cable operator. The rush to reach Italians abroad is also linked to the fact that they will soon be allowed to vote by absentee ballot.

According to estimates by former RAI Corp. president Renato Pachetti, RAI International's primary worldwide audience could reach 20 million viewers. Secondary viewership could increase RAI International's reach to more than 30 million viewers, half as many Italians as there are in Italy. A third tier is represented by sports fans of non-Italian origin who follow Italian soccer matches, which are a staple of the RAI International schedule. According to Piero Bassetti, president of the Association of the Italian Chamber of Commerce, there are a total of 65 million people of Italian origin outside Italy, if one includes third and fourth generations. In addition, advantages created by the European Union have led some two million Brazilians of Italian origin to apply for dual citizenship. Argentinean-Italians are also attracted to dual citizenship by the fact that Italians don't need visas to enter the U.S. In many cases, these new Italian citizens cannot speak Italian and can use RAI International as their connection to Italian culture.(*) All these people represent an added market for RAI International, which fortunately can depend on a support mechanism for marketing and promotion of its programming schedules in various Italian media. In his book I Media della Diaspora, journalist Niccolo d'Aquino stated that Italians outside Italy can count on 213 newspapers and magazines with a combined reach of 8.5 million copies per month and on 150 local radio programs and 29 local TV programs independent of RAI. These offerings are scattered throughout 32 countries worldwide.

* Reportedly the largest group to seek dual citizenship is the French.