RAI’s commercial branch, RAI Com, saw its revenues doubled from international distribution compared to the previous year, which according to Rai Com’s CEO, Angelo Teodoli, is the result of the high demand for Italian content, particularly TV shows. During the last edition of Mipcom Cannes, the RAI Com sales team registered an increased interest in its most recent series: TV shows sales reached a record 5 million on the total 117 million Rai Com’s revenue in 2021, and this result is more than double before the end of the fourth quarter of 2022.
The most attractive product in RAI Com’s catalog seems to be long series, such as the big budget costume drama “Ladies’ Paradise,” sold in over 70 countries. This RAI Fiction drama has successfully evolved from prime time broadcast till dailies format, supplanting many soap operas in the global market, not only in Europe but also in Japan, the Philippines, the United States, Finland, and other countries. Greek broadcaster Alpha TV has recently picked up the format rights to make a remake of the show.
Furthermore, with a tight relationship with international broadcasters, RAI Com has been able to secure rights to important titles, such as “The Bastards of Pizzofalcone,” “Close Murders,” “Imma Tataranni,” and “Lolita Lobosco,” which are attracting broadcasters from all over the world. In fact, “Imma Tataranni” has been recently sold to RTVE in Spain and was already successfully aired in the United States, Canada, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.
Together with content distribution, RAI Com is also leading the export of Italian channels worldwide. RAI Com distributes RAI’s channels abroad through retransmission agreements with international broadcasting groups. Rai1, Rai2, Rai3, Rai Storia, Rai Scuola and Rai News 24 are distributed in over 40 European countries. Outside Europe, the distribution focuses on Rai Italia, Rai World Premium and Rai News 24. The channel distribution activity takes place in about 120 countries, in line with the mission of public service and above all with the mission of bringing Italy and RAI everywhere.
RAI Com’s strategy also focuses on partnerships with large media companies. Among these is the recently signed agreement with Canal+, which consolidates and further highlights RAI’s international role in the film and TV market. Through the new agreement, Canal+ is committed to purchasing documentaries, TV series and films from RAI Com’s offerings, thus making them available to all countries covered by the agreement.
With a very diversified editorial library, RAI Com runs a catalogue of 2.000 titles, about 1.300 feature films and over 4.000 hours of TV programs. Among its Classics, Rai Com also distributes in Italy and in the rest of the world the famous Titanus and IIF libraries, which include 700 titles.
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