Rai Radio 2

This article is about the Italian radio station Radio 2. For other radio stations of that name, see Radio 2 (disambiguation).

Rai Radio 2

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Broadcast area	Italy - National FM, DAB & DVB-T and Satellite
Frequency	FM 87.7 – 107 MHz SKY Italia Channel 762 Alice Home TV Channel 771
First air date	21 March 1938
Format	Talk, contemporary music
Owner	RAI
Sister stations	Rai Radio 1, Rai Radio 3
Webcast	RealMedia
Website	http://www.radio2.rai.it/

Rai Radio 2 (radio due) is an Italian radio channel operated by the state-owned public-broadcasting organization RAI and specializing in talk programmes and popular music.

History

The origins of the channel can be traced back to 21 March 1938, when the EIAR – which was to become Radio Audizioni Italiane (RAI) in 1944 – began transmitting a second, separately programmed radio service in major cities.

Following the end of World War II and reconstruction and improvement of the surviving transmitter network, radio broadcasting was reorganized (with effect from 3 November 1946) to provide two national channels covering most of the country. The first channel was known as the Rete Rossa (red network) and the second as the Rete Azzurra (blue network). These "neutral" names were chosen to imply that, while at any one time each channel aimed to provide programming of a contrasting style to that available on the other, the two channels were nominally equal in status and had an equally wide-ranging remit.

On 1 January 1952, as part of a move aimed at giving each of its channels a more distinctive "personality" – a cultural Terzo Programma (third programme) having already been added on 1 October 1950 – RAI renamed the Rete Azzurra as the Secondo Programma (second programme), later to become RAI Radio 2.

Programmes

Rai Radio 2 is among the highest-rated Italian radio stations in terms of audience share; its most popular show, Viva Radio2, is hosted by the popular comedian and TV/radio personality Fiorello, together with Marco Baldini. Other popular shows are Il ruggito del coniglio, Caterpillar, and Condor.

Radio 2, like its sister channels Radio 1 and Radio 3, has its own radio news service (Giornale Radio), known as GR2.

Logos

120px	120px
2000–2010	2010–present

External links

• RAI Radio 2 at rai.it (Italian)
• RAI Radio 2 at rai.tv (Italian)