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Television, Radio Stations & TV Tax in Italy

Getting to grips with TV standards, understanding where and how to pay the radio and TV licence fees, and what's available to the TV viewer in Italy.

There are three main television/video standards in use throughout the world.

The system used in the US, Canada, Japan and some other countries is called NTSC
Most of Western Europe, Australasia and Southern Africa use a system called PAL
Eastern Europe (and France) uses SECAM

The three standards are not compatible with each other. This means that a TV signal (or video) produced for one system will not work on machinery that's been designed for another.

The Italian system is PAL, therefore a non-PAL compatible television in Italy will not receive a signal or be able to broadcast sound and picture. Multi-standard European TVs and VCRs with automatic switching circuitry are available from electronics suppliers.

Note: there are very few English-language broadcasts in Italy.

The TV Tax

In Italy every house, office or car using a radio or television has to pay a TV tax, (Canone Rai). This is used to subsidise the public television stations (Rai 1, Rai 2, Rai 3).

The tax must be paid regardless of whether these channels are used by a household. However, there is only one payment per household, covering all television sets that the subscribers have for their own private use in the main house as well as in any second home, and for all the members of the family.

People living in furnished flats who do not own the television set they use are also required to pay the TV tax.

People residing abroad with a home in Italy equipped with a television set are also required to pay subscription fees.

Fee payment is also due by holders of a satellite or ground digital television set subscription, even if such equipment is used only for receiving cable or foreign origin broadcasts.

Getting registered and the first payment

The first payment is made in the following way:

With a 9100 current account form, available at any Italian Post Office
With a credit card, by phoning the toll-free number 800 191 191

A tax identification number (Codice Fiscale) will need to be provided.

New subscriptions can be started at any time of the year by paying an amount covering the period between the month of subscription and the six-monthly or yearly subscription fee expiry date.

Subsequent Payments

After the first payment, the Television Subscription Office (S.A.T.) will send the subscriber a registration booklet complete with their subscription number and relevant forms for subscription renewals.

The payment can then be made:

at any Post Office
through the bank
with a credit card using the TAXTEL service.
Tel: 800 191 191
from abroad, Tel: 0039 0264166707/09/09/10
through the Internet via the following websites:
- TAXTEL
- Paschi Riscossione

The tax may be paid once a year on 31 January, twice a year on 31 January and 31 July, or broken down in to four instalments (31 January, 30 April, 31 July, 31 October).

Please note: the Control Authority can detect non-payment of subscription fees, which can incur extra charges of as much as €619 in addition to subscription fees due.

Radio in Italy

The radio sector has a structure similar to television. RAI, the public broadcasting company, runs three FM/AM nationwide channels (Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3) representing altogether more than 50 percent of the national audience.

The 14 commercial radio networks share the rest of the audience. These commercial networks, as well as around 1,300 local stations, are exclusively financed by advertising.

Television: National Analogue Terrestrial Channels

Public Service

Rai Uno (Italian)
Rai Due (Italian)
Rai Tre (Italian)

Private Service

Television Channel Packages

Satellite packages

It is necessary to buy a decoder as well as pay the subscription to the relevant satellite provider.

Note: The three RAI TV channels and the three Mediaset private channels (Canale 5, Italia 1, Rete 4), Sky TG24 (News), RAI TG24 (News) plus many other channels are available Free To Air via satellite without having to subscribe to any package.

Operators of Digital Terrestrial Television

There are two types of decoder: interactive decoders and non-interactive decoders, also called "zappers" allowing reception of the TV programs only.

For more information about Digital Terrestrial Television: Click here (in Italian)

Providers of TV Services through IPTC

Alice Home TV: offers Internet, telephone and TV
Fastweb: bundled TV, Internet and telephone service; not available everywhere as it requires fibre optic cabling (mostly in large cities and key areas in Italy). With Fastweb some interactive features and some of the Sky programming are available

Channels made available by public companies

Television Channels with wide coverage through Cable, Satellite or Digital Terrestrial Distribution

Administra.it
Camera dei Deputati
Rai Doc
Rai Edu 1
Rai Futura
Rai Med
Rai Nettuno Uno
Rai Nettuno Due
Rai News 24
Rai Sport
Rai Utile
Raisat Cinema World
Raisat Extra
Raisat Gambero Rosso
Raisat Premium
Raisat Ragazzi
Senato della Republica

Channels made available by private companies

There are more than one hundred channels available from private companies; these include specialized channels such as: sport, fashion, business, history, music, cartoons, etc.

Pay per view services:

Regional and local channels

There are quite a few regional and local channels in Italy, among them are:

RAS, a public regional channel
Public regional windows in national channels (in the Lazio area: RaiTreLazio)
Private regional windows in national channels (stations affiliated to Odeon TV)
Private regional or local stations with satellite distribution (in the Lazio area: Roma Channel, Roma Uno, RomaSat).