RaiPlay is an Italian subscription video on-demand over-the-top

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

service owned by

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced by RAI.

History

RaiPlay was created on 9 January 2007 as Rai.tv and operated by Rai Net (now Rai). The website allowed viewers to watch and listen to programs entirely or partially produced by Rai. The availability of programs was subject to copyright. The website also hosted exclusive content including interviews, extras, specials and blogs. A podcasting service was also made available from RaiPlay. Until January 2009, the app used by the site to play files had been

Windows Media Player Windows Media Player (WMP, officially referred to as Windows Media Player Legacy to retronym, distinguish it from Windows Media Player (2022), the new Windows Media Player introduced with Windows 11) is the first media player (application soft ...

11. Since February 2009, Rai.tv used

Silverlight Microsoft Silverlight is a discontinued application framework designed for writing and running rich internet applications, similar to Adobe's runtime, Adobe Flash. While early versions of Silverlight focused on streaming media, later version ...

for video streaming while choosing Silverlight or

RealPlayer RealPlayer, formerly RealAudio Player, RealOne Player and RealPlayer G2, is a cross-platform media player (software), media player app, developed by RealNetworks. The media player is compatible with numerous container file formats of the multimed ...

for audio content (of radio channels).

Microsoft Silverlight Microsoft Silverlight is a discontinued application framework designed for writing and running rich internet applications, similar to Adobe Inc., Adobe's Run time environment, runtime, Adobe Flash. While early versions of Silverlight focused on ...

limited the availability of live video streaming exclusively to Microsoft users. From 2007 to 2014 many videos have been available on the Rai's YouTube channel, but in 2014 the broadcaster decided not to renew the partnership with the famous web site, removing 150 000 videos in a 9 year period. The economic loss due to this decision has been estimated at €1,5 million. On 12 September 2016, Rai.tv became RaiPlay, renewing its graphics and functions but not including the live streaming or radio content. RaiPlay has been available on

smart TVs A smart TV, also known as a connected TV (CTV or, rarely, CoTV), is a traditional television set with integrated Internet and interactive Web 2.0 features that allow users to stream music and videos, browse the internet, and view photos. Smart TV ...

since December 2016. Since 1 June 2017, during the airing of the second season of ''

Non uccidere ''Thou Shalt Not Kill'' (Italian: ''Non uccidere'') is an Italian crime drama television series starring Miriam Leone. The first season aired in Italy on Rai 3 in 2017, while the second season premiered on Rai's streaming service RaiPlay. Each s ...

'', all episodes of new seasons belonging to Rai series or purchased from other broadcasters were made available online via RaiPlay Anteprima. On 30 October 2019 a huge update was released, making the app look more similar to other services like

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

. On 5 November of the same year, the first original show of the service, Viva RaiPlay!, was released. This program also aired on

Rai 1 Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship television channel and is known for broadcasting ...

until 8 November. On 13 November, it became a RaiPlay exclusive.

On the home page are shown news or exclusive content, collections of programs divided in sections which will be customized if logging on with a RaiPlay account. On the sidebar (which can be opened by clicking on the dedicated button) are available these sections: * ''Guida TV (TV guide) / Replay'', with the list of channels and programs in chronological order which integrate the Replay function allowing to re-watch a program already aired; * ''Dirette (Live TV's)'', where users can watch in live streaming the TV channels of Rai; * ''Programmi (Shows)'', with a list of programs organized in alphabetical order and divided in sections; * ''Ultimi visti (Last shown)'', ''I miei preferiti (My favourites)'' and ''Guarda dopo (Watch later)'', available only after the required register or login.

References

External links

* {{VOD services Android (operating system) software Internet properties established in 2016 Internet television streaming services IOS software Mass media companies established in 2016

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

Subscription video on demand services Universal Windows Platform apps Video on demand services

History

Contents

References

External links