The Italian Way to Teletext. The History, Structure and Role of Televideo Rai

Since 1984, Televideo has been a constant presence (even if sometimes unnoticed and neglected) in Italian television and a service provided by the national Public Service Broadcaster Rai. After years of technical and editorial experimentation, in Italy the role of teletext became important especially during the 1980s and the 1990s: it offered a series of textual information and data to a large number of television viewers, generating common practices and shared references, and influencing news production processes as well as the consumer electronics industry. In recent years, with the diffusion of PCs, the world wide web, and digital media Televideo central role has been decreased, yet it still offers its service to mature audiences and experiments some connections with digital outlets. Building on both primary and secondary sources (Rai archives, surveys, production data, printed press, promotional materials, etc.), the essay aims to trace the history of Italian teletext, through a multiple set of lenses: technology, politics, economy/business, content production, and audience. As a result, the fundamental role of public service TV in developing the “Italian way to teletext” will be described, taking into account national and regional pages (together with their less successful commercial counterparts). Televideo emerges then as a part of a complex intermedial landscape, supplementing newspapers and TV news as well as anticipating and then connecting television and digital environment.