RAI extends television broadcasting to 6 hours by day, and 11 hours on Sunday.
3 February. With the first airing of Carosello, (see below) advertising is introduced to Italian television. The show is inaugurated by an educational short about car driving, sponsored by
Shell and played by the sports journalist
Giovanni Canestrini [
it].[1]
16 May. Foundation of
TVL (Televisione Libera) [
it], presided by Gian Vittorio Figari, which aimed to create a commercial television in
Milan. Involved in In this project were the American William A. Berns, manager of
RCA and
NBC, and the controversial businessman
Umberto Ortolani. The firm performs (illegally) the first test broadcastings by an Italian private television, on the
UHF band, which was not used by RAI.[3]
8 September. In the encyclical Miranda prorsus,
Pope Pius XII expresses the
Catholic Church’s views regarding to modern
mass media. About television, the Pope shows interest but also concern. He asks for a strict control by the civil authorities on its content.[4]
19 December. In
Rome, RAI inaugurates the Via Teulada Production Center, with 6 studios; the core of the firm moves definitively from
Turin to the capital.[5]
December 31: Images from the sky is the first show broadcast simultaneously in all ten
Eurovision member countries. Italy contributes with a recital of operatic arias, performed by
Maria Callas from RAI auditorium in Rome.[6]
Debuts
Carosello (Carousel) – advertising show, aired daily between the news and the prime time; it consists of a series of two minutes film (usually comical sketches or cartoons), ending with the slogan of the sponsor, and often realized anonymously by renowned directors, as
Luciano Emmer and
Ermanno Olmi. For twenty years, it’s one of the TV show most loved by the public (moreover by the childish one) and sees the presence as testimonials of almost all the most famous Italian showmen, from
Eduardo De Filippo to
Dario Fo.[7]
Telematch – game show, hosted by
Enzo Tortora,
Silvio Noto and
Renato Tagliani [
it]; two seasons. It includes, for the first time in Italy, two segments not shot in studio: The mysterious object, from the square of a village, and The arm and the mind, cultural and athletic test from a gym, with the presence of famous sportsmen.[8]
Il musichiere – musical game show, Italian version of Name that tune; directed by Antonello Falqui, written by
Garinei and Giovannini, hosted by
Mario Riva. The program gets huge popularity, not only for the game but also for the presence as guest stars of the biggest names of the show business and of the sport, not only Italians, from
Gary Cooper to
Coppi and
Bartali.[9] After three seasons, the show is deleted because the sudden Mario Riva’s death.[10]
Volti e voci della fortuna (Faces and voices of the luck) – musical contest bound to the New Year lottery, hosted by
Enzo Tortora and
Silvio Noto, won by
Aurelio Fierro with Scapricciatello. It’s considered an early version of Canzonissima (also if a similar show had been already aired, only by radio, in 1956, under the title Le canzoni della fortuna, The luck’s song).
Viaggio nella valle del Po : alla ricerca di cibi genuini (Trip in the
Po Valley: looking for genuine foods) – gastronomical reportage in 12 episodes, directed and hosted by
Mario Soldati. While the Italian intellectuals flaunt, generally, distrust for the television, Soldati shows the potentialities of the new media, using the cuisine as a way to investigate the rural Italy.[11]
Tessa la ninfa fedele (The constant nymph) by Mario Ferrero, from the
Margaret Kennedy’s novel about the tragic love between a musician and a lassie, in four chapters; with
Alberto Lupo and
Elena Cotta.
RAI extends television broadcasting to 6 hours by day, and 11 hours on Sunday.
3 February. With the first airing of Carosello, (see below) advertising is introduced to Italian television. The show is inaugurated by an educational short about car driving, sponsored by
Shell and played by the sports journalist
Giovanni Canestrini [
it].[1]
16 May. Foundation of
TVL (Televisione Libera) [
it], presided by Gian Vittorio Figari, which aimed to create a commercial television in
Milan. Involved in In this project were the American William A. Berns, manager of
RCA and
NBC, and the controversial businessman
Umberto Ortolani. The firm performs (illegally) the first test broadcastings by an Italian private television, on the
UHF band, which was not used by RAI.[3]
8 September. In the encyclical Miranda prorsus,
Pope Pius XII expresses the
Catholic Church’s views regarding to modern
mass media. About television, the Pope shows interest but also concern. He asks for a strict control by the civil authorities on its content.[4]
19 December. In
Rome, RAI inaugurates the Via Teulada Production Center, with 6 studios; the core of the firm moves definitively from
Turin to the capital.[5]
December 31: Images from the sky is the first show broadcast simultaneously in all ten
Eurovision member countries. Italy contributes with a recital of operatic arias, performed by
Maria Callas from RAI auditorium in Rome.[6]
Debuts
Carosello (Carousel) – advertising show, aired daily between the news and the prime time; it consists of a series of two minutes film (usually comical sketches or cartoons), ending with the slogan of the sponsor, and often realized anonymously by renowned directors, as
Luciano Emmer and
Ermanno Olmi. For twenty years, it’s one of the TV show most loved by the public (moreover by the childish one) and sees the presence as testimonials of almost all the most famous Italian showmen, from
Eduardo De Filippo to
Dario Fo.[7]
Telematch – game show, hosted by
Enzo Tortora,
Silvio Noto and
Renato Tagliani [
it]; two seasons. It includes, for the first time in Italy, two segments not shot in studio: The mysterious object, from the square of a village, and The arm and the mind, cultural and athletic test from a gym, with the presence of famous sportsmen.[8]
Il musichiere – musical game show, Italian version of Name that tune; directed by Antonello Falqui, written by
Garinei and Giovannini, hosted by
Mario Riva. The program gets huge popularity, not only for the game but also for the presence as guest stars of the biggest names of the show business and of the sport, not only Italians, from
Gary Cooper to
Coppi and
Bartali.[9] After three seasons, the show is deleted because the sudden Mario Riva’s death.[10]
Volti e voci della fortuna (Faces and voices of the luck) – musical contest bound to the New Year lottery, hosted by
Enzo Tortora and
Silvio Noto, won by
Aurelio Fierro with Scapricciatello. It’s considered an early version of Canzonissima (also if a similar show had been already aired, only by radio, in 1956, under the title Le canzoni della fortuna, The luck’s song).
Viaggio nella valle del Po : alla ricerca di cibi genuini (Trip in the
Po Valley: looking for genuine foods) – gastronomical reportage in 12 episodes, directed and hosted by
Mario Soldati. While the Italian intellectuals flaunt, generally, distrust for the television, Soldati shows the potentialities of the new media, using the cuisine as a way to investigate the rural Italy.[11]
Tessa la ninfa fedele (The constant nymph) by Mario Ferrero, from the
Margaret Kennedy’s novel about the tragic love between a musician and a lassie, in four chapters; with
Alberto Lupo and
Elena Cotta.