RAI Continues to Be Vatican´s Television Channel of Reference

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 17, 2001 (Zenit.org).- Italy´s public television channel, RAI, will continue to be the TV network of reference for the transmission of events connected with the Pope´s activities and the Holy See.

The Vatican in a press statement today announced the conclusion of a three-year collaboration agreement between Claudio Cappon, RAI´s director general, and Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican Television Center.

The signing ceremony took place at the headquarters of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, in the presence of its president, Archbishop John P. Foley.

According to the agreement, the Vatican statement explains, RAI "commits itself to assure foreign broadcasting stations of the television signal of events [in the Pope´s life] and to prepare the units of work for foreign commentators."

For its part, the Vatican Television Center "commits itself to guarantee to RAI the exclusive rights to pictures and diffusion in Italy; however, the signal for audio and international video will always be available to SAT 2000 and to other Italian and foreign Catholic broadcasters." SAT 2000 is the television channel of the Italian episcopal conference.

"The Vatican Television Center also commits itself to entrust preferentially to RAI the task of organizing, coordinating and distributing possible international co-productions of these events," the statement continues.

The agreement explains that "during liturgical transmissions, live or recorded, advertising interruptions or any other form of advertising promotion will not be permitted."

RAI and the Vatican Television Center also agreed to a free exchange of their archives for the production of audiovisuals of an institutional character.