This is a very, very beautiful story. The story of how radio was born in Italy. On 27 August 1924 in Turin, it is called the Italian Radio Union (URI), because technically, as we will see, it is a “union” of several operators; years later it will become EIAR first and then RAI. We are at the dawn of fascism: on February 8, 1923, Royal Decree 1067 had entrusted the State with the exclusive right of the radio to be operated through a concessionaire. Who would be the dealership? The first candidate was Sirac, the Italian radio auditions society, which was linked to the Radio Corporation of America; the second was the SAR, an anonymous radio company, founded by Guglielmo Marconi in September 1923; the third was a company called L’Araldo Telefonico which on the basis of a provisional license had launched an experimental radio, Radio Araldo, which for several years, using a particular technology, worked by connecting some places of the culture of Rome where concerts were held.
The latter, led by engineer Luigi Ranieri, seemed the favorite, but it was difficult to exclude the company of Guglielmo Marconi who was the inventor of the radio. When he changed government and Minister of Communications he became an admirer of Marconi, Costanzo Ciano, the game officially reopened.
It was decided to do a field test: whoever passed it would have the concession. The test consisted in broadcasting a speech by Mussolini live from the Costanzi theater in Rome (the current Opera House). The transmitting station of Marconi’s company had been built in Centocelle but did not work, while the Arald, who had been carrying out that service for years although on an experimental basis, had no problems and transmitted the entire speech to Rome and the province.
Then the Minister of Communications invited the parties to find an agreement, to make a “Union” of the three contenders, but at the time of signing, on August 27, 1924, it was discovered that those of the Telephone Herald did not have the necessary capital. (one million and 400 thousand lire) and therefore the other two remained. On October 6 of that year, URI broadcasts officially started, with a concert announced by Maria Luisa Boncompagni (here you can hear it) that came from Radio Araldo and we will meet up with Rai (her nickname at one point became “Aunt Radio “). But we will talk about it again, also because there is a small controversy on the question of the first announcement; in the meantime, anyone who wants to can read this reconstruction by the journalist Renato Nunziata.
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