The Sanremo Festival opened a new chapter in its history last night: with the 2024 edition, spectators have the opportunity to experience the Festival in 4K ultra definition on Tivùsat. An innovation that represents a step forward in the history of television. Since its debut on Italian screens in 1951, the Sanremo Festival has been a springboard for the introduction of new television technologies. With the 4K broadcast, Sanremo 2024 is positioned at the forefront of television offerings, with an unprecedented viewing experience.
4K broadcast doesn’t just improve image resolution; represents a true revolution in the quality of the television experience. A wider color gamut, more lifelike detail and more vivid contrast, every performance, gesture and expression is captured in stunning clarity. The sound is equally immersive, with a wider dynamic range.
It was 1955 when this greeting came from the first black and white televisions: «Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. The fifth Italian song festival begins. Like other years, the party and entertainment hall of the municipal casino of Sanremo welcomes us. Like other years, the keenest anticipation of the listeners and the public present here gives warmth and meaning to this event now consecrated to success. This year, however, the festival also presents some new features. First of all, for the first time television is present for the direct filming of some phases of the event. On the final evening of Saturday 29th a connection will be made with the other European television stations. Thus the Sanremo festival officially enters the exceptional events, not only on the radio but also on Italian and international TV.” Exactly with these words, and with this emphasis, Armando Pizzo, who would host the festival with Maria Teresa Ruta, presented the fifth edition of the Sanremo festival to the “listeners” (who in reality were also “viewers”). The first, in fact, also broadcast on TV.
That small screen that had just celebrated its first year of life in 1955. And that since then he has begun a long gallop to reach the present day. At 11 am on January 3, 1954, the TV was turned on for the first time in Italy. On the screens the “National program” ancestor of today’s Rai1. In 1961, on 4 November, Rai2 arrived to keep him company. So, in 1977, colors appeared for the first time on the small screen which until then had been in black and white, which naturally the Sanremo festival, hosted by Mike Bongiorno, welcomed with triumphal tones. Then in 1979 the arrival of the third Rai network; and then in the Eighties – the advent of Fininvest with commercial TV: Rete4, Canale5 and Italia1. After about twenty years purchasing Tele+ and Stream – there was also space for the pay TV giant News Corporation which founded in Italy what we have come to know as Sky. Finally, the advent of streaming platforms. Seventy years of history lived in the name of evolution for TV: from black and white up to 4K. A technology that offers more defined images than high definition. A wider color gamut, more realistic details, more vivid contrasts and deeper, more dynamic sound. And this year is the first edition of Sanremo to be broadcast by Rai with unprecedented visual and audio quality in 4K.
A show that Italians who receive television via satellite with Tivùsat were able to appreciate. Even the European Championships and Olympics in 4K, but among the 4K bouquet of tivùsat, Rai4K deserves a special mention. We are talking about the public service satellite channel. It recounts major sporting events: in November 2022 it was the turn of the football World Cup purchased exclusively. Then also the Rai dramas (such as the episodes of Inspector Montalbano restored in 4K). Not to mention the great documentaries by Alberto Angela, the premiere at La Scala, and now finally also the Sanremo festival. And finally the spectacle that awaits us this summer when the European Football Championships will be staged in Germany (from 14 June to 14 July) followed by the Summer Olympics in Paris (from 26 July to 11 August). A summer on Rai screens to be experienced entirely in ultra definition. Here too thanks to the tivùsat platform and Rai4K. A channel (number 210) which with its offering is driving the entire television industry. As reported by the latest Auditel Censis report, in fact, in Italy there are 43.4 million devices. And of these, 8.2 million are in 4K.
Three million families watch tivùsat, this free satellite platform was born in 2008. The mission was and still is to transport the bouquet of digital terrestrial also to those areas of Italian territory (starting from the mountain areas and islands) where the old antennas (and broadband) still cannot arrive today. 16 years later, tivùsat maintains its lead in signal diffusion. But it also claims a high technological standard and a rich, quality editorial offer. All this by making efficient technology available in terms of environmental sustainability. To get on board this free satellite platform, all you need is a satellite dish and a certified tivùsat device, decoder or cam. To watch in 4K, however, you will need to have a TV and decoder (or Cam) compatible with ultra definition.