For about 15 minutes starting at 8:20 pm on Tuesday, June 12, 2018 all Rai channels, including the website, were blacked out, here's why
On Tuesday, June 12, 2018 just before 8:30 pm all Rai channels went dark. Rai 1, Rai 2, Rai 3, but also all the other thematic channels and even the video streaming platform RayPlay, remained "off" for about a quarter of an hour. In the general disbelief, viewers were left for several minutes wondering what had happened.
The explanation for the Rai blackout is quite simple: at about 8.20 p.m. on Tuesday, June 12, three batteries in the power station serving the Saxa Rubra complex exploded, thus interrupting all public service transmissions. This is the first case in the history of State TV that the signal of Rai 1, Rai 2 and Rai 3 is blacked out at the same time. The blackout also caused panic among those working in the company's dressing rooms and studios. Those who work in Rai immediately thought the worst, but in the end it was only a lack of electricity. Astonishment and curiosity also among the viewers at home who immediately began to ask on social media, especially Twitter, what had happened to the Rai channels.
Why the RAI was not seen on June 12, 2018
To give the first confirmation that it was a blackout caused by the explosion of three batteries was the same journalist of Tg2 Manuela Moreno who on Twitter warned viewers that the Rai had suffered a power outage and for this reason could not transmit. The blockage, although quite brief, immediately triggered word of mouth on social networks, so much so that throughout the evening of June 12, 2018 one of the most used hashtags on Twitter was #RaiDown. The Rai press office apologized to viewers, again on the microblogging platform, informing them of a serious and unforeseeable technical failure caused by the explosion of three batteries in the power plant that provides power to the Saxa Rubra complex.