Transmissions began on 7 February 1966 as Rai Sender Bozen. Programming initially occupied just one hour daily, the broadcast was carried out from Teatro Cristallo in Bolzano and aired on the local frequencies of Rete 2 (today's Rai 2) between 20.00 and 21.00.
In this period the provincial autonomy is still far from being achieved; South Tyrol is affected by the attacks of secessionist terrorist groups. In such climate, the concession by the Italian government of a programme in German, when other requests are not satisfied, is seen by South Tyrolean politics as the imposition of a pro-government instrument of control. One of the reasons for setting up the channel is also to push towards the cessation of attempts to receive Austrian and German-speaking television programmes in general, a faculty invoked by the SVP. Therefore, on the occasion of the launch of the programs, the president of the Provincial Council of Bolzano and father of provincial autonomy Silvius Magnago, in open controversy with the choice, refused to leave a message on the German-speaking RAI; to replace him, the bishop of Bolzano-Bressanone, Msgr. Joseph Gargitter.
On 15 December 1979, with the birth of the third network, Rai Sender Bozen began broadcasting on its own dedicated channel. At the same time, a "bis network" was created, being a fourth channel relaying Rai 3 when Sender Bozen isn't broadcasting, with the aim of airing the German output without blocking the Italian output of the channel.
In 2013, the channel officially assumed the new name of Rai Südtirol and the number of hours of the entire television programming was increased.
Weekly airtime
Unlike all other RAI channels, Rai Südtirol is not on air 24/7. It broadcasts the programmes of Rai Südtirol and Rai Ladinia for different periods of time day by day. Outside its own broadcasting hours, Sender Bozen's frequencies are used by Rai 3.
