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Disney Plus has taken another step in strengthening its European content strategy through a new agreement with Italian state broadcaster RAI. The deal, announced Tuesday, will bring a curated selection of RAI’s scripted and unscripted programming to the streaming platform, further broadening its local content offering in Italy.
Under the agreement, several well known RAI shows will become available to Disney Plus subscribers shortly after their original broadcast. Among the unscripted titles included are the talk show Belve, hosted by Francesca Fagnani, and the game show
The Floor Ne rimarrà solo uno, currently hosted by Paola Perego and Gabriele Vagnato. These programs will be made available for streaming starting the day after they air on RAI 2, giving audiences faster access to popular domestic programming.
The partnership also includes a strong lineup of scripted content. Disney Plus will expand its Italian catalog with a selection of RAI’s most successful recent series. These include Braccialetti rossi, Mina Settembre, My Brilliant Friend, Un passo dal cielo, and Màkari. In addition, the docu reality series Il Collegio will join the platform. The show follows teenagers placed in a strict boarding school environment inspired by the nineteen sixties, where they must live without mobile phones or social media while adapting to a different educational style.
These titles will be grouped into a dedicated RAI collection on Disney Plus, making it easier for viewers to discover Italian programming. They will join other RAI shows already available on the service, such as Don Matteo, I Bastardi Di Pizzofalcone, Un Medico In Famiglia, and Doc Nelle Tue Mani. Together, these will complement Disney Plus original Italian productions including The Lions of Sicily, The Ignorant Angels, This is not Hollywood, and Boris 4.
This agreement reflects a broader strategy by Disney Plus to collaborate with major public broadcasters across Europe. Similar partnerships have already been established with Atresmedia and RTVE in Spain, ITV in the United Kingdom, SIC in Portugal, and ARD and ZDF in Germany. These collaborations aim to combine the reach of established local broadcasters with the global distribution power of streaming platforms.
The deal with RAI was finalized through RAI Com, the broadcaster’s sales division. According to Karl Holmes, General Manager of Disney Plus for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, the collaboration builds on more than four decades of cooperation between Disney and RAI in Italy. He emphasized that the agreement will offer subscribers a broader range of iconic local content while helping Italian productions reach wider audiences.
Overall, the partnership highlights the growing importance of local storytelling in the streaming era. By integrating popular national programming into its platform, Disney
Plus continues to position itself as a service that balances global franchises with regionally relevant content.
