Yeah -- RAI broadcasts are lame. The announcers are mediocre at best. The broadcast quality is often just this side of a 200kbps Internet video stream, and they have occasional cut outs, sound outs, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've heard announcers cough several times straight into an open mike.
That said, it's the cultural experience I really go for with RAI. I could see more Serie A matches on GolTV, etc., but watching Serie A in English or Spanish really leaves me with the straniero experience. It's great to be able to turn on the TV news like last May and to see the news reports coming out of Turin for all the fans who drove into town after the Palermo-Milan match. That, and well, I continue my attempts to learn Italian to appreciate the football and culture in a greater context.
With RAI losing the domestic terrestrial rights to broadcast Serie A matches, I am hoping that they might license a feed from MediaSet, or Sky or whatnot, to repackage for international distribution. And with that, hopefully the video and booth quality would improve.
As for GolTV in English, I know you live right across the Bay. If you get it through DishNetwork, there's channel 407 which broadcasts in English ... though I think you need access to a second satellite to get that here. Otherwise, it's Spanish on channel 853.
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