Rough Start for Paris Radio in English
Michael Hedges - September 1, 2004
Two new English language radio stations are developing in Paris, both lured by the promise of new DAB licenses.
World Radio Paris and Paris Live Radio are but the latest attempts to reach the large English-speaking expatriate and tourist audience. Different sources estimate the resident English-speaking population in Paris between 200,000 and 750,000. Anglophone tourists add another 1 million sets of ears annually.
Paris Radio Live www.parislive.fm was licensed by the French Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (CSA) in October 2003 and has broadcast on cable, satellite and internet since May. VDL, one of the three French multiplex operators, accepted the station as part of its Paris DAB test. The test period expires in November after which all prospective broadcasters must be licensed.
Because of stringent French broadcast content rules, music on Paris Radio Live through the day strays little from the typical pop and rock found on other Paris stations. At night, the music is more typical of the classic rock formats found in the UK or Australia. The big difference, of course, is DJs speaking English. And it’s a commercial station, promoting concerts and other local Paris events.
World Radio Paris www.worldradioparis.org has not yet gone on the air. Its director, who refers to himself only as David, is following a different strategy and says the station is three years behind schedule. “It’s really a service we want to bring to the English speaking community,” he said.
David has foregone the cable and satellite route and concentrated on the internet and DAB. Also, World Radio Paris will forgo music and concentrate on news and information. Differences in strategies explain the split last year between David and Paris Radio Live director Ian de Renzie Duncan. World Radio Paris is licensed as a non-commercial, association.
Tentative agreements, according to David, have been reached with US National Public Radio (NPR) and the BBC World Service, each providing eight hours programming daily. International broadcasters – like NPR and BBC World Service – must be authorized by the CSA for broadcast in France. NPR received authorization and BBC World Service has only recently made the request. The remaining eight hours will be locally produced.
Neither station can claim being the first English radio in Paris or in France. Ron Myers has operated Radio 74 from Archamps in eastern France, near Switzerland since 1982. Radio 74 is also part of the VDL DAB tests in several cities, covers all France on the HotBird satellite and the FM near Geneva, Switzerland.
“I believe, “ said Myers, “that during the past 12 years, Radio 74 has been the only licensed English-speaking station in France. Claude Senouff operated a commercial FM station in Paris for several years in the 1980s while his mother operated a station at Collonges-sous-Saleve, beaming into Geneva. English language stations have existed in Grenoble and Toulouse.”
Local distribution in Paris has been long sought by both NPR and BBC World Service, according to Jeff Rosenberg, director of NPR Worldwide. BBC World Service programs are re-broadcast in several European cities. In 2001 BBC World Service purchased 40% of World Radio Geneva, a joint venture with Switzerland’s public broadcaster SSR-SRG idée Suisse.
Previously published in Radio World International, September 1, 2004
ftm Follow Up & Comments
Geneva English Language Radio Thrives - July 27, 2005
English language Geneva, Switzerland, radio station WRG FM reported audience increases in both official and unofficial estimates.
Official estimates, released by Publicadata, indicate a 25% audience increase in the first quarter 2005 to 21,000 listeners, according to a station press release. Station officials pointed out that official estimates are based on sampling methods conducted in French, potentially under representing the stations audience.
Unofficial surveys conducted by public broadcaster SSR-SRG show 68,000 listeners to the station in the Geneva area inside Switzerland. Geneva is home to the United Nations European headquarters, over 200 UN and non-governmental agencies and several world and European headquarters for multi-national corporations giving it a large English language community. Areas in France, surrounding Geneva on three sides, were not surveyed and are popular residential zones for international civil servants.
WRG FM, formerly known as World Radio Geneva, was launched in 1996 as a joint venture between SSR-SRG and Reuters, which has its European headquarters in Geneva. As part of a general restructuring Reuters sold its interest in the station to the BBC World Service. SSR-SRG internally transferred its ownership to Radio Suisse Romande, the public broadcaster for French-speaking Switzerland.
| 