France Inter

Last updated

France Inter
Programming
Language French
Format Generalist
Ownership
Owner Radio France
History
First air date
1 January 1947 (1947-01-01)
Former names
  • Club d'Essai (1947)
  • Paris-Inter (1947–1957)
  • France I (1957–1963)
  • RTF Inter (1963)
Links
Website franceinter.fr

France Inter (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃sɛ̃tɛʁ] ) is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France.

Contents

It is the successor to Paris Inter, later known as France I, and created as a merger of the France I and France II networks, first as RTF Inter in October 1963, then renamed to its current name in December of that year. It is a "generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, liberally punctuated with an eclectic mix of music. It is broadcast on FM and DAB+ from a nationwide network of transmitters, as well as via the internet.

It is the most popular station in France with over 7 million daily listeners. [1]

History

France Inter was founded as part of the reorganization of state broadcasting which followed the end of World War II as "Paris Inter" and charged with being French public radio's generalist (i.e. "full-service") service. The channel was renamed "France I" in 1958, although three years later one of France's most popular radio and television listings magazines was still showing the station's programmes under the heading "Paris-Inter" with "France I" as a subtitle. [2] In October 1963 the France I and France II networks were merged to form "RTF Inter", renamed "France Inter" with effect from 8 December.

The major challenge faced by France Inter at the time of its reorganization in the 1960s was the success of private "peripheral stations" forbidden to air in France due to the state monopoly (in particular, RTL and Europe 1, broadcasting from powerful transmitters outside France) in capturing the majority of the French radio audience since the war. They had done so by adopting a modern broadcasting style and earning a reputation for greater freedom from government influence.

As well as rapidly modernizing its style to match its competitors, France Inter stressed its freedom from commercial pressures – although it does carry a limited amount of paid-for advertising – and especially presented itself as intelligent radio accessible to a general audience under the slogan Écoutez la différence ("Listen to the difference").

The channel announced during 2016 that it would discontinue transmissions from the Allouis longwave transmitter on 162 kHz with effect from 1 January 2017, thereby saving approximately €6 million per year. Transmission from Allouis of the atomic-clock-generated time signal (ALS162) would, however, continue after this date as the signal is critical for over 200,000 devices deployed within French enterprises and state entities, such as French Railways (SNCF), the electricity distributor ENEDIS, airports, hospitals, municipalities, etc. [3] The final song France Inter played on long wave 162 kHz prior to being switched on 31 December 2016 was "Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life" by Indeep.

Slogans

Programmes

France Inter programmes, a number of which have been important milestones in the history of French radio, include:

References

  1. Valérie Guédot (9 January 2025). "Audiences Médiamétrie : France Inter démarre l'année en fanfare". Radio France (in French). radiofrance.fr. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  2. La Semaine Radio-Télé 29/41, 814 October 1961
  3. Brulhatour (21 December 2016). "Le signal horaire restera sur le 162 kHz de France Inter". La Lettre (in French). Editions HF. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  4. "Charline Vanhoenacker : " L'extrême droite, CNews… importent et mettent en scène de manière artificielle une guerre culturelle "". Le Monde.fr (in French). 12 July 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.