France Inter () is a major
French public radio
Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
channel and part of
Radio France
Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster.
Stations
Radio France offers seven national networks:
*France Inter — Radio France's "generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed with a wide variety of ...
. It is a "
generalist
A generalist is a person with a wide array of knowledge on a variety of subjects, useful or not. It may also refer to:
Occupations
* a physician who provides general health care, as opposed to a medical specialist; see also:
** General pract ...
" 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 from a nationwide network of transmitters, as well as via the internet.
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 Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
), the electricity distributor ENEDIS, airports, hospitals, municipalities, etc.
History
France Inter was founded as part of the reorganization of state broadcasting which followed the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
as "
Paris-Inter" and charged with being French public radio's generalist (i.e. "full-service") service. The channel was renamed "
France I
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
" 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.
[''La Semaine Radio-Télé'' 29/41, 8–14 October 1961] In October 1963 the France I and
France II
''France II'' was a French sailing ship, built by Chantiers et Ateliers de la Gironde and Ceremonial ship launching, launched in 1912. In hull length and overall size she was, after , the second largest commercial merchant sailing ship ever built ...
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 private "peripheral stations" (in particular,
RTL and
Europe 1
Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. Owned and operated by Lagardère Active, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it is one of the leading radio broadcasting stations in France and its pro ...
, broadcasting from powerful transmitters outside France) success 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").
Slogans
* 1975: ''Écoutez la différence'' (Hear the difference)
* 1983: ''France Inter, pour ceux qui ont quelque chose entre les oreilles'' (France Inter, for those who have something between their ears)
* 1987: ''Plus haut la radio !'' (Turn up the radio!)
* 1995: ''Écoutez, ça n'a rien à voir'' (Listen, that's beside the point
n French this is a play on "there's nothing to see"
* 2001: ''Au début ça surprend. Après aussi'' (It's surprising at first — and after the fact)
* 2005: ''Qu’allez-vous découvrir aujourd’hui ?'' (What will you discover today?)
* 2008: ''France Inter, la différence'' (France Inter, the difference / the novelty)
* 2012: ''La voix est libre'' (The voice is free
n French this is a play on "the coast is clear"
* 2013: ''50 ans qu’on ouvre la voix'' (50 years of opening up the voice
n French this is a play on "paving the way"
* 2014: ''InterVenez'' (Speak up / Take action)
* 2015: ''Vous êtes bien sur France Inter'' (You're really there on France Inter
n French this is a play on "You're doing fine"
Programmes
France Inter programmes, a number of which have been important milestones in the history of French radio, include:
* ''Le Masque et la Plume'', arts reviews from journalist critics ''(on air since 13/11/1955)''
* ''
Le Jeu des 1000 euros
''Le Jeu des 1000 euros'' (translation: ''The 1000 Euros Game'') is a French daily radio game show broadcast on France Inter. Created in 1958 by Henri Kubnick under the name ''100000 francs par jour'' (translation: ''100,000 French Francs By Day' ...
'', a general-knowledge quiz programme ''(since 19/4/1958)''
* ''La marche de l'histoire'', formerly ''Deux mille ans d'histoire'', an in-depth daily documentary on a specific historical subject ''(since 1999)''
* ''Pop Club'' ''(1965-2005, i.e. 40 years with the same presenter José Artur)''
* ''Le téléphone sonne'', a
current affairs discussion and
phone-in
In broadcasting, a phone-in or call-in is a programme format in which viewers or listeners are invited to air their live comments by telephone, usually in respect of a specific topic selected for discussion on the day of the broadcast. On radio ( ...
programme ''(since 1978)''
* ''Là-bas si j'y suis'', a reports programme ''(1989-2014)''
* ''Le sept neuf'', formerly ''Inter Matin'', morning news sequence ''(since 1982)''
* ''classique avec Dessay'', formerly ''
Carrefour De Lodéon
Carrefour () is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, France. The eighth-largest retailer in the world by revenue, it operates a chain of hypermarkets, groceries stores and convenience stores, which ...
'', classical music programme ''(since 1992)
* ''Les Cinglés du music-hall'', prewar jazz and popular music presented by
Jean-Christophe Averty
Jean-Christophe Averty (; 6 August 1928 – 4 March 2017) was a French television and radio director, and Satrap of the College of 'Pataphysique.
Many of his television productions from the 1960s were early examples of French video art. His studi ...
for 28 years until 2006
References
External links
France Inter transmitters map
*
Radio France Online Streaming
{{Authority control
Radio France
Longwave radio stations
News and talk radio stations