Nostalgie is a popular French

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

broadcasting on FM, mostly playing pre-2000s songs with 76% of them coming from the 1980s. Nostalgie is part of the

NRJ Group The NRJ Group (NRJ is an acronym read as ''énergie'' in French language, French, pronounced ) () is a French multimedia group based in Paris. Its founders are Jean-Paul Baudecroux and Max Guazzini. Since its foundation in 1981 as a Culture o ...

History

Radio Nostalgie, now simply Nostalgie, was created on 16 September 1983. Since 1985 Radio Nostalgie was developing a network in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and in 1986 the station was also broadcasting in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Also at this time, Radio Nostalgie was already developing abroad in countries such as

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

(

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

). And later continued its expansion in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

(

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

), the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, and more recently in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

(

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

(

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

) and

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

(

Lomé Lomé ( , ) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Togo, largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

). Towards 1987/1988, the life of the station was marked by the diffusion of popular and rare songs from the 50s to the 80s with news and some significant programs: *"Les matinales" "The Mornings" (Denis Rostagnat, weekly, 5 am-9 am). *"La salle et la terrasse" "The room and the terrace" (weekly, 12 am-2 pm). *"Le club" (Program with mainly songs of the 60s hosted by Bruno Dubois) weekly, 5 pm-7 pm). *"Piano Bar" (Pierre Galibert, Saturdays 9 pm-1 am). *"Les nuits de Nostalgie" "The Nights of Nostalgie" (Pascal Moréno, weekly, 1 am-5 am). In 1997, the group Générale Occidentale entered at 49% in the share capital, RMC retaining the remaining 51%. Nostalgie focused towards a younger format by broadcasting songs of the 1980s and entertainment programs by well-known hosts (

Pierre Bellemare Pierre Bellemare (21 October 1929 – 26 May 2018) was a French writer, novelist, radio personality, television presenter, TV producer, director, and actor. Television * '' La Tête et les Jambes'' * '' La Caméra invisible'' * '' J'ai un Se ...

, Georges Beller,

Lio Lio or LIO may refer to: People *Lio (singer) (born 1962), Belgian singer and actress * Leonel Cunha Guerra (born 1987), Portuguese football player known as Lio * Lee Hyung-sang, nickname Lio (1985), South Korean football player * L.I.O. Petrodol ...

, Pierre Galibert, etc.). The audience was crumbling dangerously. On 10 April 1997, the radio station started broadcasting its own

TV station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's ...

Nostalgie la télé Nostalgie is a popular French radio station broadcasting on FM, mostly playing pre-2000s songs with 76% of them coming from the 1980s. Nostalgie is part of the NRJ Group. History Radio Nostalgie, now simply Nostalgie, was created on 16 Septemb ...

. It was owned by the

AB Groupe Mediawan Thematics (formerly known as AB Groupe) is a French television channel business and audiovisual distribution group in the field of broadcasting that is owned by Mediawan. History Mediawan Thematics had its roots under the name of AB P ...

who had agreed to broadcast under this name. However, the channel failed, and was replaced in the summer of 1999 by RFM TV. At the outbreak of the RMC Group, Radio Nostalgie, as well as RMC and Montmartre FM, were put up for sale.

was a candidate, and the CSA authorizes repurchase. Following virulent protests from the independent local radio, saying the NRJ group would monopoly on local advertising market with its four networks (

NRJ Nouvelle Radio Jeune, (Acronym: NRJ, , ) is a private France, French radio station created by Jean-Paul Baudecroux and Max Guazzini in June 1981 in France, 1981. Widely popularized by its "godmother", singer Dalida, who prevented it from closi ...

Chérie FM Chérie FM is a French radio station created in 1987 and belongs to the NRJ Group. History Chérie FM was created in 1987 in Paris by Jean-Paul Baudecroux on the then defunct frequency of Gilda la Radiopolitaine. Chérie FM then started broadca ...

and Rire & Chansons and Nostalgie): they indeed feared too much pressure from advertisers with attractive offers. The CSA then imposes conditions on the NRJ Group to reduce the monopoly : Rire & Chansons becomes 100% passive (closing local stations, which also contradicted terms of the CSA's own, which erect at the birth of Rire & Chansons) and some other local stations of the NRJ group will stop broadcasting in some cities where NRJ is strongly present. Within a few months, the audience of Radio Nostalgie exploded: whereas previously the highest scores were in the range of only 6% of total audience, Nostalgie quickly exceeded 8%. The simultaneous start of Christophe Sabot (Director of Programming) and

Jean-Marc Morandini Jean-Marc Morandini (; born 5 August 1965) is a French television host. Morandini was born in Marseille. In 1985, aged 20, he became the youngest TV announcer in France. He worked for channel ''La Cinq La Cinq (, ) was a French free-to-ai ...

(Director of Nostalgie) did not affect the score.

Main slogan

In 1996 a new slogan was introduced: La légende, and later became the main slogan, as it was always present on the logo between 1996 and February 2013. * 1996 - February 2013 : ''La Légende''

International affiliates

Nostalgie has many international affiliates under the same name in the following countries : *

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

( Play Nostalgie) **

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

( Nostalgie Wallonie) *

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

(Nostalgie Guadeloupe) *

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

(Nostalgie Guinée) *

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

(Nostalgie Guyane) *

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

(Nostalgie Côte d'Ivoire) *

(Nostalgie Liban 88.1) *

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

(Nostalgie Martinique) *

( Rádio Nostalgia) *

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

(Nostalgie Réunion 97,4) *

(Nostalgie Dakar 90.3) *

(Nostalgie Lomé)

Web-radios

Nostalgie currently has 56 web-radios in various musical genres, to listen the webradios or know more about the web-radios see the reference:

Slogans

* From 1983 till 1992: ''Un amour de radio'' (A love of station) * From 1992 till 1993: ''La radio pour charger d'airs'' (The station for changing the air) * From 1993 till 1996: ''C'est pour toujours'' (This is for always) * From 1997 till 1999: ''Le bonheur c'est ici'' (The happiness is here) * From 1998 to 2009: ''La Légende'' (The legend) * From 2009 till 2012: ''La Jeunesse est éternelle'' (The youth is eternal) * From 2012 till 2013: ''La Légende des annés 60, 70 et 80 !'' (The legend of the 60s, 70s and 80s!) * From 2013 till 2014: ''Les chansons de vos légendes !'' (Songs of your legends) * From 2014 till 2022: ''Les plus grandes chansons'' (The biggest songs) * Since 2022: ''Les plus grands tubes'' (The greatest hits)

References