French radio stations are licensed and regulated by the

CSA CSA may refer to: Arts and media * Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television * Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics * Crime Syndicate of Amer ...

, and public radio services are provided by

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 ...

History

The history of radio in France began in 1897 when Eugène Adrien Ducretet successfully transmitted radio messages between two Paris landmarks. However, radio only became fully developed during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

, when the Daladier government brought broadcasting under their centralized control in 1938. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, General

Gustave-Auguste Ferrié Gustave-Auguste Ferrié (19 November 1868 – 16 February 1932) was a French radio pioneer and army general.

began using the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...

for radio transmissions. Radiotechnique, founded in 1919 as a holding company for Émile Girardeau's Société française radio-électrique, began manufacturing radio sets in 1921. Radio Normandie (originally Radio Fécamp), created by

Fernand Le Grand Fernand is a masculine given name of French origin. The feminine form is Fernande. Fernand may refer to: People Given name * Fernand Augereau (1882–1958), French cyclist * Fernand Auwera (1929–2015), Belgian writer * Fernand Baldet (1885– ...

, was licensed by the French government in 1926. In 1931,

Leonard Plugge Captain Leonard Frank Plugge (21 September 1889 – 19 February 1981) was a British radio entrepreneur and Conservative Party politician. Early years and political life Plugge was born at Walworth, only son of Frank Plugge (1864–1946), a com ...

, a British politician, founded the "International Broadcasting Company" and persuaded Le Grand to start broadcasting programs in English.

Post-War

After

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 ...

, radio in France became a

public monopoly In economics, a government monopoly or public monopoly is a form of coercive monopoly in which a government agency or government corporation is the sole provider of a particular good or service and competition is prohibited by law. It is a monopoly ...

. "Peripheral's" were radio stations transmitting from outside France and therefore operating outside of the public monopoly. These included Europe 1, Sud Radio, Radio Monte Carlo and Radio Luxembourg.

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

was broadcasting on Long Wave from Luxembourg before WW2. In 1956, from Germany Sarre another "peripheral" station named

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 ...

came on the air on Long Wave, on 183 kHz. Germany's Sarre mainly was aimed at the northern half of France. In 1970 and onwards, "peripherals" would benefit from almost-national coverage due to 2000 kW transmitters. At that time,

Radio Monte Carlo Radio Monte Carlo (RMC) is the name of radio stations owned and managed by several different entities: * RMC (France) is a French-speaking station, broadcasting in France and Monaco owned by NextRadioTV. **RMC Sport, a French bouquet of paid T ...

(RMC) started to broadcast on Long Wave at 216 kHz. From 1976, the transmitter was allowed to broadcast from France (Roumoules north of Marseille), with 1400 kW being heard in the southern half of France. Meanwhile, Sud Radio on 819 kHz was broadcasting from Andorra for the southwest with 900 kW. In 1981, as promised by newly elected

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

, independent stations were allowed, at first with very little power and on FM only. Since 1981, the number of stations in France (public and private) has reached more than 1700. The AM band is not used in France (though it was viral before WW2). Longwave has been abandoned by Radio France in 2018, Europe 1 in 2019, and RMC in 2020.. Radio Luxembourg abandoned the LW on the 1st of january 2023. Sud Radio has left AM for FM, where all stations now are. DAB+ is currently being developed to accommodate more programs.

History

Post-War

References

See also