Radio Nova (or simply ''Nova'') is a radio station broadcast from Paris, created in 1981 by
Jean-François Bizot
Jean-François Bizot (14 August 1944 – 8 September 2007) was a French journalist and writer.
Born in Lyon, Bizot was the founder and owner of the Paris-based radio station, Radio Nova (France), Radio Nova, which first broadcast in 1981. H ...
. Its playlist is characterized by non-mainstream or underground artists of various
music genres
A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from ''musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are some ...
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
On 25 May 1981, Nova was created through the fusion of several radio stations. Since its creation, the station has been owned by the Nova Press company, which also owns the record label Nova Records and the jazz-oriented radio station
TSF Jazz
TSF Jazz, previously known as TSF 89.9, is a jazz radio station in Paris, France, that was started in 1999 and owned by Nova Press. The station broadcasts in the Île-de-France: in Paris on 89.9 FM where it can almost be heard in the whole region ...
.
From 1985, Radio Nova was oriented mainly around world music, but around 1988 the musical programming was changed to include
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
,
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
and
rap
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
.
Around 1991, Nova changed its musical programming again, to include acid jazz and
French rap
French hip hop is the hip hop music style developed in Francophonie, French-speaking countries. France is the second largest hip-hop market in the world after the United States.
History
Beginning of French hip hop: the 70s and 80s
By 1982 and ...
. In 1999, its musical programming consisted mainly of Ambient,
chill-out
Chill-out (shortened as chill; also typeset as chillout or chill out) is a loosely defined form of popular music characterized by slow tempos and relaxed moods. The definition of "chill-out music" has evolved throughout the decades, and generally ...
and
jungle
A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century.
Etymology
The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...
music.
Also in 1999, Nova Press bought the station jazz station TSF, which became TSF 89,9 and installed its studios next to those of Radio Nova.
Throughout the station's history, several well-known Parisians have had shows on Radio Nova, including
Ariel Wizman
Ariel Wizman (born 19 May 1962) is a French musician, DJ, journalist and actor born in Casablanca, Morocco.de Chamberet, Georgia (1999) ''XCiTés: The Flamingo Book of Fresh French Writing'', Flamingo, , p. 209Edouard Baer,
Jamel Debbouze
Jamel Debbouze (; ar, جمال دبوز, Jamāl Dabūz; born 18 June 1975) is a French-Moroccan actor, comedian, screenwriter, film producer and director. Best known for his stand-up comedy sketches, he also worked with director Alain Chabat in ...
,
Gilles Peterson
Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a French broadcaster, DJ, and record label owner. He founded the influential labels Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud, and started his current label Brown ...
,
Ivan Smagghe
Ivan Smagghe is a French DJ and producer. He was originally known as Ivan Rough Trade, after his job in the Rough Trade record store in Paris. His musical style has been described as electro house and "minimal electro." Smagghe's ''Death Disco'' ...
,
Laurent Garnier
Laurent Garnier (born 1 February 1966), also known as Choice, is a French electronic music producer and DJ. Garnier began DJing in Manchester during the late 1980s. He became a producer in the early 1990s and recorded several albums.
Early influ ...
,
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...
and Yassine Belattar.
In September 2011, Nova and TSF Jazz left the
GIE
''Gie'' is a 2005 Indonesian biopic film directed by Riri Riza. The film tells the story of Soe Hok Gie, a graduate from University of Indonesia who is known as an activist and nature lover. The film is based on a diary ''Catatan Seorang Demonst ...
File:Logo Radio Nova 1981.jpg, Former Radio Nova logo from 1981 until 1995, with several variations very similar to this logo.
File:Logo Radio Nova 1995.jpg, Former Radio Nova logo from 1995 until 2008.
File:Nova radio.png, Current Radio Nova logo since 2008.