France Inter
Encyclopedia
France Inter is a major French
public radio
channel and part of Radio France
. It is a "generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and intelligent spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, liberally punctuated with an eclectic mix of music.
France Inter broadcasts on longwave
(162 kHz), FM
, and via the internet. The station's LW signal is strong enough to be heard clearly beyond the country's boundaries, including in most parts of southern Great Britain
.
, 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 (even though 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). In 1963, the France I and France II networks were merged to form "RTF Inter", renamed "France Inter" one month later.
The major challenge faced by France Inter at the time of its reorganization in the 1960s was the success which – by adopting a more modern broadcasting style and by earning a reputation for greater freedom from government influence – the private "peripheral stations" (in particular, RTL
and Europe 1
), broadcasting from powerful transmitters outside France, had achieved in capturing the majority of the French radio audience since the war.
As well as rapidly modernizing its style to match that of its competitors, France Inter – although it does carry a limited amount of paid-for advertising – laid stress on its freedom from commercial pressures and especially on presenting itself, under the slogan Écoutez la différence ("Hear the difference"), as intelligent radio accessible to a general audience.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
public radio
Public broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes 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 and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...
channel and part of Radio France
Radio France
Radio France is a French public service radio broadcaster.-Mission:Radio France's two principal missions are:* To create and expand the programming on all of their stations; and...
. It is a "generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and intelligent spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, liberally punctuated with an eclectic mix of music.
France Inter broadcasts on longwave
Longwave
In radio, longwave refers to parts of radio spectrum with relatively long wavelengths. The term is a historic one dating from the early 20th century, when the radio spectrum was considered to consist of long, medium and short wavelengths...
(162 kHz), FM
Frequency modulation
In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...
, and via the internet. The station's LW signal is strong enough to be heard clearly beyond the country's boundaries, including in most parts of southern Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
History
Initially founded, in the reorganization of state broadcasting which followed the end of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, 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 (even though 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). In 1963, the France I and France II networks were merged to form "RTF Inter", renamed "France Inter" one month later.
The major challenge faced by France Inter at the time of its reorganization in the 1960s was the success which – by adopting a more modern broadcasting style and by earning a reputation for greater freedom from government influence – the private "peripheral stations" (in particular, RTL
RTL (French radio)
In France, RTL is a popular nation-wide commercial radio network owned by the RTL Group.In 1931, Radio Luxembourg, the public radio network from Luxembourg, was privatised. Beginning in 1946, it could be heard easily in France. Until the 1980s, only the French public radio networks could transmit...
and Europe 1
Europe 1
Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio network created in 1955. It is one of the leading French radio broadcasters and heard throughout France...
), broadcasting from powerful transmitters outside France, had achieved in capturing the majority of the French radio audience since the war.
As well as rapidly modernizing its style to match that of its competitors, France Inter – although it does carry a limited amount of paid-for advertising – laid stress on its freedom from commercial pressures and especially on presenting itself, under the slogan Écoutez la différence ("Hear the difference"), as intelligent radio accessible to a general audience.
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
- Le Jeu des 1000 euros, a general-knowledge quiz programme
- Le fou du roi
- Deux mille ans d'histoire, an in-depth daily documentary on a specific historical subject
- Pop Club
- Le téléphone sonne, a current affairsCurrent affairs (news format)Current Affairs is a genre of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of broadcast....
discussion and phone-in programme - Là-bas si j'y suis, a reports programme
- Le sept neuf, morning news sequence