Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Liiive from Paris, It's the Capital's First All-English Radio

Chris Oakes has an article in the International Herald Tribune on the French capital's first all-English-language radio station.
…since May 11, Paris Live Radio has been reaching what it says is 30,000 daily listeners, albeit by nontraditional signal paths: cable TV and satellite radio channels and streaming over the Internet via www.parislive.net. PLR is also participating in the testing phase for fledgling digital radio in France. …

Judging by the experience of Paris Live Radio, … it looks as if the only reason no one had started an English station before is that no one had tried. … The absence of an English-language radio station surprised [Renzie Duncan when the Australian expatriate] first stayed in Paris, in the mid-'90s.

…for now, those among Paris's 200,000-plus anglophone expatriate community who can tune to one of Paris Live Radio's signals find a menu of brief on-the-hour news updates, information as diverse as local events, language and cultural tips and the major component, pop music. On that score, the station must meet the same legal requirement as any music station in France: a minimum of 40 percent French artists.

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