Radiodays Europe in Barcelona, March 2012 Session on "Going for a digital future" - speech about French status for digital

1. DAB+ / TDMB = A French exception

2. RNT in France : a French exception
When Digital radio is now coming to Germany, Belgium or Switzerland, giving the radio media its digital
revolution, as have before television and the press, putting them in line in this century by adapting it to
new and actual means of consumption , the principal radio networks in France are fiercely opposed to it.
The paradox, is that amongst those networks, a few of them a supporting its arrival in other European
countries.
How can this situation be explained?
• In countries mentioned before, these groups are not leaders. Digital Radio becomes a growth
opportunity for these networks.
• In France, on the contrary, these groups have not only required a different technical standard from the
one chosen by other countries of the EC: the T-DMB.
This Standard does not allow to receive as many radio stations as the DAB+; hence creating a natural
limitation of possible newcomers.
• Once the T-DMB was adopted, the networks demanded that many debates on the development and
starting date of digital broadcast. The CSA launched a call for nomination in 20 built up areas in 2008;
the following year the pre selection was published only on 3 areas (Paris, Marseille &Nice) to allow digital
broadcast to be launched in France despite a growing opposition from the leading networks

3. COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE
OUI FM REJOINT L’OPERATION INITIEE PAR RADIO FG EN
FAVEUR DU LANCEMENT DE LA RADIO NUMERIQUE
Mardi 11 Mai 2010
OUI FM et RADIO FG, toutes deux sélectionnées par le CSA pour la diffusion
numérique de leur programmes dans le cadre du lancement de la RNT,
s'associent pour sensibiliser le grand public, le gouvernement ainsi que les
autorités compétentes afin que la RNT (Radio Numérique Terrestre) puisse voir le
jour dans les meilleurs délais en France.
Alors que le CSA ne cesse d'indiquer que tout retard du lancement de la RNT
risque de compromettre sérieusement son avenir et celui de la radio en général,
ses détracteurs imposent des périodes moratoires dangereuses. Le lancement de
la RNT est ainsi menacé alors qu'il représente un progrès technologique majeur,
un confort d'écoute optimisé, et surtout l'accès gratuit pour le consommateur à une
offre de programmes très étendue.
Les détracteurs de la RNT sont principalement les acteurs historiques qui veulent
préserver leur territoire, maintenir leur part de marché, et barrer la route aux
nouveaux entrants. Sur cet aspect mercantile, le parallèle avec le débat qui a
existé en son temps pour le lancement de la TNT (Télévision Numérique
Terrestre) est insistant.
D'autres encore opposent la RNT à la diffusion radio sur Internet. Pourtant, tous
les modes de diffusion peuvent parfaitement coexister, et nos radios sont ainsi
diffusées depuis des années sur Internet, sans jamais supplanter l'écoute de la
radio en FM. L'accès de l'auditeur à la RNT est gratuit, contrairement à l'écoute sur
Internet qui nécessite un abonnement payant. Une diffusion n'en remplace pas une
autre mais elle la complète ; nous le savons depuis que les radios généralistes
persistent à diffuser en Longues Ondes alors qu'elles bénéficient d'un important
parc de fréquences FM.
Pour défendre les valeurs de diversité, de liberté d'expression, et de gratuité de
l'écoute radio, RADIO FG et OUI FM soutiennent aujourd'hui le lancement de la
RNT.
Afin d'appuyer concrètement leur action auprès du grand public et expliquer de
façon la plus pédagogue possible ce qu'est la RNT, RADIO FG a ouvert sur
Facebook un groupe qui compte déjà plus de 5.200 membres; OUI FM a fait de
même afin de sensibiliser ses auditeurs ; en attendant que d'autres radios
rejoignent cette opération d'intérêt général.

4. RNT in France : a French exception
• The radio networks NRJ, RTL, Lagardere & Skyrock publically declared that they would not start
broadcasting digitally in these 3 areas, making it impossible to start digital broadcast and taking hostage
not only pre selected radios that saw in digital broadcast the possibility to expand on the French territory (
FM spectrum being saturated, especially in the bigger cities with over 40/50 stations per area) and to offer
a listening quality and the radio they wish for.

5. RNT in France : A French Exception
• This situation is so discriminating that it condemns radio in France to a slow but certain aging, the
media loosing more listeners each year to television and above all, the web.
• To gain time and slow the start of digital broadcast, and by that condemning the project as it was
accepted by all before, networks demanded a moratorium that ended in November 2011.
• We are at the crossing roads and the following weeks are going to be crucial as for the future of
digital broadcast and generally the French radio‟s environment/landscape.

6. RNT in France : Slowly but Surely
Radio FG did not wait for the end of the moratorium to act and try to push the “resistance” in order to offer
to the French the possibility to rediscover radio through digital broadcast.
FG is a pioneer in providing new technologies to its listeners, by creating its website in „97, was the first
FM station to stream its program fully on the web in „99 and to create a free web radio with a totally
different program than the one offered in FM in 2003, RNT is not only a mean for networks like Radio FG
to be able to broadcast in cities where the FM possibilities do not allow newcomers, but is a mean to offer
the French the possibility to continue listening to radio freely, to receive new stations with a better quality
than actually.

7. RNT in France : A French Exception
Our actions: Radio FG, alongside Ouï FM, condemned publicaly this situation in an open letter
published in « le Figaro” last year.
• A support group to receive radio FG via RNT was created on Facebook, and gathers now close
to 8.000 people.
• Radio FG, Ouï FM & VDL obtained in june 2011 from the CSA the authorisation to conduct an
experiment in Nantes & Lyon for 6 months, allowing the broadcast of about 16 programmes via
RNT.
Nantes
Lyon

8. RNT in France : 2012
Last Tuesday, the French regulator, the CSA, committed in a strong a definitive way.
The action of thematic networks, independent radios & as a whole, the challengers of the French radio
landscape, allowed to lead to two major decisions to take French radio in the 21st century.

9. RNT in France : A French Exception
 The delivery of authorisations in the three preselected cities (Paris, Marseille, Nice)
 The launch of a big call for nomination in the 20 biggest French cities for DAB+ allowing
 To retain the European DAB+ standard
 The launch a call for nomination in the 20 biggest cities in France
 To offer a diversified radio landscape with over 60/70 programs per cities
Multi-city thematic stations, the likes of FG, Oui FM, TSF Jazz, Latina, Nova to offer their
program to 50% of the population.