Contact 94
| City | Lessay |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Normandy and Channel Islands |
| Slogan | The latest hits, the greatest memories |
| Frequency | 94.4, 93.8, 94.6 and 97.7 MHz |
| First air date | 5 September 1988 |
| Last air date | 29 November 1991 |
| Language(s) | English and French |
| Webcast | http://listen.radionomy.com/contact94.m3u |
| Website | http://www.contact94.net |
Contact 94 was the name of a radio station that broadcast from Lessay in Northern France to Normandy and the Channel Islands between September 1988 and November 1991. The station broadcast on various frequencies during its time on air, including 94.4 FM, 93.8 FM, 94.6 FM and 97.7 FM.
Contact 94 launched at 6am GMT on 5 September 1988 by former Radio Caroline disc jockey, Kevin Turner. The first song played was "Good Day Sunshine" by The Beatles.
Whilst the station was to broadcast Radio Nova, via satellite, overnight and the equipment had arrived in advance of the launch, the engineer who had been due to install the equipment was stuck in Jersey due to a heavy fog. On the opening night therefore Paul Easton broadcast between 11pm and 3am, with a sustaining music tape filling the remaining hours until resumption of live programming the following morning.
Contact 94 carried the UK sustaining service Supergold overnight from November 1988 until February 1989.
On 3 February 1989 the station went off air on 97.7 MHz. Rumours surfaced that this was an enforced closure by the French police pending an investigation by the authorities regarding whether the station was a 'pirate'. It was decided by regional courts that the station was broadcasting illegally and transmission equipment was confiscated. An appeal was successful in overturning this ruling and the station returned to the air.
The station used a 950 MHz link between the studios at Lessay and its transmitter and one humorous incident in the stations history was when this signal was overcome by the ETACS analogue mobile phone signals on the island operated by Jersey Telecom in collaboration with Cellnet, the result being that some local mobile telephone calls were in fact broadcast on Contact 94's FM frequencies.
The programming schedules of Contact 94 were published in both the CTV Times and the Jersey Evening Post.
The station had a complex of two studios, based above the La Campagnette restaurant in Lessay, Normandy. The building was owned by station backer Alain Tardiff.
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