Type | Radio network |
---|---|
Country | Canada |
Availability | National, through regional stations |
Owner | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |
Launch date
|
1974 |
Former names
|
Radio-Canada (1974-1997) La chaîne culturelle (1997-2004) Espace Musique (2004-2014) |
Official website
|
ICI Musique |
Ici Musique (stylized as ICI Musique) is the French-language music radio service of Canada's national public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Société Radio-Canada). It is the French equivalent of the English CBC Radio 2, although it has a different programming focus.
The network was originally launched as Le FM de Radio-Canada in 1974, with stations in Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City and Chicoutimi.
The network grew slowly. For a long time, its only full-fledged stations outside of Quebec were in Ottawa and Moncton. It presently covers the majority of Quebec, all provincial capitals (though Regina, Victoria, Edmonton, St. John's, Fredericton and Charlottetown are only served by rebroadcasters) and certain other large cities such as Ottawa and Vancouver.
The network was rebranded as La chaîne culturelle ("The cultural network") in 1997 and later as Espace musique in September 2004, the latter as part of a major repositioning of the CBC's French services. Many high-brow cultural programs were moved to Première Chaîne, while the new Espace musique service adopted a more populist approach focusing on four genres – classical, jazz, world, and folk music – and French-language song.