City | Paris |
---|---|
Broadcast area | France |
Slogan | "Respirez, vous êtes sur FIP" ("Breathe, you are on FIP") |
Frequency | 105.1 MHz (Paris) 90.9 MHz (Marseille) Other frequencies |
First air date | 4 January 1971 |
Format | Jazz, World, Chanson, Rock, Classical |
Language(s) | French |
Former callsigns | France Inter Paris |
Owner | Radio France |
Sister stations |
France Bleu France Culture France Info France Inter France Musique Le Mouv' |
Website | fipradio.fr |
FIP (originally France Inter Paris) is a French radio network, founded in 1971. It is part of the Radio France group.
The concept behind FIP has scarcely changed since its founding: continuous music interrupted only for traffic updates, occasional announcements about forthcoming events, and a short news broadcast at 10 minutes before the hour, but no advertising.
FIP's programming is an eclectic mix of musical genres: chanson, classical, film music, jazz, rock, world music and more, but with careful attention paid to smooth and unobtrusive transition from item to item. FIP is one of the few stations in the world to transmit this type of programming around the clock.
The broadcasts are presented live from 7 am to 11 pm, after which a computer replays a selection of the music broadcast earlier in the day.
The station was founded in 1971 by Jean Garetto and Pierre Codou, both week-end presenters at France Inter. It was broadcast from Paris on 514 m (585 kHz) medium wave, hence its original name of France Inter Paris 514. It was noted for its particular style of programming and its hosts' sugary tone of voice as they described traffic problems with humour and irony.
After Paris, the station was emulated in other cities (Lyon, Marseille, and so forth), which broadcast the same music and news with local traffic conditions and events. The P in FIP changed according to the location: FIB, FIL, FIM, and so on.
As with Radio France generally, FIP moved to FM and stereo.
Given its role as a niche player in French public broadcasting, FIP was largely untouched by the changes in the French radio landscape starting in 1981. In 1999 Jean-Marie Cavada, the president of Radio France launched a restructuring called "Plan Bleu", which reassigned frequencies among local stations, Radio Bleue, Urgences, Le Mouv', and FIP.