French Radio London Makes Huge Splash

The Ambassador of France to the UK - Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, Pascal Grierson French Radio London CEO, Laurent Voulzy, celebrated French singer; Alex Riha, Commercial Director French Radio London; Thierry de Panafieu, Finance Director, French Radio London have all come together to successfully launch French Radio London. FRL has been assigned a channel slot on the London II DAB digital radio multiplex. These gentlemen worked with Piers Collins of Switchdigital to make this station a reality.

FRL is the UK capital’s first French language terrestrial broadcast station.Its studios and offices are based in
Central London, with a satellite office in Paris. Programming Director Jean-Michel Duffrene joined after many years at the BBC World Service. Presenters include Olivier Jauffrit, whose successful broadcasting career in France included stints at Rire et Chansons and Europe 2, and specialist music manager Alain
Galès, who has worked for the BBC World Service.

Source: FRL Press Release

Shortwave America commentary:

Most everyone can understand the need to have a local presence, and use digital technology with a digital radio giveaway to get this station on the air. One mistake these well meaning diplomats made was to not research putting FRL on the shortwave bands where the world at large could have access to it. There are indeed, people in the world who don;t have an unternet connection or fancy cellular technology to rely upon and these digital networks are not the end - all / be - all of radio. If they really want to reach what they term "Francophiles" then they need to have a wide RF distribution.

The FRL website is well done with just the right placement and choice of graphics, classy, yet also standard format seen at other major broadcasting sites. Programming seems to be well produced, well engineered, and the flavor of the station, it's style, and professionalism are something to be proud of.