Pirate radio in France

History of pirate radio in France

In 1955, in order to circumvent the prohibition of commercial broadcasting that had been imposed in France after the Second World War, the French-language Europe 1 station was first established in the Saarland, a German state that borders France and Luxembourg. Transmissions were not legally authorised, however, until France's post-war administration of the Saarland ceased and sovereignty was returned to West Germany in 1957; so, during its first two years of operation (1955–1957), under the direction of Louis Merlin, who had defected from Radio Luxembourg, Europe n° 1 was a pirate radio station.

In France, a truly strong pirate radio movement emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, in two waves.

First wave

The first wave was a political movement based mainly within French territory. Most of these stations were short-lived. The first wave included Radio Verte, Radio Ivre, Radio Active and Radio Lorraine Coeur d'Acier. A few, such as Radio Verte Fessenheim became licensed stations.

This led to the creation of Radio Riposte by the Parti Socialiste (Socialist Party of France) in 1979 and the arrest of François Mitterrand and Laurent Fabius. Some of these stations persisted until 1981 when they became legal radios libres (free radio stations).

Second wave

The second wave was a more commercial movement largely coming out of the French Riviera following the legalization by a Supreme Court decision of private radio stations in Italy. Several stations began transmitting in French from Italy. While these stations were legal in Italy, the French considered them illegal. These stations included: Azur 102 (1977–1984), Radio Continental (1977–1979), Radio Vintimille Internationale (1977–1981) and Radio K (1981–1982).

All these stations went bankrupt after the election of François Mitterrand and the legalization of private radio stations in France.