An extraordinary career with 60 years on the air. Philippe Bouvard, emblematic figure of RTL, made a major announcement this morning at Laurent Marsick’s microphone. He has, in fact, declared that he plans to retire next January.
“Be silent”
The creator of “Grosses têtes”, the most listened to program in France, of which Laurent Ruquier is now at the helm, confided: “There is a temptation, which is not a temptation of laziness but a temptation of setting records: it is to go to January 1 (2025 editor’s note), then listen to others and remain silent“.
Obviously, Philippe Bouvard can boast of being the host who has done the most seasons on a radio station. Facing Laurent Marsick, he explained: “On January 1, I will have established the double record that I hoped for, that is to say 60 years of radio and 60 years of RTL. It’s a radio record… I really liked the radio, and the radio did it well for me“.
The president of RTL, Régis Ravanas, wanted to react to this announcement. In a press release sent by the M6 group, he said: “Philippe’s 60-year career revolutionized radio and marked the daily lives of the French. We understand his choice, but if he leaves the microphone in a few months, Philippe knows that he will forever belong to the RTL family.“
For his part, the director of radio and digital audio programs, Gauthier Hourcade, pays tribute to this great media professional. “We all have infinite gratitude to Philippe. Her lively, independent and sassy mind is a model that can inspire generations of journalists and broadcasters. We are immensely proud that he has carried RTL’s values of culture, humor and independence so high. We are fortunate to have welcomed on RTL an authentic radio genius, an erudite pioneer of humor on the airwaves“, he said in the same press release.
Also read: “It’s pathetic”: Laurent Ruquier responds after Philippe Bouvard’s attacks
While waiting for this deadline, listeners have the opportunity to find the nonagenarian every Sunday at 6:40 a.m. in “Les portraits de Philippe Bouvard”, where he looks back on moments that shaped his career.
