The local branches of Radio France are changing their name on January 6, 2025. France Bleu becomes “ici”, a name already adopted for the regional dropouts of France 3. We slipped into the studio of “ici Champagne-Ardenne” to discover this change.
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Since this Monday, January 6, 2025 at 5 a.m., France Bleu has changed its name. All local Radio France branches are now called “ici”. In Champagne-Ardenne, this therefore gives “ici Champagne-Ardenne” instead of France Bleu Champagne-Ardenne.
To erase the old name of the public service antenna, significant work was carried out. “In Reims, we produced around 250 elements of design to renew all the existing design of the broadcasts, with the France Bleu brand which becomes 'ici'. And then also work on manufacturing marketing elements to announce the shift of the brand, and a whole work around what we call jingles”specifies Gilles Seydoux, head of radio programs for “ici Champagne-Ardenne”, interviewed by our journalist Sandra Julien.
But listeners can rest assured, the only upheaval concerns the name of their radio station. The programs remain the same, always with local information, good humor and music. Every day, nearly 2.6 million people listen to “here” radio stations, according to the latest national audiences revealed in mid-November 2024. The number of public radio listeners then increased by 87,000 listeners in one year.
The “ici” brand is gradually establishing itself to embody public broadcasting in the regions, whether on radio or television. The “ici” brand has been present on the France 3 Régions channel since the start of the school year in September 2023, when the midday and early evening news programs on France 3 were renamed “ICI 12/ 13” and “HERE 19/20”. In November 2024, the France 3 logo disappeared from the top right corner of the screen during regional dropouts, to make way for the “here” logo.
Soon, the morning show from “here Champagne-Ardenne” will be able to be seen on the France 3 Champagne-Ardenne antenna. “This brand is a concrete opportunity to go further with what we do with you, France 3 in the regions, here in Champagne-Ardenne. This is already the case with the morning shows filmed in 37 'ici' for radios This will be the case with us during this year 2025. We will see our morning show on your antenna at the end of spring which is coming.announces Toni Verbicaro, director of “ici Champagne-Ardenne”.
Since April 2022, a joint application for Radio France and France Télévisions has been launched. Logically called “here”, it allows you to listen to local public service radio or television antennas. Articles written by journalists from Radio France and France Télévisions are also collected there. But on the web, everyone stays at home, with a site for “ici” (formerly France Bleu) and another for France 3 Régions. On social networks, radio and television are also each on their own, whether on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or even YouTube (for France Télévisions) or Dailymotion (for Radio France).
Unlike the regional network of France Télévisions, that of Radio France does not cover the entire French territory. In Champagne-Ardenne, for example, Radio France focuses on news from Marne and the Ardennes, while France 3 also covers Aube and Haute-Marne.
Will the merger go as far as a merger of the local editorial offices of public radio and television, as feared by the unions at Radio France and France Télévisions? “Today, this is not on the agenda”indicated Céline Pigalle, deputy editorial director of Radio France in charge of information and proximity and director of “ici”, interviewed on franceinfo this Monday morning.
