Under the definitively Art Deco glass roof of the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, this Tuesday, September 17, the seats are in red velvet, the ceiling details are gilded, and the men are in designer suits. As every year at the Radio Classique back-to-school conference, the atmosphere has something immutable, and the principle of the broadcast, although more focused on the arts this season, seems intangible. “Radio Classique is economical, musical, cultural”recalls its president Pierre Louette, also CEO of the Les Echos-Le Parisien group, owned by the LVMH group, from the small platform set up on the theater stage where, standing facing the empty seats in the room, on-air personalities, advertisers, guests and journalists mingle.
“It is also unique in the attention it pays to businesses, a fundamental place for the creation of wealth in a country.”continues the leader, proudly assuming the “liberal vision” broadcast on the station’s airwaves – searching the grid for personalities located on the left of the political spectrum is a waste of time.
Every day between 6 and 7 a.m., the channel opens with a morning economics show, presented by Stéphane Pedrazzi (successor to François Geffrier, who left for Radio France), while the economics editorial is provided at 7:10 a.m. by François Vidal, the unsuccessful candidate for the editorial management of Echoes in 2023, and Etienne Lefebvre, editor-in-chief of the economic daily.
At that time, they are greeted by David Abiker, seated in the morning chair that Guillaume Durand, who occupied it for ten years, gave up to him at the start of the 2023 school year (his show “Bande à part” is now broadcast on Sundays at 8:30 a.m.). A change of incarnation that has not hurt, since the morning show attracts nearly 400,000 daily listeners, and all the “info eco culture musique” programs, according to the station, a cumulative average of one million loyal viewers. According to a speaker, “27% of leaders of large companies” would listen to Radio Classique every week.
“5% growth in 2023”
At 40 years old, which it celebrated at the beginning of July with two concerts, the station known for being dear to Bernard Arnault’s heart is not experiencing a crisis. “Radio media audiences tend to decline in the country, while Radio Classique audiences are increasing : 5% growth in 2023 »says Pierre Louette. “It’s hard to do better, given our broadcasting conditions.”recalls, aside, a group executive.
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