The network of 44 local public antennas of Radio France will change its name as part of a merger initiated long ago with France 3.
Goodbye France Bleu, hello Here. The network of 44 local public antennas of Radio France will change its name on January 6 as part of a merger initiated long ago with France 3, its managers announced on Wednesday. On France 3, the logo «Ici» has already been present on screen since November 5, during regional programs. The Ici brand “is firstly intended to bring together our forces under the same label (and under) a common flag”indicated Céline Pigalle, director of France Bleu, during a press conference in Paris. The president of France Télévisions, Delphine Ernotte Cunci, and her counterpart at Radio France, Sibyle Veil, announced in October 2023 the eventual union of France 3 and France Bleu under the Ici brand, in order to strengthen the cooperation illustrated by the morning shows municipalities launched in 2019.
This project aroused union opposition in both companies, its opponents seeing it as the beginnings of a pure and simple merger. Asked about other future mergers between television and radio, Céline Pigalle replied: “We can think about continuing in this logic” et “we are going to work on other shared elements”. These changes come at a time when the status of public broadcasting is the subject of political discussions. Suspended by the dissolution, the project to create a holding company bringing together its different branches (France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde and Ina) will return to the National Assembly on December 17.
“Media closer to people”
The creation of “major local radio, TV and digital media” what is Here is “a revolution”judged Sibyle Veil. She was not present at the press conference but spoke at a conference organized at the same time by the consulting firm NPA. Changing brands is “obviously taking a risk”It is “up to the message we want to send to the public”added the president of Radio France. According to her, it is necessary “media closer to the people, in touch with all the realities of the country”while they are “particularly centralized and concentrated in Paris”. “We want to work hard to reduce the feeling of distance, invisibility and, for some, abandonment”insisted Mr. Veil, pointing “the disconnection of a whole section of the public from the media”.
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To this end, Ici is banking on “local news, music and good humor”detailed Céline Pigalle, with emphasis on “proximity” et “the service”. According to her, the “promise” from Here is from “relay what the people say and experience”. This can offer a “counterpoint” has “populist proposals”, “polarized and politicized”she said without further details.
Here wants to detect “weak signals” within regions whether they are emerging social crises type “yellow vests” or new trends, explained Yann Chouquet, deputy director of the network. To do this, its teams will rely on artificial intelligence, for example to synthesize testimonies from listeners from all over France on a theme or to see if the same phenomenon is found in the news in several regions. Other new features include the creation of podcasts (in French and English) designed as guides for people who want to visit this or that region, and the reinforcement of chronicles on daily life.