Radio Andorra

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Radio Andorra logo
Radio Andorre Encamp (2) .JPG
Encamp transmitter building
Stamp

Radio Andorra ( French Radio Andorre ) is the name of one of the oldest European private radio stations , which was on the air from 1939 to 1981 with a license from the Andorran state.

It counted together with Radio Luxembourg / RTL , Radio Monte Carlo , Europe 1 , Andorradio / Andorre 1 - Radio des Vallées / Sud Radio and Atlantic / Radio Océan / Atlantic 2000 to the "radios périphériques" , these are commercial radio stations from near borders Broadcast stations in France's neighboring countries from programs for a French audience.

history

Radio Andorra was owned by Jacques Trémoulet , the owner of the Radiophonie du Midi broadcasting company , which previously broadcast from Toulouse , Montpellier , Bordeaux and Agen in southern France and from locations in North Africa. With the Andorran broadcaster, Trémoulet prepared, among other things, to circumvent a possible future state monopoly for broadcasting in France (a state broadcasting monopoly was introduced in France in 1945 ). Radio Andorra began broadcasting on August 7, 1939. At first, Radio Andorra broadcast almost exclusively a music program, only interrupted by the announcement “Aquí Radio Andorra”. During the Second World War, the music broadcasts were appreciated by many soldiers, from France to North Africa. Both Germans and Allies tried unsuccessfully to control the radio program for their own purposes; Andorra's neutrality served as a protective shield for the transmitter.

After the end of the war, Jacques Trémoulet was sentenced to death by the French judiciary for collaborating with the Germans. He fled first to Spain, then to Switzerland, from which he returned to France in 1949 after his acquittal. During this time, Radio Andorra was severely hampered: A jamming transmitter located near Bordeaux made reception almost impossible in France for about a year, record deliveries and the transmitter staff were not allowed to cross the French border and the French secret service tried to identify the general director of the transmitter Kidnap Andorra. Airtime was split between Spanish-speaking and French-speaking moderators; Catalan chronicles were also part of the program. As everywhere else, the record request programs enjoyed particular popularity, but on hardly any other station they formed such a large proportion of the overall program. The desired music was included in the program planning and postcards were sent to the senders of the music requests, from which the exact transmission time of their desired title was shown.

After a slow rise in the 1950s, Radio Andorra faced competition from Andorradio in 1958, which soon renamed itself Radio des Vallées and later Sud Radio . This station was founded at the instigation of the French government by the state-owned company SOFIRAD and from 1968 overtook Radio Andorra in the listener's favor . France had an influence on Andorran politics in that it was originally the Count of Foix and, since the establishment of the French Republic, the President of one of the two co-princes of the principality ; the other co-prince was the Bishop of Urgell in Spain. Jacques Trémoulet sought the Franco dictatorship of Spain in 1961 as an ally for Radio Andorra against France and Andorradio and declared himself ready to leave the facilities of Radio Andorra to the Spanish state company EIRASA in the future , should Radio Andorra be replaced by the Co-Princes and the Andorran General Council (Parliament ) receive a legally secured statute and a new license. As a result, the broadcasters agreed with the General Council on a radio peace: Radio Andorra should be under Spanish control (EIRASA), while Andorradio / Radio des Vallées was subject to French supervision (SOFIRAD). As a result, Radio Andorra received a new license from the General Council, which was now limited to 1981, but which was ultimately not ratified by the Co-Princes. Jacques Trémoulet then considered his agreement with EIRASA to be null and void.

Most of Radio Andorra's programming remained in French and was broadcast to the south of France. Spanish and Catalan-language contributions were mainly given in the evening. Since the rise of Radio des Vallées / Sud Radio , Radio Andorra's revenue from advertising has declined. In addition, the range of the medium wave 701 kHz used by Radio Andorra deteriorated when Radio Monte Carlo began broadcasting its Italian-language program, which was broadcast on the same frequency, from Col de la Madone (near Monaco) in 1974 with significantly increased power. Radio Andorra could no longer be received in the south-east of France in a satisfactory quality. Due to the desire to set up its own national broadcasting station, the Principality of Andorra refused to extend the broadcasting licenses for the two commercial stations on its territory, which expired in 1981. While Sud Radio from then on used studios and transmitters on French territory and continues to broadcast from Toulouse to this day, Radio Andorra was issued an order on March 26, 1981 to cease broadcasting. On April 2, 1981, broadcasting was shut down, but resumed six days later. On April 9, 1981, the Andorran police forced the shutdown of the transmission masts on Lake Engolasters high above Encamp .

Attempts to resume broadcasting initially failed due to efforts by the Spanish and French states to secure influence over Radio Andorra, as well as to property disputes between the heirs of Jacques Trémoulets and the Spanish state. It was not until 1983 that permission was granted to continue operating, after which the broadcasting operations began again on January 4, 1984. The final end of the radio on March 31, 1984 took place on the instructions of the Spanish owner company PROERSA. In 1991 a fire destroyed the rented studio building of Radio Andorra, which was last used in 1984. Radio Andorra's archives and discotheque were relocated to the transmitter building in Encamp as early as the 1980s and have been protected as a historical monument since 2010. It was not until 2009 that an agreement was reached between the governments of Andorra and Spain and the heirs of Jacques Trémoulet, which means that Andorra can finally dispose of the historic Encamp broadcasting station. The sound archive of Radio Andorra is gradually being digitized and made available on the Internet by the Arxiu Nacional d'Andorra.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Radio People and Stories: The Discotheque of Radio Andorra . Edition of February 24, 2019, accessed February 26, 2019.