FIP - what frequency?

[Man of Harveys]

Because I fancy listening to some very smoooth jazz, followed by a pouting, whispering female DJ who makes telling you about a 10km traffic jam outside Lyon sound as if she's describing her wedding night...could anyone please tell me the best frequency for French radio station FIP in Brighton atm? Cheers.

 

[Tooting Gull]

Jazz alert - the best UK woman jazz vocalist, Claire Martin (who lives in Brighton) is playing SHOREHAM on Saturday 13th. Valentines option.

 

[Gwylan]

On t'Internet is best
http://sites.radiofrance.fr/chaines/fip/endirect/

 

[:J)]

Because I fancy listening to some very smoooth jazz, followed by a pouting, whispering female DJ who makes telling you about a 10km traffic jam outside Lyon sound as if she's describing her wedding night...could anyone please tell me the best frequency for French radio station FIP in Brighton atm? Cheers.

'Cos no-one else has mentioned it yet - the frequency is 91.0FM

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Best radio station around by a country mile.

 

[Bluejuice]

Good thread. I must admit I've not heard it in a while. Used to always be able to pick it up driving along Kings Road but it has been some while since I have heard its lovely tones.

Glad to see you can pick it up online. When I am back from the library I think I shall put it on to accompany my READING.

nice

 

[Man of Harveys]

Thanks good people. The miracle of the Wunder radio app even enables me to listen to it on my iPhone from the train, assuming the signal stays steady enough.

It's a fab radio station, and does just what I want when I flick the radio on after a tough day's commute: it's like having the inside of your brain slowly massaged to blancmange. Parfait.

 

[Gwylan]

It's a fab radio station, and does just what I want when I flick the radio on after a tough day's commute: it's like having the inside of your brain slowly massaged to blancmange. Parfait.

That could be an advertising slogan: "FIP: so good it makes First CapitalConnect bearable"

 

[Bluejuice]

That could be an advertising slogan: "FIP: so good it makes First CapitalConnect bearable"

 

[Colossal Squid]

I had always assumed FIP was just some unusual and quirky French radio station that we could pick up across the channel BUT it seems I am wrong. Apparently a lot of people went to a lot of effort to bring FIP to the people of Brighton. I had no idea!

Have a looksie at this Brighton FIP fan site:

The new website of Fip radio in Brighton Hove

Says that FIP fans used to broadcast the station ILLEGALLY to Brighton on unused frequencies like 91.0FM. This would explain why the signal was so good despite the fact that we're nowhere near its traditional broadcasting range.

I'm delighted to have discovered that you can pick it up on satellite as well as the internet and now I can play it on my Nokia too my life is COMPLETE.

Pisses all over EVERY station in the UK and it pains me to give credit to the French but DAMN I love this station

 

[The Large One]

FIP

FIP (originally France Inter Paris) is a French radio network, founded in 1971. It is part of the Radio France group.

History
The station was founded in 1971 by Jean Garetto and Pierre Codou, both week-end presenters at France Inter. It broadcast from Paris at 514 m (585 kHz) on mediumwave, which gave it its original name: France Inter Paris 514. It was noted for its particular programming and its hosts' sugary tone of voice as they described traffic problems with humour and irony.

After Paris, the station was emulated in other cities (Lyon, Marseille, and so forth), which broadcast the same music and news with local traffic conditions and events. The P in FIP changed according to the location: FIM, FIL, FIB, FIS, and so on.

As with Radio France generally, FIP moved to FM and stereo.

Given its role as a niche player in French public broadcasting, FIP was largely untouched by the changes in the French radio landscape starting in 1981. In 1999 Jean-Marie Cavada, the president of Radio France launched a restructuring called "Plan Bleu", which re-assigned frequencies among local stations, Radio Bleue, Urgences, Le Mouv' and FIP.

FIP lost its stations with small audiences: the stations at Metz and Nice were moved to the France Bleu network.

Despite listener protests, the plan was adopted on May 24, 2000

Concept
The concept behind FIP has scarcely changed since its founding: music interrupted by traffic updates and cultural information with a short news broadcast at 10 before the hour, with no advertising. The broadcasts are presented by live announcers from 7 am to 11 pm, after which a robot replays parts of the music broadcast the previous day.

FIP's programming is an eclectic mix of musical genres: chanson, rock, world music, classical music, film music, jazz and more, but connected with a theme. FIP is one of the few stations with this type of programming in the world.


Frequencies
FIP broadcasts terrestrially in France as follows:

* Paris/Île-de-France: 105.1 MHz
* Bordeaux: 96.7 MHz/Arcachon: 96.5 MHz
* Montpellier: 99.7 MHz
* Nantes: 95.7 MHz/Saint-Nazaire: 97.2 MHz
* Strasbourg: 92.3 MHz
* Marseille: 90.9 MHz
* Rennes: 101.2 MHz
* Toulouse: 103.5 MHz

FIP also broadcasts on mediumwave (AM) at 585kHz in Paris from 0800–1600 Central European Time and is streamed over the Internet.

FIP is available in Europe on free-to-air digital satellite on Atlantic Bird 3 at 5.0°West and Astra at 19.2° east. The latter feed returned in January 2009 after a contractual break.

FIP was also available from Hot Bird 7A at 13.0°East, but after a conflict between Radio France and CanalSat, distribution ceased on July 1, 2008.

It can also be received in Western Australia, Tahiti and surrounding islands from Intelsat 701 at 180.0°East.

FIP is also on UPC cable (at 88.1 MHz) in and around Amsterdam and (at 99,5 MHz) in Leeuwarden and on Ziggo cable (103.8 MHz) in and around Breda, The Netherlands.

UK pirate broadcasts
According to the Brighton's The Argus newspaper, a Brighton resident re-broadcast FIP for nearly ten years on two frequencies (91.0 and 98.5) on the FM band. The two signals, which were relays of FIP from satellite could be heard in many parts of Brighton. The two transmitters were operated to serve different parts of the city, one of them allegedly being in the Bohemian Hanover area of the city. The station had proved very popular.

The two signals operated on frequencies originally used by FIP at Lille and Metz, which were unused in the Brighton area and caused no interference to existing national or local stations. Technical quality was very high and the Radio Data System (RDS) identification was F_I_P with the two signals linked to ensure best reception on an RDS car radio. The Program Identification codes of the RDS appeared to be the same as those used on the real French transmitters.

The rebroadcasts broke UK broadcast rules enforced by UK telecom and radio, TV regulator Ofcom. Although it is believed that Ofcom officials visited the address of the station operator and confiscated the equipment, thus taking the pirate broadcasts off the air, the station can still be heard on the original frequencies.

The pirate station was one of the UK's longest running land based unlicensed stations, running almost continuously for 10 years.

An appreciation society for fans of FIP, Vive la FIP, meets regularly in Brighton; some members even visited the Paris studios of FIP and were featured in an article in the French listings magazine Télérama in February 2007.

 

[The Large One]

Interesting piece on Radio 4 about three years ago.

BBC - Radio 4 You and Yours -Brighton's French radio

 

[Gwylan]

I'm delighted to have discovered that you can pick it up on satellite as well as the internet and now I can play it on my Nokia too my life is COMPLETE.

Pisses all over EVERY station in the UK and it pains me to give credit to the French but DAMN I love this station

That app for mobile phones looks great but where's the Android version? I do like the idea of having FIP with me wherever I go.