I've been getting a French Language Station AM 730 at night for years. Usually it's some kind of talk format, but I'm not sure what type of talk programming it is because I don't speak the language. Tonight after 12AM Eastern I hear them playing English Language Music with French Language liners in-between songs. I heard "Born to be Alive" by Patrick Hernandez followed by a liner in French into a song that I don't know the name of, but I know I've heard on AC formatted stations. Is music programming on AM 730 new?
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Is this somehthing new on AM 730?
- Thread starter MarcB
- Start date
French on AM 730 is usually CKAC from Montreal, which is a sports-formatted station. It's the only known 50,000-watt Class "A" station I'm aware of that broadcasts in French.
I can't answer your question because splatter from local WGN here in the Chicago area usually blows out CKAC in these parts. (Although with a little patience and a good null, CKAC is definitely do-able).
Perhaps, however, I can offer a couple of clues. First of all, Patrick Hernandez is of Spanish-Austrian-Italian heritage, but a native of France. Although his major hit was sung in English, it's certainly not unusual to hear him on a French language station.
More significantly, it's very common to hear music in English on French stations....just as true for Paris as it is in Montreal. In fact, anywhere you go in Europe, a high percentage of what you'll hear on local music stations is likely to be in English. Several years ago I was in the Birkenstock outlet store outside of Bonn, Germany. Local radio was piped in, and everything I heard was American. The lone exception was "Nikita"....by Elton John! The jock and the commercials were German, but the music was in English.
I've also spent a lot of time listening to "The Arrow", a classic rock a.m. station (675khz IIRC) out of Amsterdam which has a decent signal 24/7 in London and in parts of several other countries. This station has (or I think more correctly "had") a large international audience with music in English being the common denominator. Almost all of the music in English, but jocks and commercials all Dutch.
And finally, I don't know how accurate my observation is, but IME, Canadian talk stations tend to be more inclined than their U.S. counterparts to flip to (automated) music overnights.
So my guess is CKAC is what was heard.
Perhaps, however, I can offer a couple of clues. First of all, Patrick Hernandez is of Spanish-Austrian-Italian heritage, but a native of France. Although his major hit was sung in English, it's certainly not unusual to hear him on a French language station.
More significantly, it's very common to hear music in English on French stations....just as true for Paris as it is in Montreal. In fact, anywhere you go in Europe, a high percentage of what you'll hear on local music stations is likely to be in English. Several years ago I was in the Birkenstock outlet store outside of Bonn, Germany. Local radio was piped in, and everything I heard was American. The lone exception was "Nikita"....by Elton John! The jock and the commercials were German, but the music was in English.
I've also spent a lot of time listening to "The Arrow", a classic rock a.m. station (675khz IIRC) out of Amsterdam which has a decent signal 24/7 in London and in parts of several other countries. This station has (or I think more correctly "had") a large international audience with music in English being the common denominator. Almost all of the music in English, but jocks and commercials all Dutch.
And finally, I don't know how accurate my observation is, but IME, Canadian talk stations tend to be more inclined than their U.S. counterparts to flip to (automated) music overnights.
So my guess is CKAC is what was heard.
CKAC is generally a sports talk format, however the last program of the evening "Bonsoir les sportifs" ("Good evening sports") is listed as beginning at 8:30 PM, with nothing else listed until 4:00 AM the following morning. If memory serves me well, I believe they simulcast an oldies format from one of the other stations in the Corus group over night.
~BG
~BG
If you were listening in CT, Marc, it was CKAC, especially if you've heard them quite a few times.
Around sunset here in NE PA they start to overwhelm semi-local WNAK Nanticoke. It was pretty cool hearing them do the Expos games.
Btw Mike: Isn't CJBC 860 also considered a French-language Class A? Gosh, I hope they're not off the air. I'll try to tune 'em in later. It's a tradition to have them playing on the evenings of December 24th here while gifts are being wrapped. Last year we listened to them on line plus on the GE Superadio II.
Around sunset here in NE PA they start to overwhelm semi-local WNAK Nanticoke. It was pretty cool hearing them do the Expos games.
Btw Mike: Isn't CJBC 860 also considered a French-language Class A? Gosh, I hope they're not off the air. I'll try to tune 'em in later. It's a tradition to have them playing on the evenings of December 24th here while gifts are being wrapped. Last year we listened to them on line plus on the GE Superadio II.
F
FreddyE1977
Guest
At one time the recording industry stats were that 5 out of every 6 records sold on the planet was
in English, due to sheer volume and market size (US-Canada-UK-Australia-New Zealand). Not sure
what the numbers look like now in the MP3 downloading era.
in English, due to sheer volume and market size (US-Canada-UK-Australia-New Zealand). Not sure
what the numbers look like now in the MP3 downloading era.
FreddyE1977 said:
The US plus the UK and the smaller nations are a very small percentage of the world's population. The reason music in English accounts for such a high percentage of sales is that all over the world many genres from pop to rock in English are popular and big sellers in places where English is barely spoken.
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