Fun Radio (France)

1985-1988: Secession of NRJ

Fun Radio was created on October 2, 1985 in the south of France under the name FUN by Éric Péchadre, Pierre Lattès and Jean-Baptiste Blanchemain, who controlled six local NRJ franchise stations belonging to them (Nancy, Grenoble, Montpellier, Bordeaux, Carcassonne and Toulouse) and a Chic FM station (Nice) directed by Françoise Martin, director of antenna and programs within the company Cofirad SA. This secession was prepared in secret with a small team, and the two station's presenters were informed that day.

Some of the first animators of the station were DJ Didier Sinclair (until 1991), Jean-Luc Reichmann and Julien Courbet. Bernard Montiel was also one of the first animators of Fun Radio, where he hosted a cinema-related show.

Despite a good footprint in the south of France, FUN went through financial difficulties and was bought back in September 1987 by the Hersant group, which renamed it Fun Radio and merged it with the Chic FM networks. The radio moved to 143 avenue Charles-de-Gaulle (Neuilly-sur-Seine) and stayed there until 1999. Most of the Chic FM presenters, including Nagui and Laurent Boyer, were let go.

1988-1992: NRJ-styled format

In 1988, Fun Radio had more regional frequencies than any other networks: 97 compared to 56 of NRJ, 50 of Kiss FM, 16 of Skyrock and 7 of Hit FM. The station started to focus around the current hits with a format of playing six songs in a row before every advert. The appointment of Benoît Sillard to the station's director in 1989 allowed Fun Radio to find its own style.

In 1991, while staying on Skyrock, Arthur joined Fun Radio. The morning audience increased and the station had a combined audience of 5% with original and impertinent games and delusions on a large network, the "Orgasmotron". Fun was also the most listened-to station for young audience. In 1992, Arthur left Fun Radio for Europe 1.

1992-1996: Rock and provoc

In October 1992, to compete with the success of Bonsoir la Planète on Skyrock, Benoît Sillard launched the show Lovin 'Fun animated by Le Doc, Christian Spitz, and Difool. Fun Radio became the most listened to radio after 8:00 pm with this free-antenna program by focusing on love and sexuality topics.

In 1993, C.L.T. - Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion - (RTL Group) held a 30% stake in Fun Radio. The radio then adopted a rock-grunge format and the rest of the schedule was occupied by free-antenna programs. In the spring of 1994, Fun Radio broke its historical audience records with 8.7 points of hearing compared to 10 for NRJ, thanks to Lovin'Fun and the controversy born around this show, the CSA having reminded several times to the order the station following ethical questions and raw remarks.

In January 1995, breakfast host Cauet made a bad joke about the concentration camps compared to holiday clubs, which later was the reason he was fired by Fun Radio.

1996-2000: Reconsiliation of RTL

In the fall of 1996, Fun Radio reoriented its programming towards R&B, techno, dance and rap music. Thematic or humor shows were focused more like Éric et Ramzy Show, Fun Voyages or Ciné Fun with Arnold and Laurent Weil. Lovin'Fun continued with a new co-host.

On November 3, 1997, Axel Duroux, then CEO of RTL2, took over the presidenct of Fun Radio and placed Sam Zniber new antenna director. Lovin'Fun disappeared unreasonably from the airwaves in June 1998. 25% of the staff were fired. In the fall of 1998, a new format appeared: the station changed its historic logo with a pink square which said "Fun" and follow by a blue oval said "radio", very similar to that of RTL and RTL2. Many services - technical, commercial, programming - were shared with those of RTL2, which had almost merged with Fun, when it was called Maxximum. The musical programming went rock-dance. This new image attracted many criticisms from its listeners: the radio loses 1 audience point compared to last spring, until reaching historically low levels.

Gérard de Suresnes, originally a simple listener discovered by Max got his own radio program about debates of two different topics (Les Débats de Gérard). This show aired Thursday night/Friday morning from 1 am to 4 am.

In January 1999, Fun Radio experienced new overhaul. The logo changes for the second time in 6 months. The format changed again to become Groove'n'dance. In the same month, Partyfun, an EDM-mixed show, went on the air. It aired Friday and Saturday nights 10 pm-2 am with Van and Morgan in the mix respectively. 6 months later, the audience climbed dramatically with 6.6% cumulative audience, beating even Skyrock, Europe 2 and Chérie. The audience continued to progress and broke records until 2002. That year, M6 soled the 10% stake it owned to RTL Group (formerly CLT-UFA), which became a 100% shareholder of Fun Radio.

2000-2007: Planet Arthur/Cauet

In January 2000, Axel Duroux left RTL Group to head Endemol France. He was replaced by the CEO of RTL, Stéphane Duhamel, who would be replaced the same year by Robin Leproux. In September 2000, Arthur returned to Fun Radio to host Planet Arthur with Manu Levy and Myriam Callas. The mixed show Partyfun went on a time frame between 8 pm and 2 am, and presented by Morgan for both days. He later cut the Saturday night editions in half to mix a new show called Clubin'Fun. In 2002, the radio launched the format of Des hits et du Fun and then beat its second record audience record with 8.1% cumulative audience. In 2004, Sébastien Cauet was announced on Fun Radio to animate the breakfast, which caused a media-legal conflict with the host Arthur who left the station.

In June 2005, the radio adopted a Pop Rhythmic format consisted of electronic-styled music and R&B hits. The slogan of Fun Radio became "Soul & Dance". Max, a 12-year-serving host, left the air on December 23, 2005 and was replaced by Sophie Gaillard. Sam Zniber left the director of Fun Radio and RTL2 at the end of 2006. He was replaced by Jérôme Fouqueray.

A new countdown called Funclub 40 was launched and was live every Saturday evening from 6 pm, straight before Partyfun. The mixed show extended its slots to be 8 pm-6 am.

2007-Now: The Dancefloor Sound

At the end of 2007, the station changed logo and slogan le son dancefloor, with a changing musical positioning. Two new shows launched: Funlist animated weeknights by Dario or Eurodance 25 by Gail every Sunday from 7 to 9 pm. In June 2008, Sébastien Cauet left the station to join Virgin Radio. Manu Levy succeeds him successfully with the show Manu dans la radio!. The station was now competing with Skyrock for the place of 2nd best French music station. That same year, Fun Radio became the number one music radio in 20 cities in France (Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Nancy, Tours, Caen ... - Médialocales July 2011 survey) and the top French station on new digital listening devices.

In May 2011, Manu Levy left Fun Radio to be replaced, the following season, by Bruno Guillon with the program Bruno dans la radio from 6 am to 9 am.

On 19 August 2013, the legendary show Lovin'Fun was revived and hosted by Karima Charni, Karel and Christian Spitz. It had its first slogan: "Du sexe, de l'amour et du fun!". Lovin'Fun was followed by a new free weekday MiKL program, #MiKL NO LIMIT. On November 19, 2013, Fun Radio again became France's second best music station with 3,513,000 listeners / day, behind NRJ but ahead of Skyrock (position confirmed in the following poll, where the morning show Bruno dans la radio sets a record).

On September 1, 2014, Jérôme Fouqueray, formerly managing director of the Fun Radio and RTL2 stations, became managing director of the W9 channel. He is replaced by Tristan Jurgensen, who is also director of RTL Net, the digital subsidiary of RTL radio. Tristan Jurgensen imbued Fun Radio with the festivities of Ibiza by relocating some of his shows and bringing DJs from Ibiza to Paris for the Fun Radio Ibiza Experience for one evening annually at the AccorHotels Arena.

Starting in September 2015, Fun Radio started providing the Partyfun show weeknightly by going on the Before mode for 2 hours (at 7 pm and midnight), which supervise 2 free antennas: Lovin'Fun's 8 pm-10pm, and the 10 pm-12 am Marion & Anne-So: Le Night Show to attract more female audiences. Partyfun was wider revamped by allowing two different resident DJs to go in the mix weekly between midnight and 2 am. The show's Fun Radio-based DJs include Adrien Toma, Mico C and Maeva Carter (the latter once appeared on the Le Before Partyfun show, and then was given a Saturday night slot from 8 to midnight.)

Later, Fun Radio emphasized on its 40-minute ad-free format, even during the Partyfun show.

In 2015, Sunday's Partyfun was replaced by Partyfun Deep, and ended at 1 am instead of 6 am. The host is Mico C, and the show focuses mainly on lounge and chillout music.