Mouv' (lit. 'Movement') (formerly Le Mouv') is a French youth-oriented radio station which began broadcasting on 17 June 1997. As part of Radio France, it is a public radio station. The station primarily plays youth-oriented music, centered on urban music and hip hop. Initially based in Toulouse, it moved to Paris in December 2001. It relaunched on 2 February 2015 with its slogan Mouv on it. Previously the radio station assumed an alternative rock identity, its slogan L'esprit Rock was a way of life and a style as well as a type of music.
Contents
History
Radio 7 (1980–1988)
Le Mouv' is Radio France's second attempt at serving a young audience. Its first, Radio 7 was created on 2 June 1980. Radio 7 was launched to counteract the numerous radios libres and pirate stations which heralded the opening of the FM band to private operators initiated by then President François Mitterrand in 1981. Radio 7 had a commercial-free rock-based format. It closed down in 1988, with its Paris transmitter converted into a rolling news format, the first of its kind in Europe, called France Info.
Le Mouv' – The new project (1997–2000)
A second attempt was to be launched in 1997. Michel Boyon, then president of Radio France, remarked that the average age of the public radio audience was progressively getting older. Enlisting the help of Olivier Nanteau, on 17 June 1997, Le Mouv' launched, in place of Radio France Toulouse which closed down. At the same time it also signalled the end of local public programmes as Le Mouv' aimed to become a national station. The launch of a public youth station was criticised by private radio groups, which stated that Radio France had no business entering commercial markets.
At the start of programmes, Le Mouv' initially had an eclectic format, mixing pop, rock and electronic dance music mixed with practical information for its young audience. By 1998 the media regulator CSA attributed 21 new FM frequencies to the network in small to medium-sized towns (such as Angers, Poitiers, Valence).
1999 saw Radio France President Jean-Marie Cavada give Le Mouv' six months to improve the audience share, which in Toulouse, remained static at 0.6%. However other stations within the Radio France group were threatened with closure, especially several FIP stations outside Paris, for example FIP Lyon. Station manager Marc Garcia changed strategy by installing a new, stable schedule with a new musical format, centered on the new rock music scene, adding a new slogan, L'esprit rock (The spirit of rock), with the result of gaining a 1.8% share in the Toulouse area.
Radio France put in place a vast re-organisation of its frequencies for the year 2000. In its Plan Bleu it outlined, amongst other things, that Le Mouv' would be heard in larger markets, with significant university populations. Le Mouv's coverage area in the smaller towns of France were to be handed over to the France Bleu network of local stations, whilst FIP stations in the bigger cities were to be closed for Le Mouv'. Le Mouv' thus appeared in Marseille, Lille, Lyon, Nantes, as well as Ajaccio, Brest, Rennes and Valence. This suscitied a number of protests in the cities concerned. Audience share in Toulouse reached 3.4% by 2001.
A new frequency for Clermont-Ferrand came on-air in November 2001, followed by strong protests from private radio groups. However Radio France announced the arrival of Le Mouv' in Paris, backed up by a visible marketing campaign. TDF Transmitter work aimed at improving Radio France network stations on FM made it possible to re-utilise frequencies already used by France Musiques. Le Mouv' started broadcasts in the Paris region on 6 December 2001 with its first private concert held in March 2002. This gave the station a potential coverage of 16 million people, with 100,000 listeners in its first set of results in 2003.
Mouv' – new name, new format (2015–present)
Radio France registered the trademark "Mouv'" and its new slogan "Mouv on it" with the French Intellectual property office on 23 December 2014.
On 2 February at midnight, Le Mouv' changed its name to become simply Mouv', with a new musical format focused of hip-hop and urban culture. It was set the goal of reaching 1% share of national listening, (approximately 500,000 listeners) before December 2016.
In Radio France's audit report of April 2015, it was revealed that the station never reached its listenership target share of 1.5%, last achieved in 2009; the average age of their listener rose from 28 to 34 and the cost of running the station almost doubled (from 4.5 million euro in 2004 to 8.7 million euro in 2013). The report also outlined that the station's attempt to emulate France Inter's format under the stewardship of Patrice Blanc-Francard was a failure, and noted its frequent changes of direction cued a loss of listeners, whilst its running costs rose. One of its recommendations was to transform Mouv' into a web radio station.
For the first four months of 2015 (and its last two as "Le Mouv'), ratings for the station rose from 0.6% to 0.9% share, yet its online listenership fell by 22% for the same period, according to audience measurement service, OJD.
Matthieu Gallet, President Director-General of Radio France explained, in front of the Senate that wishes to keep running Mouv', even though the costs of its national FM network was 'non-negligible'. Gallet gave the station 18 months to find its target audidence, with the option of removing Mouv' from FM to become digital-only, either in the form of a web radio station or via digital radio (even though Radio France is currently absent from DAB).
In September 2015, Mouv' updated its English slogan to "Hip Hop no limit". It was only used for two months, then replaced by the current one, "Hip Hop never stop".
On 2 July 2016, Mouv', Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra and Adami presented Hip Hop Symphonique, a one-off concert getting together symphonic music and French rap. For the first time this unique creation joined five emblematic artists of the French rap scene together: IAM, Youssoupha, Ärsenik, Bigflo & Oli and Mc Solaar, accompanied by Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra under the artistic direction of Issam Krimi.
Slogans
Unlike all the other French stations, Mouv's slogans are some English-speaking (since January 2015).
March 1999 - August 1999 : L'Esprit Rock
August 2009 - September 2011 : L'Alternative Radio
September 2011 - February 2015 : Mon époque, ma radio
February 2015 - September 2015 : Mouv' on it
September 2015 - November 2015 : Hip Hop no limit
Since November 2015 : Hip Hop never stop