Under the decidedly Art Deco glass roof of the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, this Tuesday 17 September, the armchairs are in red velvet, the ceiling details are in gold, and the men are in designer suits. As every year at the Radio Classique back-to-school conference, there is something immutable about the atmosphere, and the principle of the antenna, although this season more focused on the arts, seems intangible. “Radio Classique is economic, musical and cultural”“This is a very special moment for the audience,” recalls its president Pierre Louette, also CEO of the Les Echos-Le Parisien group, owned by the LVMH group, from the small platform installed on the stage of the theatre where, standing in front of the empty seats in the hall, personalities from the theatre, broadcasters, guests and journalists mingle.
“It is also unique for the attention it pays to businesses, a key place for the creation of wealth in a country”The leader continues, proudly assuming the “liberal vision” broadcast on the radio waves – searching the grid for personalities located on the left of the political spectrum is a wasted effort.
Every day, between 6 and 7 a.m., the broadcast opens with a morning economic programme, presented by Stéphane Pedrazzi (successor of François Geffrier, who moved to Radio France), while the economic editorial is presented, at 7:10 a.m., by François Vidal, unsuccessful candidate for editorial director of the Echoes in 2023, and Etienne Lefebvre, editor-in-chief of the economic daily.
At that moment, they are greeted by David Abiker, installed in the morning chair that Guillaume Durand, who occupied it for ten years, gave him at the start of the 2023 school year (his program “Bande à part” is already broadcast on Sunday at 8:30 am). A change of incarnation that has not done any harm, since in the morning he attracts nearly 400,000 listeners a day, and all the “info eco culture music” programs, according to the station, an accumulated average of one million faithful. According to one speaker, “27% of executives in large companies” I listened to Radio Classique every week.
“5% growth in 2023”
At 40 years old, which it celebrated at the beginning of July with two concerts, the radio station so dear to Bernard Arnault is not experiencing a crisis. “Radio media audiences tend to decrease in the country, Radio Classique’s audience is increasing : 5% increase in 2023 »says Pierre Louette. “It is difficult to do better in our transmission conditions”recalls, in an aside, a group manager.
You have 31.26% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
