NRJ Radio

NRJ

Broadcast area	Europe, Canada, and The United States
Frequency	Various based on Country and Region
First air date	1981
Format	Trendy
Owner	NRJ Group
Website	www.nrj.fr

NRJ (acronym read as énergie in French, pronounced [enɛʁʒi]) (Euronext: NRG) French multimedia group based in Paris. Since its foundation in 1981 as a French pop music radio station it has grown and evolved to become the NRJ Group.^[1] Since 2002, NRJ has been the most popular music radio station in France and the second most popular overall in terms of audience numbers and market share; only the talk radio network RTL has more listeners.^{[citation needed]}

The NRJ Group

The NRJ Group has transformed itself from one radio station to a brand of corporate commercial radio stations in Europe. Currently, it has stations in Austria, Belgium, Ukraine, Lebanon, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Bulgaria, Russia, New Caledonia, Réunion and France. NRJ plays current, trendy music for young audiences. Their slogan is "Hit music only". They also operate the NRJ 12, NRJ Paris, NRJ Hits music television station in France.

The majority of NRJ-branded stations are operated by the NRJ Group, however some are licenced, such as the Bulgarian version, which is operated by Communicorp. Within France the NRJ Group operates four separate radio stations: NRJ, Nostalgie, Chérie FM and Rire & Chansons.^[2]

In 1989 NRJ became listed on the Paris Stock Exchange Secondary Market and has continued to climb, reaching the First Market in 2000 after regrouping all of its assests into the NRJ Group.

In French, the pronunciations of NRJ and Energy (énergie) are identical, and sounds very similar to the English word Energy.

International

With its pan-European NRJ/ENERGY stations, the Paris-based NRJ Group has challenged the European radio market by being significantly different from diversifying market players like the Luxembourg-based RTL Group (Antenne Bayern, RTL Berlin, Yorin FM), and SBS Broadcasting (Radio 1 Norway, The Voice) or Stockholm-based MTG (P4 Norway, Rix FM, Lugna Favoriter).

Since June 6, 2006 NRJ has been operational in Lebanon,^[3] further expanding its reach and influence. On July 6, 2009, NRJ announced it would license its brand to Astral Media, owner of Canada's Énergie radio network, consisting of 10 regional stations in Quebec, along with a national broadcast as Énergie² on Satellite Radio and in the United States.^[4] This is the first North American expansion for NRJ.

Since the mid-1990s, NRJ has licensed its 24/7 programming stream out of Paris, to Japan's largest cable system, Usen Corporation.^{[citation needed]}

All of NRJ's international operations are concentrated on a contemporary hit radio station (with the same slogan, jingles, sound, etc...) while its competitors tend to create local radio brands with various radio formats, thereby taking advantage of their audience's local identity.

See also

• NRJ Music Awards

References

1. ^ "NRJ Group". Nrjgroup.fr. http://www.nrjgroup.fr/?page=209&lang=gb. Retrieved 2011-05-16. 
2. ^ "Nrj Group". Nrjgroup.fr. http://www.nrjgroup.fr/. Retrieved 2011-05-16. 
3. ^ "NRJ Lebanon website". Nrjlebanon.com. http://www.nrjlebanon.com/. Retrieved 2011-05-16. 
4. ^ NRJ is the new signature of Energie, the number one radio network in Quebec, Astral Media press release, July 6, 2009

External links

• NRJ Group
• NRJ.com Stations around the world
• NRJ Sweden
• NRJ Greece
• NRJ Bulgaria
• NRJ Finland
• NRJ Lebanon
• NRJ Quebec
• NRJ Russia
• NRJ Switzerland