Posted on Jul 28, 2022, 11:00 AM
This is a signal that many Portuguese speakers will recognize from Ile-de-France: 98.6. This is the FM frequency of Alpha Radio, the only Portuguese radio station in the region. Portuguese language programs are broadcast every day, 24 hours a day. The number of listeners every week is more than 480,000.
On the air since 1987, the station was set up to “keep a cultural broadcaster alive,” explains Fernand Lopez, general manager of Alpha Radio since 1992. He adds, “The idea of the founders was not only to provide radio music, but also an information radio station.” And contact. celle de France.
A team of 20 employees
The program schedule is supplemented by broadcasts of daily information, such as cultural events, music events, etc. Radio Alfa also has a website, where it publishes articles in Portuguese on international news, sports and culture. The station has 20 employees, including 5 journalists.
In addition to its radio activity, the station, which is based in Valenton, in the Val-de-Marne, regularly organizes events in the department. The Festival of Famous Saints, a celebration celebrated in Lisbon and other Portuguese cities in June, has also been held since 1989 in Creteil, bringing together about 30,000 people.
Meeting Portuguese Presidents
But due to the health crisis, Radio Alfa has not been able to organize this rally since 2019 and had to give up holding other events. Despite this forced closure, this fall the station plans to hold Portuguese Gastronomy Week as well as an event to celebrate its 35 years.
Over time, Radio Alfa has established itself as an institution for Portuguese speakers in Val-de-Marne and, more broadly, Ile-de-France, focused on a strong Portuguese community. Fernand López asserts that “all the Portuguese chiefs of the campaign were broadcast by Alpha Radio”. For several years now, the radio has also been broadcast on DAB + in other major French cities, in Lyon, Lille and Strasbourg.
