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RMF · Our conviction

The manifesto

This is not just a radio. It's a stance. A way of listening to France when you've chosen to live elsewhere — or to live differently.

The origins · 2014–2021

RMF was born from a simple need

In 2014, Delphine and Julien decide to move to Montreal. A foreign experience — a new country, a new life, a new culture to navigate. Julien leaves his position as Development Director at RTL, RTL2 and Fun Radio in Paris. But broadcasting doesn't leave him.

Once settled, Julien receives a mission from RTL Group: find a radio station to acquire in Canada. The logic is simple — today's expats might become tomorrow's RTL listeners upon their return. Keeping the connection alive during their expat years means keeping their loyalty for later.

The couple approaches Mike FM. The sale doesn't go through. But Marie Griffiths, Mike FM's director, suggests something different: a show. To speak to the 150,000 French nationals living in Montreal. The RMF Radio adventure begins here.

2017 — Mike FM · Prime time for the French of Montreal

RMF becomes a daily prime time show — the drive home, every weekday. We want it modern. A show that mixes musical genres for pleasure and discovery. That gives voice to the French shaping Montreal — entrepreneurs, artists, creatives. With a warm tone, never condescending.

The audience grows. Fast. RMF becomes an appointment. A daily landmark for Montreal's French community — and for Quebecers curious about contemporary France.

2019 — CIBL 101.5 · The show becomes a three-hour broadcast

CIBL radio contacts us. We propose a new ambitious format: three hours of prime time drive home, every day, with twelve columnists. We surround ourselves with a team of friends, each an expert in their field. To learn, to relax, to play music we love, to host interesting guests. Every artist touring Canada from France stops by our microphone.

It's also when Delphine and Julien become parents. And they notice something essential. Like all children born abroad to French parents, it matters to pass culture down to them. And music is a real shared moment — on the school run, on the way to activities, in everyday journeys.

Biculturalism becomes a guiding thread. Discovering a new world while staying connected to one's home country — to one's parents' home country. RMF takes on a new role: a relay for cultural transmission to expat children.

2020 — Digitalization of the radio · When the studio closes, RMF goes digital

COVID arrives. The radio studio is closed for fifteen months. But we'd already been turning our shows and columns into podcasts. So we make a strategic decision: RMF Radio must become accessible online, everywhere in the world.

The digital pivot

A website. A mobile app. And suddenly, RMF becomes listenable by anyone who loves French music, wherever they are in the world.

Five years later, RMF is listened to in 95 countries. What started as a show for 150,000 French nationals in Montreal now reaches millions of international francophones. The promise hasn't changed. The territory has.

Our conviction

Four simple ideas held without compromise.

01 · A human radio

A programmer. Not an algorithm.

At RMF, Julien chooses the music. A human with fifteen years at RTL, with convictions, an ear, a sensibility. Not a machine that sends you back to what you already listen to.

02 · France in the present

Not a postcard. A living matter.

We follow Goldman with Flavien Berger. We slip Pomme after Cabrel. We place Indochine behind Feu! Chatterton. French music is alive — not frozen in the 80s, not reduced to its classics, but not forgotten either.

03 · 20 minutes de Nostalgie à Nova

A journey, never a playlist.

Twenty minutes to cross a decade. Twenty minutes to hear a monument followed by a hidden gem. Twenty minutes lived in the car, in the kitchen, with family — a format made for real listening moments, not for swipes.

04 · Passing it on, together

Your children will know Souchon.

Because you'll listen to him in the car, because he'll come right after Polo & Pan, because RMF doesn't separate generations. French culture isn't taught. It's listened to, together, without formality.

The team

RMF is a story of friends

A team of enthusiasts who share their knowledge and passions. Journalists, historians, entrepreneurs, writers, sommeliers. Each brings their voice, their expertise, their take on the world — from Montreal, from Paris, from elsewhere.

JC

Julien Cardon

Co-founder · Musical programming

Former Development Director of RTL Group — RTL, RTL2, Fun Radio. Entrepreneur, founder and on-air director of RMF. He chooses the music, segment by segment, twenty minutes by twenty minutes.

LinkedIn profile →

DB

Delphine Béné

Co-founder · Editorial direction

Entrepreneur, producer and founder of Be Medias France for fourteen years, then Be Medias Inc. in Canada. Journalist. She is the editorial soul of RMF — free-spirited, warm, demanding.

LinkedIn profile →

DM

Daniel de Montplaisir

History column

French historian living in Montreal. Author of many books including Histoire du Canada, biographie d'une nation (2019) and Quand le lys terrassait la rose (2019). His column puts History back in its rightful place — a guiding thread, never a dogma.

Wikipedia page →

CL

Cécile Lazartigues-Chartier

Intercultural column

Intercultural consultant, French-Canadian based in Quebec since 1997. Founder of L'Art et la Manière Interculturel. She speaks to anyone who lives or works with people who don't come from the same place. Which is to say, everyone.

LinkedIn profile →

MB

Mathieu Barreau

Artificial Intelligence column

Social innovation entrepreneur. A visionary and committed strategist, attentive to technological shifts and their social impact. Convinced that AI must remain an opportunity to put humans back at the center of our societal models.

LinkedIn profile →

AP

Anne Pélouas

Society & Travel column

Independent journalist and author, living in Canada since 1988. Canada correspondent for Le Monde for twenty years, RFI correspondent and AFP journalist. She published Les Inuits résistants ! (Ateliers Henry Dougier).

LinkedIn profile →

MeB

Mélanie Boude

Wine column

Born in Canada, lived in Rwanda, France, Belgium. One hundred percent francophile. Wine specialist and buyer for Laloux restaurant in Montreal, of which she is co-owner. She talks appellations, varietals, regions — to better appreciate what we drink.

LinkedIn profile →

EC

Emmanuelle Caron

Books column

Novelist, poet, and certified literature teacher at Collège Marie de France. Published by Grasset, L'École des Loisirs, and Noroît. Knight of Arts and Letters. Every week, she shares a favorite — novel, graphic novel, theater, children's book. Everything goes.

LinkedIn profile →

DLC

Daisy Le Corre

Books column

Université de Montréal graduate. Journalist, sometimes author and lecturer, she works in France and Quebec. Currently at Hachette Canada, she continues to write. Her favorite topics: education, sexualities, lifestyle. She was editor-in-chief of Maudits Français (a French Morning subsidiary) and journalist and content lead for Urbania France.

LinkedIn profile →

DMG

Diane Martin-Graser

Branchouille addresses column

Deputy Director of communications and philanthropic development at MOMENTA Biennale of Contemporary Art. Independent journalist and photographer, she's a real finder of preppy, trendy spots...

LinkedIn profile →

EM

Eddie Maleterre

Exhibitions & Artists column

After more than 20 years at L'Oréal Group as Artistic Director and image consultant. A painter who went from hobby to professional, he exhibits in galleries and at corporate or cultural events. He now runs the Chez Maleterre guesthouse in the Charlevoix region, a site with stunning views.

LinkedIn profile →

They've been on the RMF microphone

A decade of encounters

Decision-makers, entrepreneurs, artists. Here are some of the voices that have come to the RMF microphone — a non-exhaustive sample of a decade of conversations.

Decision-makers & Institutionals

Political and cultural voices

Emmanuel Macron, the Ambassadors of France to Canada and Canada to France, the Consuls of France in Montreal and Quebec City, Canada's Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, Quebec's Minister of Economy and Innovation Pierre Fitzgibbon, the Honourable Philippe Couillard former Premier of Quebec, Quebec's delegate to Los Angeles Philippe Huneault, Quebec's delegate to New York Catherine Loubier, Quebec's Chief Scientist Rémi Quirion, Conseil québécois du commerce de détail CEO Stéphane Drouin, FTQ Solidarity Fund SVP and Innovation Chair Janie Béique and Alain Denis, Université de Sherbrooke Vice-Rector Vincent Aimez, CHUM CEO Fabrice Brunet, Centre Jacques Cartier Director Frédéric Bove, Cinémania festival president Guilhem Caillard, Marlène Schiappa, Nathalie Bondil, Bruno Guglielminetti, Richard Saint-Pierre…

Entrepreneurs & CEOs

Voices of the French Tech

The CEOs or VPs of Chocmod, Tiing, Agence Bleu Blanc Rouge, Symplik, Agorize, Café Liégeois, Rezoway, Upcycli, Immigrant Québec, Vitry, Meeti, Canal+ International, Bear, Ekart, Juliette et Chocolat, Le Wagon, 1642, Distillerie de Montréal, INEAT, Jeux 2 Minutes, OCNI, Katapult, Boulangeries Ange, La Piscine, Flick, Putsch Media, Bioderma, Port de Montréal, Port de Marseille

Artists

Voices of French song

Polo & Pan, Bon Entendeur, Patrick Bruel, Francis Cabrel, Angèle, Eddy de Pretto, Amir, Arthur H, Bernard Lavilliers, Édouard Baer, Cali, Camélia Jordana, Eli Rose, Christophe Maé, Émile Bilodeau, Claudio Capéo, Chaton, Kendji Girac, Feu! Chatterton, Fishbach, Flavien Berger, Foé, Gilbert Montagné, Grand Corps Malade, Jérôme Couture, Juliette Armanet, Lou Doillon, Michel Fugain, Liane Foly, Offenbach, Pomme, Roch Voisine, Safia Nolin, Tibz, Tim Dup, Vendredi sur Mer, Stéphane, Martin Luminet

They talk about RMF

RMF in the media

Since 2017, RMF has been featured in several articles and reports — in France, Canada, and the international francophone press. A selection.

TV5 Monde · Television

Report on TV5 Monde news

September 20, 2019

News broadcast report on the RMF adventure and its francophone reach.

L'Express · Magazine

Quebec media: a user guide

L'Express Magazine France Read the article
Paris Montréal · Magazine

Profile of the French making their mark on Quebec

Paris Montréal See the article
Journal des Français de l'étranger

The radio show for the French in Montreal

Le Journal des Français de l'étranger See the article
Maudits Français · Webzine

Radio Montréal France 105.1: the new show

August 2017 Read the article
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