Radio Andorra


Radio Andorra was one of the oldest French private radio stations, which had a broadcast licence in Andorra from 1939 until 1981.

History

Broadcasting began on 7 August 1939 by Jacques Trémoulet, who was also the owner of the broadcasting company Radiophonie du Midi, which was already broadcast in Toulouse, Montpellier, Bordeaux and Agen. With the location of Andorra it bypassed the state monopoly on broadcasting by not operating on French soil. On its first broadcast Radio Andorra was exclusively a music programme, interrupted only by the famous greeting "Aqui Radio Andorra." During the Second World War, the music programme was broadcast to the soldiers in France to North Africa. Both German and Allied forces attempted to control the radio without success because the neutrality of Andorra served as a protective shield.
By the end of the war Jacques Trémoulet was sentenced to death by the French judiciary because of collaboration. He first fled to Spain, then to Switzerland, and finally to France, where he was acquitted in 1949. During this time, Radio Andorra was massively hindered, as it was hard to receive transmissions in France.
After a slow climb in the 1950s and early 1960s Sud Radio competed with Radio Andorra. It was supported by the French government since its foundation in 1968. The last years of Radio Andorra were characterized by a lack of funds and a reduced power transmitter so that only in the vicinity of Andorra it could be heard.
Because of the desire for the establishment of a separate broadcasting network the Principality of Andorra broadcasting licence expired in 1981. However, the transmission towers, on the lake of Engolasters in Encamp, are still standing.