Radio forces françaises de Berlin


Radio Forces Françaises de Berlin was a broadcaster catering to the French military contingent in the French Sector of West Berlin. It was located in the Quartier Napoléon near Tegel Airport in the French sector.

Radio

Radio broadcasts began on 8 May 1957. FFB began broadcasting on 93.6 MHz FM in 1959. Most programmes were from the French national broadcaster RTF. This was initially a mixture of France Inter, France Culture and France Musique, but by the 1980s, only France Inter programmes were being broadcast.
On 15 September 1963, the French-language programmes were supplemented with German-language broadcasts to listeners in the Berlin area. Consisting of hour-long programmes aired between 1800 and 1900 local time, these were later produced by the German service of Radio France Internationale. There were also locally produced short bulletins for members of the French garrison in Berlin.
The departure of the Allies from Berlin in 1994 signalled the end of the FFB radio service. The 93.6 MHz frequency has been used ever since by Radio France Internationale, meaning that from July 1995, French radio broadcasts could still be received in Berlin and Brandenburg on 93.6 MHz and 106.0 MHz.

TV

In 1980, a TV station, Télévision Française à Berlin, was established, for which, like the radio station, programming was acquired from the French domestic channels, TF1 and Antenne 2. From 1984, the international French-language channel TV5 was carried. In addition to programming from TF1 and Antenne 2, it also carried programming from FR3. The service was available in West Berlin via cable, but only in the French Sector.

End of broadcasts

Following the withdrawal of French forces from the reunified Berlin, FFB radio and TFB television broadcasts ceased in June 1994.