| 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.
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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, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guyane, Lebanon, Martinique, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Norway, Réunion, Russia, Sweden, Tahiti and Ukraine. 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.
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.
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.
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