Ici Radio-Canada Première
Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) is a Canadian French-language radio network, the news and information service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known as Société Radio-Canada in French), the public broadcaster of Canada. It is the French counterpart of CBC Radio One, the CBC's similar English-language radio network.
| Type | Radio network |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Headquarters | Quebec City Montreal |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |
| History | |
| Launch date | 1937 (CBF) |
Former names | Radio de Radio-Canada (1937–1997) Première Chaîne (1997-2013) |
| Coverage | |
| Availability | AM/FM: Canada, Sirius XM: Canada/United States |
| Links | |
| Website | Ici Radio-Canada Première |
The service is available across Canada, although not as widely as CBC Radio One. Only the provinces of Quebec and Ontario are served by more than one Première originating station. In all other provinces, the whole province is served by a single station with multiple transmitters. It reaches 90 percent of all Canadian francophones.
Each originating station outside Montreal airs a national schedule, taken from flagship station CBF-FM, complete with opted-out local/regional shows at peak times, depending on each market. News bulletins are aired live, irrespective of location.
The network may broadcast on either the AM or FM bands, depending on the market. A national version is available across North America on Sirius XM Canada channel 170. Première was available in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East live via the Hot Bird satellite. The satellite service closed in June 2012 as part of the budget measures affecting Radio Canada International.