 | |
| Broadcast area | Poland, parts ofSweden,Denmark,Germany,Hungary,Belarus. |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 91,0 FM (Warsaw) 93,3 FM (Bydgoszcz) |
| Programming | |
| Language | Polish |
| Format | CHR/Hot AC, news and music |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Bauer Verlagsgruppe |
| History | |
First air date | 15 January 1990; 35 years ago (1990-01-15) |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Live Stream |
| Website | rmf.fm |
RMF FM (abbreviation toRadio Muzyka Fakty FM, translation:Radio Music Facts FM; previously:Radio Małopolska Fun FM; translation:RadioLesser Poland Fun FM) is the first commercial radio station inPoland,[1] currently broadcasting inAC radio format.[2] RMF FM started broadcasting on 15 January 1990 inKraków. The current director is Tadeusz Sołtys. The radio is wholly owned by the GermanBauer Verlagsgruppe. It is the first private radio station in Poland and is available throughout the country.
The main founder of the radio was Stanislaw Tyczynski, who initiated Radio Solidarność Małopolska (Solidarity Radio Lesser Poland) in 1981. From 1984 until 1989, he lived inFrance. After returning toKraków on 9 June 1989, together with a group ofSolidarity activists, he established the Krakowska Fundacja Komunikacji Społecznej (KFKS, Kraków Foundation of Social Communication), aiming to "propagate free social communication, reliable and objective information, free expression of opinions and views".[3][4]
The first application for the frequency and radio license was submitted as early as November 1989; however, it was rejected. Shortly afterwards, a second application was submitted for the retransmission ofFun Radio, citing similar broadcasts by TV Ostankino and Rai Uno in Kraków. This time the application was accepted, and the station was given the frequency 70.06 MHz.
The rebroadcast was launched on 15 January 1990. The first song to appear on the air was "Africa" by the US rock bandToto. Initially, the station was housed in two apartments, but after eight months the broadcast was moved to theKościuszko Mound. At the same time, the first Polish commercials appeared (partly made up by the journalists to give the impression of great interest on the part of advertisers) and regular news services from Kraków, and the first truckload of equipment donated by Fun Radio arrived at the station. The programme gradually expanded - from 24 September, hourly news and programmes from 5:00 to 9:00 (from 12 November to 14:00) and from 22:00 to 1:00 at night were broadcast from Kraków. The hosts of the programmes includedEwa Drzyzga, Piotr Metz, Marcin Wrona, Tadeusz Sołtys, Andrzej Sołtysik and Bogdan Rymanowski.[5]
Since 7 January 1991,Radio Free Europe services were broadcast on RMF and on 14 January, Paweł Pawlik became the first field correspondent, broadcasting fromTarnów. On 25 February, the first foreign correspondent appeared inParis, In April, an outpost was opened inVienna and in June in theWarsaw Marriott Hotel - the first employee was Hieronim Wrona. On 1 July 1991, the station's transmission truck, an off-roadToyota Land Cruiser, made its first introduction. On 11 December 1991, the car took part in the first big event - the fire of theKrakow Philharmonic Hall.[6]
In October 1991, the cooperation between RMF and KFKS ended. This was due to the fact that the French shareholders did not accept only a 33% stake in the company, as allowed by Polish law, and were interested only in full ownership. As a result, the retransmission of Fun Radio ended.
On 20 April 1992, the station broadcastThe Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert featuringMetallica,Elton John,David Bowie,U2 andGuns N' Roses live. On 26 June 1992, the second studio was opened and in July 1992, the correspondent's office in Warsaw. Also on 15 July, FM was added to RMF for the first time. On 12 September, the first music charts appeared, on 2 November, the station appeared on the satellite (thanks to the agreement with the Viacom-ownedMTV Europe it occupied the second audio subcarrier of this station) and in December, a second RMF FM transmitter was launched - inKatowice (on 71.75 MHz).[7]
On 16 January 1993, a RMF FM branch in Katowice was launched (the first local branch outside Kraków). On 20 January, appeared a correspondent inWashington DC, USA. On 8 March, started production of its own programme inCzęstochowa. On 1 September, the first breakfast programme, titled "Ni w 5 ni w 9" was launched, which on 30 August 1999, changed into "Wstawaj, szkoda dnia" broadcast until later years.[8]
In February 1994, the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) decided to grant the station a nationwide license. On April 15, an outlet in Brussels was launched. On 26 May, the concession included the possibility of local splits. On 1 November, a local programme was launched inŁódź and on 19 December a local station was launched in Warsaw - the broadcast was "turned on" by the then director of the National Broadcasting Council using a laptop online.[9]
In the year of 1995, local affiliates were launched inWrocław (2 January),Poznań (6 February),Lublin (5 April),Opole,Zakopane (17-22 July respectively),Rzeszów (1 August),Trójmiasto (9 September),Szczecin (2 October) andBydgoszcz (27 November; in September 2008, the affiliate was moved toToruń)[10] as well as correspondent offices inTokyo (13 March) andTel Aviv (1 May). In June 1995, the station became the owner of the first satellite radio news truck in Poland, which it used for the first tour of the "Inwazja mocy" series, which lasted throughout the summer. During the Inwazja concert inTychy on 15 August 1995, a helicopter rented by the station crashed and the pilot was killed.[11][12]
From 5 February 1996, the station had a correspondent inLondon, and from 1 March also inMoscow. At the same time, "Polityczne grafitii" appeared, broadcast simultaneously on RMF FM and Polsat. At the end of the year, the station became the most popular radio station in Poland according to listenership polls - with breaks, it still holds this position.[13]
On 1 February 1997, the station was launched inOlsztyn. On 16 June, Hop Bęc chart was launched, which in its heyday (around 1999) was the most popular youth programme in the country. Conducted from 26 June 1997, another edition of the "Inwazja Mocy" campaign was suspended for about a month because of the flood of the millennium - the station created "Inwazja Pomocy", supporting the rescue efforts of the services and reporting on them on air.[14]
In January 1998, RMF FM journalists were the only Poles broadcasting fromBaghdad,Kuwait andBahrain during thecrisis in the Persian Gulf. On 1 September, the local station Opera FM (today as "RMF Classic") was launched in Kraków.[15]
In March 1999, RMF FM journalists reported on the war in theBalkans. In July, the station conducted another edition of "Inwazja mocy", during which the largest gathering of people in Poland took place - about 3 million people. On 1 September 1999, the station took over the local radio station in Kraków - Blue FM (today asRadio Eska Kraków).[16]
On 11 February 2000Interia.pl, a subsidiary of RMF, was launched. On 1 March, a correspondent inBerlin appeared and on 7 December, the station, as the first of all national radio stations, appeared on the Wizja TV platform.[17]
On 7 March 2001, the National Broadcasting Council renewed the station's license for another 10 years, but this time without the possibility of local splits. Due to this decision, on 17 April, a picket of journalists and companions of the station was held in front of the Council's headquarters. However, the Council did not change its decision - on 22 May 2001, the new concession came into force, and on 25 May 2001 the broadcast of local programmes was terminated. At the turn of July–August 2001, the station conducted a relief campaign for the flood victims in theSucha Beskidzka area. On 11 September 2001, a few minutes before 3 p.m., information aboutthe attack on the WTC was broadcast, followed by the longest news service in the history of Polish radio (the record was broken after the Smolensk disaster, also by RMF). Immediately after the attacks, reporters appeared inPakistan,Afghanistan,the Persian Gulf,Israel andBethlehem, reporting on the tensions following the attack.[18]
On 28 March 2002, the station's signal was made available online. On 15 July 2002, RMF was the only radio station in Poland to interviewPresident George Bush. In August, the station broadcast the final pilgrimage ofJohn Paul II to Poland. On 24 October 2002, the station won a lawsuit with the National Broadcasting Council for extending its license without the possibility of local broadcasts.[19]
In 2003, RMF journalists were the only ones from Poland to report onthe war in Iraq directly fromBaghdad. On 11 April 2003, the RMF photo agency was founded and on 27 October 2003, the RMF Classic station was launched.[20]
On 1 July 2004, RadioMan was launched, a Ukrainian radio project carried out in cooperation with RMF. On 14 July, Broker FM, the owner of RMF, made its stock market debut. On 27 September, RMF Maxxx was launched.[21]
On 2 April 2005 at 21:55, the station announcedthe death of John Paul II. It then presented a multi-hour, all-night live programme. The funeral of John Paul II was also broadcast on the station along with live entries of journalists from different parts of the country. The station also extensively covered the attacks inMadrid andLondon as well asthe MTK hall disaster andthe Halemba mine disaster.[22][23]
On 28 October 2006, it was announced that the station had been sold to the German publishing house Verlagsgruppe Bauer. On 30 April 2007, Miasto Muzyki (today operating asRMFon.pl) was established.[24] In 2009, Wielka kumulacja was put on the air.[25]
Stanisław Smółka, one of the founders of the station, died on 7 February 2010.[26] On 10 April 2010, the station reported extensively onthe Smolensk catastrophe, broadcasting two editions of Facts which lasted 21.5 hours. During the funeral ofLech andMaria Kaczynski, another many hour-long newscast was aired. After the ceremony, the station prepared a book of thanks for thePresident of Georgia, who despite the volcanic eruption arrived in Krakow with various stops, and a set of golf balls for US presidentBarack Obama, because of the volcanic cloud did not make it to Poland and played golf during the funeral.[27] There was also extensive coverage of the 2010 flood, during which the station collected over 30 tons of donations for flood victims.[28]
In 2012, the station devoted much time to theEURO 2012.[29] Two years later, it covered the canonisation of John Paul II, and also created the campaign "RMF i przyjaciele", inviting its listeners to a dinner created from dishes present in the cards of restaurants where politicians were recorded during the so-called tape scandal.[30]
The station celebrated its 25-year anniversary in 2015 and its 30-year anniversary in 2020.[31]
According to the Radio Track survey (performed by Millward Brown SMG/KRC), RMF FM's share in terms of listening between January and March 2017 in the 15-75 age group was 24.8 percent, which gave the station the position of radio market leader in Poland.[32]
RMF FM organises advertising campaigns such as "Najlepsza Muzyka" ("Best Music"), "Jak zawsze RMF FM" ("As always RMF FM") or "Oddałem głos na muzykę" ("I voted for music"). All campaigns feature Polish and foreign music stars.
RMF Classic is a subject of RMF FM which mostly playsclassical music. It originally started off as OPERA FM, which broadcast music produced by anopera. In 2003, the format, as well as the name, was changed, creating the project that is known as RMF Classic.[33]
RMF MAXX is acontemporary hit radio which started broadcasting on 27 September 2004.[34]
RMF24 is a news radio in which the topics of Polish politics and world events are reported.[35]
RMF ON is the online service for RMF FM.[36]
| City | Frequency | City | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Białogard | 96,4 | Łobez | 91,3 |
| Białystok | 100,2 | Łódź | 93,5 |
| Bielsko-Biała | 89,2 | Olsztyn | 95,3 |
| Bieszczady | 101,1 | Opole | 95,3 |
| Bydgoszcz | 93,3 | Ostrołęka | 91,5 |
| Częstochowa | 105,9 | Piła | 96,6 |
| Elbląg | 92,6 | Płock | 94,3 |
| Ełk | 106,5 | Poznań | 94,6 |
| Gdańsk | 98,4 | Przemyśl | 103,4 |
| Giżycko | 102,0 | Radom | 88,2 |
| Gorzów Wielkopolski | 96,1 | Rzeszów | 100,1 |
| Iława | 107,4 | Siedlce | 91,9 |
| Jelenia Góra | 100,8 | Słupsk | 100,9 |
| Kalisz | 98,0 | Suwałki | 95,1 |
| Katowice | 93,0 | Szczawnica | 103,2 |
| Kielce | 88,2 | Szczecin | 106,7 |
| Kisielice | 107,4 | Świnoujście | 101,2 |
| Kluczbork | 99,5 | Tarnów | 95,4 |
| Kłodzko | 101,6 | Wałbrzych | 102,9 |
| Konin | 98,9 | Warsaw | 90,6 / 91,0 |
| Koszalin | 89,3 / 104,9 | Włocławek | 94,3 |
| Kraków | 96,0 | Włoszczowa | 97,1 |
| Legnica | 96,1 | Wrocław | 92,9 |
| Leżajsk | 101,8 | Zamość | 107,7 |
| Lębork | 103,4 | Zgorzelec | 93,8 |
| Lubań | 93,8 | Zielona Góra | 106,4 |
| Lublin | 89,3 | Żagań | 94,8 |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
