PARIS — After several years off the air, French national pop station Europe 2 (known as Virgin Radio from 2008–2022) returned in January 2024. Lagardère Group, which owns the station, has been focused on reviving its audience and sees pop culture at the core of its strategy.
It’s certain that moving forward, Europe 2’s coming seasons will vastly differ from its previous ones. Virgin Radio is gone, and Europe 2 — a legendary radio brand — has returned with what Alain Liberty, managing director of Lagardère Radio’s music stations, calls a “unique position in the market.” The station is now “more feminine, more vibrant,” not disavowing its past, yet firmly “anchored in the present.”
To differentiate itself from competitors, the team has carefully refined its positioning. In a landscape where stations either play nostalgic hits all day or move from one short-lived chart-topper to the next, Europe 2 aims to carve out a niche in the “pop” era. “Where are the big hits from two, five, or even 10 years ago?” asks Liberty. “These songs evoke memories and emotions for a generation of adults aged 40 to 45. Our goal is to bring back these recent memories, whether tied to music, TV shows, or manga. Europe 2 is a strong link in the pop culture of the last 20–30 years.” The station is launching a new cycle with this pop spirit.
A new digital platform
Though the promise has changed this season, the fundamentals of radio remain the same, especially for the highly strategic morning slot. “We needed to change the format,” Liberty says. The search for a new host led to Benjamin Castaldi. “Benjamin was the natural choice,” he adds. Castaldi, well-suited to the station’s new “pop” image, is a quintessential figure of pop culture — he was the iconic host of “Loft Story,” the first reality show in France, aired in 2001 on M6. “Who better than him to host our morning show? Plus, he’s particularly popular with female audiences.”
The new morning show, on-air since Aug. 26, is still settling in, with many surprises and events ahead. The coming months promise plenty of new developments. “We’re going to be extremely active in digital within the next few months with a new digital platform for Lagardère Group’s radio stations, featuring specific tools for Europe 2 and RFM,” Liberty revealed. This digital push will help restore the “Europe” brand’s status. Cultivating the Europe brand more broadly seems to be a medium-term goal, aiming to cross-promote both stations and possibly imagine collaborations.
Live events and local engagement are not being overlooked. “Half of our network is in Category C (local or regional commercial services affiliated or franchised to a national network), and we have many collaborators in the regions,” he notes, with the goal of increasing interaction with local stations.
“Where are the big hits from two, five, or even 10 years ago? These songs evoke memories and emotions for a generation of adults aged 40 to 45.”
Alain Liberty, managing director of Lagardère Radio’s music stations
A desire for change
Liberty is eager to take the station’s revival further by pushing for reform of some rules that, in his view, overly constrain the industry. In particular, he points to the quotas for French-language music, established in 1993, which he notes with irony as the “year MP3 was invented.” He feels this legislation no longer suits the modern media landscape of streaming, internet radio and social media networks. “Abroad, local-language songs perform well without restrictive rules,” he says, expressing his firm desire to “work intelligently with artists and radio stations to offer a rich and diverse selection for listeners.”
Before addressing regulations that govern the industry, Liberty and his team are looking ahead with enthusiasm and confidence in the Europe 2 project. The goal is to win a broader audience by the end of the season and then aim even higher by fully rolling out all aspects of the Europe 2 project. Judging by his optimism, the formula might be right. “Every day,” he says, “Europe 2 gets better.”
A long-time media addict — radio, TV, web and press, the author says that not a day goes by without him listening to the radio. Since 2019, he’s also been a volunteer at SUN, where he writes a weekly column. This article first appeared in French radio publication La Lettre Pro.
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