Radio France International has signed an agreement with mobile phone broadcaster AudioNow to broadcast its French programmes on the telephone network, 24 hours a day, in five US cities. Listeners in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami and New York City have been able to hear RFI on their cellphones since 1 August. They can listen to RFI by calling the following phone numbers (only local charges will apply):
- 617.963.1545 in Boston
- 312.646.7684 in Chicago
- 415.200.0603 in San Francisco
- 786.228.5543 in Miami
- and in New York City very soon
This form of broadcasting is especially adapted to cellphone users who wish to stay tuned to their favorite shows.
(Source: RFI)
on Aug 6th, 2009 at 15:43
The reception is excellent… I’m using my regular phone line. Any thoughts on how I can get a QSL?
I wonder if they gonna relay their English service, as well. Right now they are carrying the general French service RFI Monde.
Obviously, RFI doesn’t know much about the US cell phone market. The vast majority of the local plans do not have any long distance charges. Usually you get a set amount of minutes every month, with unlimited evening and weekends. So there’s no need to have an access number in every city.
on Aug 6th, 2009 at 15:58
Well, I’d have thought it’s the America partner company, Audio Now, that arranges things. And surely they should know about access numbers. This looks like a service worth investigating. (www.audionow.com)
on Aug 6th, 2009 at 17:09
I guess AudioNow is just trying to milk RFI as much as it can… Notice that the company has just one access number in the US through which a (free) subscriber can access different stations.
RFI isn’t on the list of the available channels yet. BBC, a few major and minor NPR stations, CNN, Fox, Bloomberg, Reading Radio for the Blind, Brother Stair and many others are already there. One has to register in order to access the list of the available stations and programs.
Note that the users can request their favorite stations to be added to the list. I’d like to add R.Netherlands but AudioNow asks for a direct audio streaming link. How to get it from RNW player?
BTW, the World of Radio has been available by telephone for years now. It’s usually uploaded by Sunday mornings via Laser Box, 1-206-333-5096. Toll charges apply outside Seattle.
on Aug 7th, 2009 at 03:23
A brief update to my previous post: the World of Radio isn’t heard on that phone number anymore.