Espace Musique - History

History

The network was originally launched in 1974, with stations in Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City and Chicoutimi.

Previously known as La chaîne culturelle, the network was rebranded as Espace musique in September 2004 as part of a major repositioning of the CBC's French services. Many high-brow cultural programs were moved to Première Chaîne, while the new Espace musique service adopted a more populist approach focusing on four genres – classical, jazz, world, and folk music – and French-language song.

For about two weeks in late August / early September 2004 leading up to the Espace musique relaunch, the network did not have any name, at least officially. The network "stunted" with a continuous stream of classical and jazz music, aside from hourly newscasts simulcast from Première Chaîne and regular reminders that la Chaîne culturelle had shut down and (later) that it would relaunch as Espace musique on September 7.

The rebranding was controversial. The network's previous format had been similar to that of CBC Radio Two, and was indeed regarded by some as superior to its English-language counterpart, leading many cultural commentators to criticize the new format. However, Bureau of Broadcast Measurement ratings taken soon after the relaunch suggested that the service has indeed become more popular.

The network presently covers the majority of Quebec, all provincial capitals (though Regina, Victoria, Edmonton, St. John's and Fredericton are only served by rebroadcasters) and certain other large cities such as Ottawa and Vancouver.

Unlike most CBC broadcast networks, from its inception until fall 2010, all Espace musique transmitters aired the same programming simultaneously on all stations regardless of location, except for (from 2004 to 2010) two weekday evening programs that were interchanged on the British Columbia transmitters.

Since September 2010, the network has adopted the practice of the CBC's other French-language networks, whereby network programs are broadcast live in the Eastern, Atlantic, and Newfoundland time zones, then aired on tape delay (at the same local times as in the Eastern time zone) in Western Canada. At the same time the network devolved responsibility for the 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (10:00-4:00 AT) timeslot to regional stations. Separate daytime programs were slated to be produced by each of the network's originating stations, with the exception of CBAX-FM Halifax, which carries programming produced in Moncton. However, at present it appears that a single set of daytime programs is produced for the Prairies (airing on both CKSB-FM and CBCX-FM), originating from Winnipeg.

On 4 May 2011, the network began transmitting on XM SIRIUS Satellite_Radio Radio on Channel 153 heard throughout North America.