Mister Télé Luxembourg 

 

 

Jacques Navadic was still working at Télé Lille when four supposed Philips engineers paid a visit. Navadic received the annoying guests with a cool and business-like manner, not realising that they were in fact CLT managers who wanted to gain a personal impression of him. The result: Navadic was recruited, and formed an emblematic duo with Robert Diligent at Télé Luxembourg - the historic francophone channel launched in 1955.

 They created, developed and presented the evening news from September 1955 onwards. As one of the main contributors to the channel’s popularity, focussing in particular on getting close to viewers, Jacques Navadic played an active role in the development of Télé Luxembourg (which subsequently became RTL Télévision) until the end of the 1980s; as Director of News, Artistic Director, Director of Programming and an adviser to the senior management of CLT.

 

Picture: Jacques Navadic 

Part of the pack 

 

 

The 2016 edition of the world’s biggest cycling race – the Tour de France – began on Saturday 2 July. RTL Radio (France) once again went out on the road to cover the Grande Boucle for its sport-loving audience, as it did in 1934 when it first broadcast live from the race.

 One of the most popular journalists covering the Tour was undoubtedly Alex Virot. He commented on the race for Radio Luxembourg in the 1950s, following the cyclists on the back of a motorcycle, until the fateful day of 14 July 1957 when he and his driver were killed in an accident during the Barcelona-Ax-les-Thermes stage.

 

Picture: The Radio Luxembourg team covering the Tour de France with Alex Virot (wearing a white cap on the motorbike to the right) and André Bourillon (standing on the motorbike to the left) 

Going the extra mile for the listener

 

Here is a photo impossible to realise today, since the overflight of Paris is now forbidden to any plane other than the police or the army .... But in 1976 the situation was very different. RTL Radio (France) in order to better inform the Parisian listeners about the traffic conditions in Paris, decided to specifically train the journalist Jacques Boutelet to inform listeners from the air. 

At that time, the car was king, and RTL Radio (France) needed to be closer to its listeners. What better way than an aeroplane? This aircraft was also used as a "transmitting relay" during transmissions of the Tour de France.

 

Photo shared with Backstage readers by our colleague Laurent Marsick, Service culture / médias / jeunesse, RTL Radio (France)

A man from the golden age of radio

 

On 16 June 2019, Zappy Max, one of the most iconic presenters for Radio Luxembourg passed away at the age of 97. Multi-talented presenter Zappy Max, with his wide eyes and signature moustache, was the central character on Radio Luxembourg’s legendary show Quitte ou Double. He hosted the gameshow for many years out on the road in France and Belgium with ‘Radio-Circus’.

The stand-out moment on Quitte ou Double came undoubtedly during a Radio Circus event in 1952 when Abbé Pierre, then still relatively unknown at the time, answered the first eight questions correctly and won enough money to buy a new truck and plenty more for his Emmaus charity, set up in 1949 to help the poorest in society.

Fever pitch 

With the start of the Uefa European Championship in France, football fever has spread among the many fans and even to otherwise less interested members of the public. In the 1950s this sport was very popular on the French-speaking station Radio Luxembourg. Reporters such as Patrick Saint-Maurice and Jacques de Ryswick thrilled listeners with their live broadcasts from the stadiums.

Jacques de Ryswick, also a journalist at the sports newspaper L’Équipe, commentated on the matches with his distinctive voice from the edge of the pitch to be closer to the action.

Together with his colleagues Jacques Goddet and Jacques Ferran from L’Équipe, he supported and promoted the idea of the newspaper’s editor Gabriel Hanot to launch a 'European Cup' for football clubs in 1954. With Uefa's approval, this vision was turned into reality the following year. Today, we know the competition as the Uefa Champions League.