France’s Novo 19 tunes into Radio Gaga with local format adaptation

Radio Gaga first aired on VRT’s Canvas channel

Soon-to-launch French national TV channel Novo 19, owned by newspaper Ouest-France, has commissioned a local adaptation of Belgian format Radio Gaga.

Novo 19 will launch as a general-interest DTT channel on September 1. Its adaptation of Radio Gaga will be coproduced by presenter Raphaël De Casabianca’s prodco Petaouchnok and Winter Production. De Casabianca will also act as one of the show’s co-hosts.

Originally produced in Belgium by De Chinezen for VRT’s Canvas channel, Radio Gaga sees two hosts travel through the country in a mobile radio studio, stopping to set up camp in various small communities. They then spend the next 48 hours running a hyperlocal radio station for the residents – taking everything from song requests to confessions – with the locals acting as the central focus.

Distributed internationally by Lineup Industries, Radio Gaga has also been recommissioned by NHK in Japan for a sixth season, while RTS in Switzerland has committed to S10. The format has additionally been adapted in the Netherlands, Denmark, Wales and Spain.