What Ràdio Arrels does

Ràdio Arrels is a community radio station founded on May 28, 1981 in Perpinyà, France, operating exclusively in the Catalan language across Northern Catalonia (Catalunya Nord). The station broadcasts via four FM frequencies covering six counties—Rosselló (95.0), Vallespir (88.2), Conflent (95.5), and Cerdanya i Capcir (93.1)—and supplements its over-the-air reach with online streaming, an on-demand podcast library, and social media distribution. It serves the Catalan-speaking population of the Pyrénées-Orientales department through news, opinion programming, cultural and historical content (including a 27,000+ interview archive), local event coverage, and weather services. The station maintains studios in El Soler (current operations address, 1 carrer Léon Blum), Prada (Conflent), and Ceret (Vallespir), with a reach described in Médiamétrie surveys as 55,000 accumulated listeners over 21 consecutive days.

The underlying platform combines FM broadcasting infrastructure with web streaming, podcast distribution, RSS feeds, an email newsletter, and social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter. Product surfaces include news bulletins (Notícies), thematic programs (Programes), the biographical series Biografies del Conflent (hosted by Enric Balaguer), the daily interview show Memòria (hosted by Berenguer Ballester, airing Monday–Friday at 19h), three weekly opinion chronicles (Crònica d'opinió de Joan Becat on Tuesdays, Iu Escape on Wednesdays, Pere Becque on Thursdays), the traditional music program Andreu Touron no va inventar la tenora (with the Museum of Ancient Music in Ceret), and a multi-town weather service (El Temps). The station also archives an RSS-indexed back catalog across more than 65 programs.

The business is operated as a non-profit association (Associació Arrels) under French law 1901, registered at the prefecture under reference W662000421. Revenue derives from listener donations processed via donatius.radioarrels.cat, recurring membership contributions, and institutional grants from the Generalitat de Catalunya, Région Occitanie/Pyrénées-Méditerranée, and Conseil Départemental des Pyrénées-Orientales. The station is a member of AMIC (Associació de Mitjans de Comunicació Independents de Catalunya) and leads the European cross-border POCTEFA ESCAT Mèdia project alongside Corisa Mèdia Grup. Headcount is approximately 5 employees and no commercial pricing model is in use.

Name

Ràdio Arrels

Legal name

Associació Ràdio Arrels

Website

https://radioarrels.cat

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ràdio Arrels is a non-profit community radio station founded in 1981, broadcasting exclusively in Catalan across Northern Catalonia via four FM frequencies, podcasts, and online streaming. It serves the Catalan-speaking population of six counties with news, cultural programming, opinion content, and a 27,000+ interview archive.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Radio Broadcasting

NAICS

Radio Broadcasting Stations (51611)

SIC

Radio Broadcasting Stations (4832)

akta.pro primary industry

Independent Local Radio Stations (MPABACAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Internet Radio & Streaming Broadcast Stations (Simulcast/Online-only) (MPAIAEAE), Audio Production & Podcasting (BPAFAIAE)

Keywords

• Community radio broadcasting
• Catalan language media
• News and culture programming
• Podcast distribution
• Nonprofit media

Headquarters

HQ city

Perpinyà

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Membership: The station operates as a non-profit association (Association declared in prefecture W662000421) and relies on donations from listeners and supporters, as evidenced by the donation page (https://donatius.radioarrels.cat/) and mentions of private resource collection through cultural activists.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Ràdio Arrels is a non-profit community radio station broadcasting exclusively in Catalan across Northern Catalonia (France). It operates four FM frequencies serving the region (87.8, 88.5, 90.3, and 89.4 MHz) and produces original programming including news, cultural content, and music. The station also distributes podcasts and maintains a digital archive of over 27,000 interviews since its founding in 1981, reaching approximately 55,000 listeners.

Product overview

Ràdio Arrels is a generalist radio station and digital media platform based in Perpignan (Catalunya Nord, France), operating exclusively in Catalan. Founded in 1981, it serves as a community radio station covering the Northern Catalonia region across four broadcast frequencies. The platform operates as a unified media offering centered on its live radio broadcast (95.0 FM Rosselló, 88.2 Vallespir, 95.5 Conflent, 93.1 Cerdanya i Capcir), supplemented by on-demand podcast and program services. Key product components include news coverage (Notícies), thematic programs (Programes) including opinion chronicles (Crònica d'opinió series with Joan Becat, Pere Becque, and Iu Escape), biographical content (Biografies del Conflent), memory interviews (Memòria), cultural programming on traditional Catalan music (Andreu Touron no va inventar la tenora), and weather service (El Temps). All content is produced exclusively in Catalan, serving as a cultural vector for the Catalan language in Northern Catalonia.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Associació Arrels: The parent non-profit association (Association loi 1901) that provides legal and financial support to Ràdio Arrels radio station.

Products and services

• FM Radio Broadcasting
• Online Streaming Service

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AMIC (Associació de Mitjans de Comunicació Independents de Catalunya)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRàdio Arrels is a member of AMIC, an association of independent Catalan media outlets. This membership positions the station within a network of Catalan-language media and participates in collaborative projects like ESCAT Mèdia.
• POCTEFA ESCAT MèdiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean cross-border project (funded through POCTEFA program) led by AMIC and Ràdio Arrels, involving media outlets from both sides of the Catalonia border. The project aims to eliminate the administrative border between cross-border territories, allowing inhabitants of each region to know what is happening on the other side.
• Generalitat de CatalunyaOthersThe Government of Catalonia provides institutional support to Ràdio Arrels as part of its efforts to promote Catalan language and culture outside Spain.
• Région Occitanie/Pyrénées-MéditerranéeOthersThe Occitanie Region provides regional institutional support to Ràdio Arrels.
• Conseil Départemental des Pyrénées-OrientalesOthersThe Departmental Council of Pyrénées-Orientales provides institutional support to Ràdio Arrels.
• Corisa Mèdia GrupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerA media group from Ripollès that began as a radio station and now includes a magazine and television. They are involved in the POCTEFA ESCAT Mèdia project alongside Ràdio Arrels and AMIC.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves13 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Catalunya Ràdio: The public Catalan-language radio service of Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals, broadcasting from Barcelona. Comparable as a Catalan-language broadcaster but operates at national scale from Spain, providing context for Ràdio Arrels' trans-border positioning.
• RAC1: Major commercial Catalan-language radio station operating from Barcelona with broad Catalan audience. Comparable as a Catalan-language broadcast competitor with significantly larger scale and commercial revenue model.
• France Bleu:

Direct peers

• Radio Galega: Galician-language public radio broadcaster in northwestern Spain. Operates as a regional public broadcaster serving a minority language community within a larger state, similar to Ràdio Arrels' Catalan-language service in France.
• Euskal Irrati Telebista (EITB): Basque public broadcaster operating radio and television in Euskara (Basque language). Comparable as an established public broadcaster dedicated to regional minority language broadcasting in a cross-border cultural context.
• Raidió na Gaeltachta: Irish-language radio service operated by RTÉ, serving Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) regions. Comparable as a public broadcaster dedicated to a minority regional language with strong community-anchored programming and cultural preservation mission.
• BBC Radio nan Gàidheal: BBC service broadcasting exclusively in Scottish Gaelic, a regional minority language. Operates as a publicly funded broadcaster serving a small linguistic community in a defined geography — directly comparable to Ràdio Arrels' mission of preserving and promoting Catalan in Northern Catalonia.

Others

• ràdio Flaixbac: Catalan-language commercial music radio station based in Catalonia. Comparable as a Catalan-language radio broadcaster with a different programming focus (music-led) and commercial revenue model.
• Setmanari L'Express: Note: removed — not a direct media-format peer. Replacement: France 3 Occitanie Pyrénées-Orientales

Regional players

• La Xarxa: Catalan network of local radio and television stations across Catalonia. Comparable as a network of regional/local Catalan-language broadcasters, though primarily operating on the Spanish side of the Catalan cultural region.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/RadioARRELS
• Facebookfacebook.com/radioarrels
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/r%C3%A0dio-arrels

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ràdio Arrels