Ever wondered where Paris gets its radio waves? The answer might just surprise you. It involves a trip to Villebon-sur-Yvette and a place called TDF Villebon Sur Yvette.
TDF Villebon Sur Yvette was once an important radio and television transmission site. It played a crucial role in covering the southwest of the Paris region. This installation significantly shaped the area.
The story of TDF Villebon Sur Yvette begins in 1934. The first installations were built then. By 1935, they housed France’s most powerful medium-wave transmitter. It broadcast Paris PTT on 695 kHz with 100 kW. Two guyed pylons supported the antennas. Each pylon measured 120 meters. Marcel Pallenc inaugurated the site. He was the director of Radiodiffusion Française.
After World War II, the transmitter was sabotaged by the Germans. It restarted in 1945. The pylons now measured 73 meters.
In 1951, a new medium-wave transmitter was installed. It broadcast Paris-Inter with 100kW. This transmitter used vapotron tubes. This was a newly developed cooling technology.
The OAS sabotaged one of the two pylons in 1961. In 1965, a second transmitter was put into service. It broadcast France Culture.
The regional program Inter Paris Île-de-France was broadcast from here. It interrupted Inter-Variétés. This happened until 1983. The transmitter used medium waves. It broadcast on 1070 kHz.
Until 2015, an antenna of France Bleu Île-de-France was broadcast. It broadcast on 864 kHz with 300 kW. This transmitter was the first all-transistor medium-wave transmitter of its power installed in France. It continued to broadcast in AM stereo after CQUAM tests.
Radio France decided to cut all its AM transmitters at the end of 2015. Only the France Inter transmitter remained. It broadcast on 162 kHz. It was deactivated at the end of 2016. Radio France was no longer audible on the band 530-1610 kHz since the beginning of 2016.
The installations were dismantled in 2021. Only the technical building remains on the site.
There was also an FM radio and mobile phone transmitter site nearby. It was located on a self-supporting pylon. The pylon measured 76 meters. It belonged to TDF. This pylon housed television transmitters. These were among the first to broadcast digital terrestrial television. They have since been moved to a 73-meter water tower. Towercast and TDF operate them.
Though the towering structures are now gone, TDF Villebon Sur Yvette remains a landmark. It’s a testament to the area’s broadcasting history. This is where the airwaves of Paris once originated.