Listen All You Want… but Pay : The Incredible Pay-Per-Listen System of Radio Riviera in 1923

At the dawn of 1923, in the columns of Le Petit Niçois and L’Éclaireur de Nice on January 1, an announcement caught the attention of readers: “An interesting undertaking will soon take place on the Riviera…” The project, signed by a certain Mr. Manescau, promised nothing less than the first French regional radiophony station. Its name: Radio Riviera.

The idea seemed futuristic. Between Cannes and Menton, a transmitter would broadcast news, concerts, and lectures to listeners equipped with receiving sets installed in their living rooms, villas, or the grand hotels along the coast. Listening without headphones or earpieces—thanks to horn loudspeakers—was presented as a promise of elegance and comfort.

Radiophony, still in its infancy, was being promoted here as a lifestyle. “The services that will be organized, as soon as the equipment is perfected, will provide the Côte d’Azur with a truly remarkable radiophonic installation, allowing listeners from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. to hear, in turn, world press news, commercial and stock market information, weather forecasts, classical music concerts, and during meals, cheerful jazz-band tunes,” marveled L’Éclaireur de Nice. “It is hardly necessary to insist on the wonderfully practical character of this application of one of the most beautiful modern inventions.”

In the basement of a coach company

Little is known today about Paul Manescau, but newspapers of the time described him as a specialist in wireless telephony and a radio amateur under the call sign 8BO. His ambition went beyond that of fellow hobbyists or even government engineers: he wanted to create a public service of leisure and information on the scale of the Riviera. With the support of Under-Secretary of State Paul Laffont, he obtained official authorization to broadcast.

The project took shape in the heart of Nice, at 7 Promenade des Anglais, in the basements of S.A.N.T.A., where the equipment and broadcasting studios were installed. S.A.N.T.A. stood for the Société Anonyme des Nouveaux Transports Automobiles, a Nice-based coach company operating routes between Nice, Cannes, Menton, and the main seaside resorts of the Côte d’Azur.

The transmitter, with a power of 500 watts, operated on wavelengths of 360 or 370 meters depending on the tests. Two 15-meter metal pylons supported the antenna wires. The installation, built by the Société Française Radioélectrique, reflected national expertise: the same engineers working with Radiola in Paris brought their knowledge to the Riviera.

The world’s first pay-per-listen system

Radio Riviera was not meant to be a curiosity for a few enthusiasts but a luxury service. Wealthy individuals or major hotels in Monte-Carlo, Cannes, and Menton could rent the first receivers—elegant one-meter-high columns that could be placed on a piece of furniture or even on the sand—“very simple” and offering “perfect listening in a 20-square-meter room.”

Listeners had a choice: purchase their set or rent it “by the meter,” paying by the minute of listening. Newspapers became enthusiastic about these “first radio taxis in the world,” an early form of pay-per-listen.

How did it work in practice? The local press provided details. The receiver was a Radio-Standard.

“The Radio-Standard includes: tuning circuits; a reinforcement device by feedback; four vacuum tubes forming a high-frequency amplification stage, a detector, and two low-frequency amplification stages. It is delivered complete with a storage battery, two blocks of more than 40 volts, four Radiola three-electrode tubes, and a Pathé loudspeaker.

Radio-Riviera, 7 Promenade des Anglais, also handles the installation of the set, the setup of antennas or special frames, the adjustments, and the supervision of the apparatus during the first eight days. During that time, if for any reason the equipment becomes misadjusted, a simple telephone call to Nice will send a technician immediately by automobile with the necessary equipment to restore the set.”

What were the prices? Nice: 1,800 francs; Antibes, Vence, Cap-d’Ail, Monaco, Monte-Carlo: 2,000 francs; Menton, Cannes, La Napoule: 2,200 francs; Grasse and from La Napoule to Saint-Tropez: 2,400 francs. “For a flat fee of 100 francs, Radio-Riviera provides maintenance of the set, battery recharging, replacement of worn tubes, and various necessary servicing.”

To give an idea: in early 1923, 2,000 francs was roughly the price of a mahogany dining room set (sideboard, table, and six chairs). It was not cheap—but the intended clientele could afford it.

The Riviera of the Roaring Twenties

Manescau’s venture unfolded in an exceptional setting. In the early 1920s, Nice was the winter capital of European high society. Every year during Carnival, the city erupted in extravagant luxury: masked balls at the Hôtel Negresco, receptions at the casinos, flower parades along the Promenade des Anglais.

Deposed monarchs and ruined aristocrats of prewar Europe—Russians, English, Austrians, Italians—mingled with new American millionaires and visiting artists. Grand hotels competed in splendor to attract this cosmopolitan clientele eager for modernity. It was in this world of holiday villas, champagne, and high-quality orchestras that Radio Riviera naturally found its place.

February 4, 1923: the voice of the Riviera

After weeks of installation, the transmitter was finally connected on Wednesday, January 31, 1923. The first voice tests took place on Friday, February 2. Two days later, on Sunday, February 4, Radio Riviera went on the air. In a small room lined with thick drapes in the cellar of the coach company, the Riviera’s first public broadcast took place.

A few days later, Le Petit Niçois and L’Éclaireur de Nice were ecstatic:

“The ships on the Mediterranean, the amateurs in Corsica, all heard the golden voice of Miss Phyllis Archibald of the Monte-Carlo Opera.”

The idea that a song could cross the sea to reach Corsica seemed sensational. “Numerous telegrams from Corsica reached the management of Radio-Riviera to congratulate the singer,” reported L’Éclaireur de Nice. “One can imagine the happy surprise of the artist when she learned that by singing in the small broadcasting room of Radio-Riviera, she was charming, hundreds of kilometers away across the sea, a multitude of delighted listeners.”

The Riviera as a showcase of progress

The success of these beginnings also reflected the boldness of local authorities. Despite aesthetic objections (“the pylons are not the most graceful sight”), Mayor Pierre Gautier supported the project. The people of Nice enjoyed seeing their city rise to the rank of the capitals of progress, alongside London and Paris.

The daily program described in local newspapers testified to the station’s refinement:

“In the morning: breaking news from Paris, London, New York. During lunch, as during dinner, performances by special orchestras with a varied repertoire.

At tea time: performances by the best artists appearing on the Riviera, visiting stars; classical music.

Afternoon: stock market prices, race results, weather, and news dispatches from France, Europe, and abroad. In short, all the information worth learning without delay, whose details will of course be read in the newspapers the next day.

In the evening: an hour of classical music, and finally the latest news of the night.”

Names such as Juliette Audibert (pianist) and Joann Maguot (cellist) joined the list of pioneers in this sonic adventure.

For example, the schedule of February 15, 1923:

At 11 a.m.: weather bulletin, political news, information, concert by the Radio Riviera Gypsy Orchestra.
At 5 p.m.: news of the day, stock market prices, information, grand concert with the participation of Miss Juliette Audibert, pianist, First Prize of the Paris Conservatory; Mr. Joann Maguot, cellist, First Prize of the Paris Conservatory; Bouffante, viola soloist of the Jeune-Promenade. Program included works by Schubert, Rubinstein, H. Vidal, Theron, Saint-Saëns, and Beethoven.

At 9 p.m.: latest press news, sports results, information, concert with the Radio Riviera Orchestra and its soloists. The program featured works by Gounod, Luzzatto, Xavier Leroux, Debussy, Handel, Mozart, and Schytte.

A brief experiment, a lasting legacy

Radio Riviera would not survive long—only a few months. Financial difficulties, technical tensions, and slow subscriptions soon halted the initial momentum. A proposal to move the station to Monte Carlo briefly surfaced but was quickly abandoned.

Yet its importance remains immense. The Côte d’Azur served as a laboratory for French broadcasting. If the experiment had proven profitable—quite literally—similar ventures were planned in other seaside resorts. “The Côte d’Argent, the Emerald Coast, etc., will copy the Côte d’Azur. In other countries, under other skies, the same formula of innovation will appear. But it is the Riviera that will first benefit from one of the most marvelous applications of progress,” wrote the local press.

Manescau’s dream faded on the Promenade, but it opened the way to Radio Juan-les-Pins, Radio Méditerranée, Radio Monte-Carlo, and all the transmitters that, a century later, continue to animate the Côte d’Azur.

A forgotten world first

Today, few passers-by know that at 7 Promenade des Anglais, the cellars of S.A.N.T.A. once housed the cradle of radio broadcasting on the French Riviera. And yet it was there, on February 4, 1923, that a voice rose for the first time above the city of angels.

An operatic voice, fragile and clear, carried by two wires stretched between iron pylons—the first voice of the Riviera.