French Radio Broadcasting in Louisiana 1935-1958

French radio broadcasting began in 1934. Since that tine, twenty-one radio stations in Southwest Louisiana have broadcast in French.- In August, 1958, 18 of these stations were broadcasting in-French*- This study investigates the broadcasting activities of these 21 stations and reports the nature and extent of their French programming from the time of their origins through August, 1958. Personal interviews with station managers and program directors, schedules and logs at individual stations, and microfilms of local newspapers containing broadcasting schedules were chief sources of information. Personal correspondence with radio station personnel and civic organisations supplied important supplementary material. The study opens with a brief introduction to the Louisiana French and their culture. Then follows an- analysis of French radio broadcasting activities by individual station. A total of 98 hours and 30 minutes In French are now broadcast weekly over 18 radio stations in Louisiana. Of this 64 hours are music, 18 are news, and 11 are religious broadcasting. Newscasts are marked by local news with human interest slants. Music is characteristic of the area two centuries ego. Regular religious programming emanates from central offices sponsored by the Catholic and Baptist churches. According to station managers, announcers who are effective in French are men who come from the communities in which they broadcast. All are prominent community members, several being elected public officials. A large response indicates that French audiences still-'listen to the broadcasts. Station ' managers predict that.time scheduled to French broadcasting will slowly decrease and eventually disappear because of an influx of English speaking-people and a lessening of French ' cultural traits.