Rouge FM is a network of French-language adult contemporary radio stations broadcasting throughout Quebec, Canada. Established in 1990 as RockDétente, they are owned by Bell Media.
All Rouge FM stations broadcast in the same markets as Bell's contemporary hit radio network, Énergie, although that network also has a few stations in markets not served by Rouge FM.
Although the stations usually play mostly French adult contemporary music, it would mix in English music as well, much like Cogeco's Rythme FM network, which has got fewer stations than Rouge FM. The flagship radio station is Montreal's CITE-FM. For the Astral jingles on this network, they are different from the adult hits jingles used by Astral's English-language adult contemporary stations, although the network uses an acoustic tune that is very relaxing.
On August 18, 2011, at 4:00 p.m. EDT, all RockDétente stations were rebranded as Rouge FM, when the longtime RockDétente branding was retired, ending its 21-year run. On most stations, the last song as RockDétente was Pour que tu m'aimes encore by Celine Dion, followed by a tribute of the branding. The first song under Rouge FM was I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas. Following rebranding, most of the soft rock songs were dropped, leaving the Rythme FM network to continue broadcasting them and moving Rouge FM towards a hot adult contemporary direction. By 2012, most of the classic hits & ballads returned due to the 35th anniversary of flagship CITE-FM Montreal, going towards its old RockDétente direction. From May 2011-March 2012, the stations started identifying their call letters during station identification, and from April 27 to 29, 2012, the network was briefly rebranded Rose FM as a charitable promotion for breast cancer research.
All stations carry most Rouge FM programming simultaneously, except for CITF-FM in Quebec City, which is entirely programmed locally, aside from some networked programs.
