Radio-Canada (95.1 FM) and Cogeco (98.5 FM) will have some serious competition in the fall with the start of broadcasting in two weeks of a good portion of QUB radio’s programming by station WKND, which is partly changing its musical vocation to become 99.5 Montréal. The channel will offer the third talk radio station in the metropolitan area starting August 26, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
QUB’s programming, which will continue to exist on the web and in filmed versions, will be adjusted accordingly. The schedule officially unveiled at a press conference in Montreal this Monday morning offers a morning show (from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.) hosted by Mario Dumont. The microphone will then be handed over to Isabelle Maréchal (from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.), Benoît Dutrizac (from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.), Sophie Durocher (from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.) and Richard Martineau for the return home show (from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.).
“Let’s forget Radio-Canada, a public station: in talk radio, in several regions of Quebec, you have more than one choice,” Mr. Dumont stressed to journalists. “In Montreal, with the suburbs, in a market of three million inhabitants, you essentially had a monopoly, a single player. [en radio privée]. »
The former politician, who became a grandfather this summer, is old enough to have experienced a different media landscape in Montreal. “When I started working in the media as president of the Young Liberals, I experienced a radio universe where there was more than one player. It’s a bit like this normality that we’re returning to thanks to the Leclerc family.”
Leclerc Communication also owns BLVD 102.1 in the Quebec City region. Montreal’s 99.5 frequency has been its property since 2020.
Nicolas Leclerc, vice-president of Leclerc Communication, wishes to have a profound and lasting impact on the radio landscape in Montreal with the partial transformation of his metropolitan channel.
“This decision is the result of much thought and an in-depth analysis of the radio market,” he explained. “Since Leclerc Communication arrived in the Greater Montreal radio market in 2020, we have seen a growing appetite among French-speaking listeners for opinion, information and public affairs content, which is reflected in a sharp increase in market share for talk radio. Faced with a phenomenon of this magnitude, we want to offer Montreal listeners better-adapted programming.”
Negotiations have lasted months with QUB radio, a Quebecor creation that has been stuck for years in a digital-only broadcast mode. The alliance could require licensing adjustments from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which has already refused to allow Quebecor to own a traditional radio station in the same market in addition to the main general-interest television channel (TVA) and the Montreal Journal.
“As for the CRTC, we are very confident at Leclerc Communication,” said VP Nicolas Leclerc. “At all times, we will ensure that we respect our regulatory obligations, our licensing conditions.”