Radio survey in Montreal | 98.5 FM remains at the top despite the changes

A wind of change may have blown across all radio stations this fall, but one thing remains unchanged: the domination of 98.5 FM in Montreal.

According to the latest Numeris probe, which covers the period from August 29 to November 27, the Cogeco antenna continues to sit at the top of the list of the most popular stations (listened to) in Greater French-speaking Montreal with 23.9 market share, down slightly by 4.4% compared to autumn 2021.

These results inspire its program director, Julie-Christine Gagnon. “Throughout the day, from 5:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m., we are number 1 in Canada,” she said in an interview.

Propelled by Paul Arcand, the 98.5 FM schedule has undergone two major changes in recent months. Since the start of the fall, Luc Ferrandez has taken over from Bernard Drainville by hosting Without reservation, the new midday show, and Elisabeth Crête replaced Paul Houde at the helm of weekend morning shows with Chantal Lamarre. Both are recording declines in their respective time slots. Ferrandez lost 15% of market share, while Crête suffered a loss of around 20%.

“We are very proud of the teams we have put in place, but we work every day,” said Julie-Christine Gagnon. I sit down with Luc Ferrandez’s team on a daily basis. We’re tweaking things. We try to improve. On weekends, we do the same thing. We are very happy. We brought two women on the air. […] We are very confident for the future. »

98.5 FM is ahead of its eternal rival, ICI Première, which obtains 16.6 market shares, its best fall results since the introduction of Numéris PPM measurements in 2008.

Ten new events have recently joined the public broadcaster’s schedule. Among them, The day (is still young) shines by registering for the top 10 of the most listened to shows in Montreal. “It’s a pretty daring format, with a lot of humor,” says Caroline Jamet, General Manager, Audio and Radio, Radio-Canada. It’s great to see that the show immediately took its place. »

Released immediately after The day (is still young) from Monday to Friday, There will always be culture with Émilie Perreault won 11 market shares, a drop of 8% compared to Marie-Louise Arsenault’s last fall at the wheel of The more the merrier, the more we read! Speaking of Marie-Louise Arsenault, her new show, Everything can happenachieved an increase in its Saturday slot from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. (12.3 market shares, compared to 10.9 in 2021).

Rhythm speeds up the tempo

As for music stations, Rythme FM is a good first with 13.5 market shares, a substantial increase of 23% compared to last fall.

The arrival of Marie-Ève ​​Janvier in the morning (replacing Julie Bélanger, who left her microphone in the spring after 14 years of loyal service) received a warm welcome from listeners. From Monday to Thursday in this time slot, the market shares of Rhythm at work rose by 12.7%, and at lunchtime, the Marie-Ève ​​Janvier-Anouk Bélanger duo stood out with 12.6 market shares (+10%). Something to reassure the bosses.

“We knew that Marie-Ève ​​Janvier was appreciated and that she was going to do a great job”, commented the general manager of Rythme FM, Marc Thibault, who also notes the performance of Nadia Bilodeau at the controls of Rhythm on the weekendwhich posted growth of 31% on Saturday and 49% on Sunday.

Rythme FM is thus widening the gap with Rouge, which remains neutral with 6.9 market shares. At Bell Media, however, we are talking about a satisfactory survey, since Rouge reaches its target among women aged 25 to 54, a group prized by advertisers.

Elsewhere, the fight between CKOI and Energy is tightening. Due to a 10% decline compared to 2021, CKOI ends the fall season with 8.1 market share, just behind Energy, with 8.2 market share. Bell Media’s antenna has experienced the opposite fate in recent months, recording an increase of 10.8%.

Note also the increases of WKND (+ 58% for 1.9 market share) and, above all, of ICI Musique (+ 26% for 5.9 market share). Since 2019, the share of the Radio-Canada musical antenna has doubled, reports Caroline Jamet.

For its part, BPM Sports, which made a lot of noise by recruiting Paul Houde and Denis Coderre, is stagnating at 0.8 market share.

Finally, the start of work in the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel partly explains the increase in Radio Circulation traffic (+50% compared to fall 2021), which now has 0.3 market share. The more problems road traffic creates, the more the resort benefits.