A page turns this week on the history of radio in Quebec. Paul Arcand, the undisputed king of the airwaves for nearly 35 years, will host his last show on Friday. A period of mourning will undoubtedly follow for thousands of listeners. Over the years, his voice had become familiar to us and, every morning, his presence, almost comforting. And yet, the man behind the microphone seems relatively unknown to us.
“He is very discreet about his private life. He never talks about it. It’s not because he’s unfriendly. On the contrary, he is very warm, very empathetic. He’s just discreet by nature. In 15 years at his side, I never knew who he voted for, for example,” summarizes Serge Amyot, who was his researcher for a long time.
Indeed, it is difficult to say who Paul Arcand is voting for, who has had his share of clashes with politicians of all political stripes. With the exception of his brother Pierre, a former liberal elected official, whom he never wanted to interview for obvious reasons. Otherwise, we don’t know much about his family, except that he has been in a relationship for several years and that he has two sons, both of whom work in the media field.
Perhaps his loved ones suffered from the monastic lifestyle imposed by the role of morning host? When asked the question, the 64-year-old veteran host, who wakes up at dawn and says he works seven days a week, laughs nervously. He stammers, although he never lacks words when he improvises every morning around 6 a.m. while doing his press review. “I don’t really know what to answer. I think that with any job, there are constraints. If your father is a police officer, he has unusual hours. If your mother is a doctor too. » Thus, he deviates, as do those politicians whose wooden language he loathes.
“I have never marketed my personal life. My wife and my children are not part of a marketing plan,” then explains Paul Arcand, who has always avoided society and the spotlight.
The everyday Paul
This introvert by nature prefers to ask questions than answer them. But now, since he announced two years ago that he was not renewing his contract with 98.5 FM, he has been asked from all sides to grant interviews. ” I do not like it very much. Let’s say that, when this is over, I will have had my quota for several years,” he says with a laugh.
In private, they say that Paul Arcand is a good laugher. His sense of humor, sometimes caustic, would play a valuable role in uniting his team. One might believe him to be austere, given the firmness with which he conducts certain interviews. Hearing him rant every morning against the “fun” and the slowness of bureaucratic machines, some might also be led to think that he has an intemperate character. However, that would not be the case.
When I started hosting on CJMS, the bosses would have had every reason to fire me. It wasn’t very good! Then it finally settled.
“It’s very pleasant to work with him. The Paul in everyday life is much closer to the Paul who is on the air at 5:30 a.m., who is relaxed and who tells jokes with his team. He’s not the Paul at 7:25 a.m., who confronts his guests,” observes Émilie Perreault, who was a cultural columnist on his show from 2012 to 2018.
Man of instinct
As part of this portrait, The duty was able to speak to just under a dozen former collaborators, who worked with Paul Arcand at different times. Everyone praises his rigor, his erudition, his flair. “What I like about him is that, even though he is number one, he never sits on his laurels. He was never afraid to take risks to improve the show. He still chose Monic Néron to replace Claude Poirier in the news. It needs to be done ! I think you couldn’t find two people more different,” emphasizes Émilie Perreault.
Indeed, to stay at the top, it is not enough to pamper the listener by offering them what they want to hear. Sometimes you have to dare to stand up to him. Like when Paul Arcand chose as his columnist Luc Ferrandez, ex-mayor of Plateau-Mont-Royal, and great slayer of solo driving. A decision at first glance counterintuitive, knowing that a good part of the listeners of 98.5 FM live in the 450 and listen to the radio when they are in the car.
“When we announced the arrival of Luc Ferrandez, it was crazy how many emails I received from listeners telling us that they would never listen to the show again. But I wanted a guy who had more left-wing ideas to have a voice on our airwaves. And ultimately, people stayed. If you always rely on people’s first reaction, either you never make a decision, or you make the wrong decisions,” underlines the man who will become one of the collaborators of The Press in autumn.
If he has any advice for his successor, Patrick Lagacé, it’s this one. You have to give it time and not let yourself be discouraged by the first comments. “Patrick has everything it takes to succeed. But you have to let the listener get used to the change. He should not take the comments into account at the beginning. When I started hosting on CJMS, the bosses would have had every reason to fire me. It wasn’t very good! Then, it ended up settling,” recalls Canada’s most listened to radio host.
The undethroned king
However, those who knew him in his early days at CJMS remember him as a gifted man. An innate talent. “It was obvious he was going to become a huge radio star. He already exuded natural authority. Because of his imposing physique, but also his intelligence. Intellectually, we are talking about someone superior,” relates Paul Larocque, who started in the profession at the same time as him on the airwaves of this defunct AM radio.
The TVA anchor speaks of Paul Arcand with the same admiration as Émilie Perreault, today host of the cultural program There will always be culture, on ICI Première. This is where all of Arcand’s success lies; he manages to speak as much to TVA listeners as to Radio-Canadiens. His show is listened to by truckers, taxi drivers, blue-collar workers… But also by employees of ministers’ offices and senior civil servants, for whom the 7 a.m. political column has become an unmissable event, since what if you say it, give it there for the rest of the day.
Paul Arcand can speak lively about politics, economics, international news, then bounce back to the most scabrous news item. It is also said that he was completely absorbed in 1994 by the OJ Simpson affair. No one has that versatility, and that’s also why no one casts the net as wide as him. According to the latest spring figures from Numeris, Since you have to get up monopolizes nearly 37% of the market share between 5:30 a.m. and 9 a.m.
The main person concerned could boast of it, but, on the contrary, he shows astonishing humility. “I’ve also had my fair share of failures. It’s far from being a perfect career,” he wants to point out, as if he were embarrassed by his exploits on the radio.
He remembers his bumpy television debut in the late 1990s at TQS. The host also remembers Quebec by prescription, his second documentary as director, panned by critics when it was released in 2007. “The subject was good, but it was not a good film. The critics were right. When a radio show is bad, it doesn’t matter, we start again the next day. But a film, unfortunately, we cannot resume it once it is released,” underlines the man who is currently working on a documentary on Claude Poirier.
He will also continue to collaborate with 98.5 FM for podcasts. There is no shortage of projects for this retirement which is not one. Stopping is not in this workaholic’s plans. Would he be able to do it?