By Ahmad Hathout
Cogeco is alleging the CRTC did not adequately weigh the impact of Quebecor’s influence on editorial voices in Montreal when it allowed its internet station QUB Radio to continue operating on the FM airwaves.
Cogeco claims in a leave application to the Federal Court of Appeal on Monday that the regulator made an incomplete analysis when it determined last month that QUB Radio could continue operating on Leclerc Communication’s FM station, CJPX-FM (99.5 FM), through a simple agreement between the two companies.
The CRTC ruled that the arrangement, announced in the summer of 2024, did not require its approval because Leclerc still has full control of the station and, because of that, the deal does not violate the commission’s rule on cross-media ownership, which forbids a single company from owning more than two of three media properties – radio, newspaper and television – in a single locality. Quebecor operates television station TVA Montreal and newspaper Le Journal de Montreal.
But Cogeco says the CRTC tied too much of its “superficial” analysis on editorial voices to control over the FM station and, therefore, did not sufficiently contemplate the full scope of allowing Quebecor voices on the trio of media properties.
Because, according to Cogeco, the NumeriQ-controlled QUB Radio broadcasts public opinion from the same people who headline Quebecor’s television and newspaper products.
“These presenters, it goes without saying, repeat the same opinions, viewpoints and comments on the QUB platform and on the airwaves of 99.5 FM as well as on other media where they participate,” Cogeco says in its French-language court application, noting that this commentary replaces Leclerc’s music programming in the primetime slot.
The regulator said in the October decision that Leclerc’s editorial presence and independence in the making of its own programming sees spoken word content that is distinct from QUB’s. Leclerc’s local and regional news finds its way in periods when QUB’s content is being aired, and listeners have access to newscasts prepared and delivered locally by Leclerc’s news department, “reinforcing the diversity of information in the Montreal market,” the CRTC said in its decision, adding Leclerc is also not in violation of its conditions of service, as alleged by the complaint.
Cogeco claims this analysis is just not good enough.
Cogeco alleges the agreement doesn’t allow Leclerc to modify QUB’s programming, with the only recourse being that the two companies collaborate to adjust it to satisfy reasonable expectations, or Leclerc can terminate the agreement. In any event, Leclerc said it was satisfied with QUB’s programming for the fall of 2024, Cogeco claims.
“Given the context of the Agreement … the CRTC should have asked itself a more specific question: What is the impact of the Agreement on the diversity of voices?” Cogeco says in its application.
If that question was analyzed, it claims, the commission would have found that the agreement violates the diversity of voices policy.
Cogeco says the CRTC has in the past recognized that a plurality of ownership in a given market does not guarantee the diversity of programming. In other words, it is only one tool among others for the implementation of the diversity of voices policy.
“We hope that, following this appeal, the CRTC will gain a more accurate understanding of the issues,” Cogeco said in a follow-up statement.
The CRTC’s October decision came nearly a year after the city’s major radio players Cogeco and Bell jointly challenged the Quebecor-Leclerc deal.
“The Commission is flouting its own rules on diversity of voices — a principle that is essential to the vitality of our society,” Caroline Jamet, president of Cogeco Media, said in a press release on the same day the CRTC released its decision last month.
“This decision sets a dangerous precedent, opens the door to all kinds of misuses and abuses, and undermines the entire Canadian media ecosystem,” Jamet continued. “In doing so, the CRTC is abdicating its role as guardian of diversity of voices and enforcer of its own regulations and policies. With this decision, the CRTC is allowing a blatant violation of the existing regulatory framework. We are now left to question the Commission’s ability to carry out its mandate.”
Quebecor did not respond to a request for comment.
Photo via QUB Radio Facebook page
