By Steve Faguy
MONTREAL — RNC Média is flipping two of its music stations to hybrid sports talk to create a network of French-language sports talk stations in Quebec.
Called BPM Sports (in reference to beats-per-minute measurement of heart rate), the new network launches Aug. 29 with a new lineup that includes morning man Jean-Charles Lajoie and former 98.5 FM host Paul Houde, and collaborators including former TSN Radio host Tony Marinaro and former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre.
In addition to 91.9 Sports in Montreal, the new network takes over RNC’s Vibe top-40 music stations in Quebec City and Gatineau.
“It’s not a disavowal of the Vibe stations,” BPM program director Yves Bombardier told Cartt.ca in an interview, describing the change instead as a business decision from the company.
Two years ago, after a proposed sale of 91.9 Sports to Leclerc Communication fell through, RNC president Robert Ranger decided to go ahead with a plan to “solidify” the sports station and turn it into a network.
“We cleared the drawing board,” Bombardier said. “We asked what we wanted as a product, as hosts, as celebrities” and spent the last eight months building a lineup from the ground up.
So, what’s different? Besides more coverage of sports from Ottawa-Gatineau and Quebec City, the addition of new personalities, including people like Coderre, should “expand interest in sports to a larger audience,” Bombardier explained.
Though the programming has plenty of hosts and contributors in Montreal, it’s light on regional content for the other two stations. No journalists have been hired yet in either Gatineau or Quebec City, Bombardier said. It’s in the plans, but he doesn’t know when.
In the meantime, the network evening show (on evenings when there aren’t live game broadcasts) will be from Quebec City, and its host Jordan Boivin will contribute to other shows with updates from the provincial capital. Gatineau, meanwhile, will be covered using resources from the RNC-owned TVA affiliate and its WOW-branded music station in the market.
Another hiccup is that the Vibe stations’ licenses are for music stations, so for the time being they will have to remain at least 50% music. Bombardier said they will broadcast the morning, noon and afternoon weekday shows and the weekend morning show from the network but otherwise will broadcast modern rock music without hosts.
An application to the CRTC to allow more talk content will be forthcoming, Bombardier said. He’s also looking into giving the music content themes, such as playlists of NHL players.
In Montreal, where the station will be 100% talk, weekends will feature shows on individual sports, including football, soccer and tennis.
Bombardier said he wants to add broadcasts of regional sports teams on the Gatineau and Quebec stations. But while discussions are already under way with teams like the Quebec Remparts, the limits on talk programming mean the stations won’t be able to broadcast full seasons yet.
Even in Montreal, where the station has had an all-sports format since 2015, it is limited in its rights, with the CF Montréal soccer team and Laval Rocket minor-league hockey team being its big rights holdings. It has failed so far to get the holy grail — the Montreal Canadiens — out of the hands of Cogeco’s 98.5 FM.
Montreal’s CKLX-FM has had a history of reinventing itself. It started in 2004 as a jazz specialty station, but even in the home of the famous Montreal International Jazz Festival, it failed to catch on, and in 2012 RNC Média tried to copy its populist Radio X talk format from Quebec City. Two years later, it rebranded again as Radio 9, a more mainstream news-talk station. But in 2015, when it relaunched again as a sports station, RNC seemingly found something that worked.
Ratings that had slipped well below a single share point among Montreal francophones started increasing after the change, getting up to 2 or even 2.8 share points until the pandemic sent ratings tumbling again.
The other two stations have also been reborn repeatedly. CHXX-FM 100.9 in Quebec City had classic rock, modern rock and adult hits formats under various brandings. CFTX-FM 96.5 in Gatineau has existed previously as Tag Radio, Capitale Rock and Pop 96.5 before a 2021 rebrand to Vibe.
Bombardier said ratings will be a major measure of BPM’s success, with the first book due out in December being the benchmark. An audience of 500-600,000 listeners a week and a share of 8 to 10 points among the target demographic of men 25-54 would be a good sign of success, he said.
Despite the attempted sale of the Montreal station, RNC seems to be ready to build a solid plan for the future.
“It’s a long-term commitment, that’s clear,” Bombardier said.
