By Steve Faguy
OTTAWA – Evanov Communications is rebranding four of its Jewel radio stations in eastern Ontario and western Quebec in an effort to attract a younger audience, Cartt.ca has learned.
On Monday morning, the company will announce that Jewel 98.5 (CJWL-FM) in Ottawa and Jewel 106.7 (CHSV-FM) in Hudson/St-Lazare, Que., are switching to a new “Lite” brand, while Jewel 92.5 (CHRC-FM) in Clarence-Rockland, Ont., and Jewel 107.7 (CKHK-FM) in Hawkesbury, Ont., are adopting the Hot Country brand.
“The Hot Country format will provide a fresh, up-beat sound,” the company says, citing Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert and Dean Brody as examples of “core artists.”
Ted Silver, program director for the four stations, said the company believes the country format will work well in the two stations that serve a more rural area between Ottawa and Montreal. Evanov uses the same Hot Country brand at a station in Brantford, Ont., and another in Halifax it just received approval to sell to Acadia Broadcasting. Silver said the music will be contemporary, but “not hot-hot-hot.”
“The audience we were appealing to 10 years ago is 10 years older and less (appealing) to advertisers.” – Ted Silver, Evanov Communications
For the other two stations, the rebrand to Lite comes with a rejuvenation of the playlist to shift the target audience younger to keep it in that sweet spot of 45-54. “The audience we were appealing to 10 years ago is 10 years older and less (appealing) to advertisers,” Silver said.
The new music will include more current hits from artists like Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Sam Smith and the Weeknd, but the core of the playlist will be light pop from the 80s, including Michael Jackson, Madonna, The Police, Hall & Oates and Bryan Adams.
“I would say the emphasis is really on the 80s,” Silver said. “If you do the math, they were in high school in the 80s and that’s the music that matters to them.”
The move, along with the sale of the Jewel station in Halifax, brings the number of remaining Jewel stations in the Evanov group to three — Toronto, Brantford, and Meaford, Ont. — but Silver said this shouldn’t be seen as a move away from the Jewel brand. Instead, the company feels the brand is stronger in southern Ontario, and there are no plans to rebrand those stations.
Evanov itself rebranded last month, changing its name from Evanov Radio Group to Evanov Communications, following an industry trend of wanting to be seen as more than just a radio company.
The four rebrandings will have minimal impact on staff. Each station maintains its morning team, and the programming changes will mainly be in terms of syndicated shows. All four will keep John Tesh, while the Hot Country stations bring in Casey Clarke middays.
