MONTREAL – Leclerc Communications’ desire to get into Quebec's largest market may cost Montreal listeners their classical music station.
The company announced on Wednesday it has entered into an agreement to purchase Montreal's CJPX-FM (Radio Classique 99.5) from entertainer Gregory Charles. An application published by the CRTC the same day sets the purchase price at $3.88 million.
Charles, who bought CJPX-FM and sister station CJSQ-FM in Quebec City from founder Jean-Pierre Coallier in 2015, will keep CJSQ-FM and the radioclassique.ca website. However, with CJPX being unprofitable, it's hard to imagine how CJSQ could remain so without its big brother.
Before it takes control of the station, Leclerc needs to get the CRTC to approve the transaction as well as a change in licence to free CJPX from its specialty format. The Commission will hear the application at a hearing already scheduled February 12 in Montreal to consider the purchase of the V TV network by Bell Media, though so far this application will not require any appearances from the parties.
Until the transaction is approved, CJPX remains a classical music station.
A year ago, Leclerc upset fans of another specialty radio station when it announced it was buying CKLX-FM (91.9 Sports) from RNC Media. That transaction fell through because it also included Quebec City's controversial talk station CHOI-FM, and the Commission refused to grant an exception to the common ownership policy to allow Leclerc to own three FM stations in the same market.
Like with CKLX, Leclerc plans to turn CJPX into a Montreal version of its pop music WKND format – a mix of alternative, triple-A and hot AC, with a bit of new country.
Leclerc is proposing tangible benefits of $293,350 over seven years, representing 6% of the total value of the transaction, using the standard breakdown the CRTC has established for radio transactions.
The purchase price also includes some assumed leases, as well as $100,000 in advertising for Charles on the station over two years, plus an unspecified service contract between the two. Leclerc will also take over $219,514 of the $340,121 of tangible benefits remaining from Charles's 2015 purchase of the two stations.
Charles's purchase came with the promise that the musician would reinvigorate the stations. He hired personalities like former Radio-Canada anchor Bernard Derome and classical singer Marc Hervieux to host shows on the station. "Unfortunately, a series of pitfalls in the company's operations thwarted its plans so that revenue growth is still not there four years later," the application reads, somewhat cryptically.
"Despite the efforts of Média Classiq, the station's situation has continued to deteriorate," Leclerc says in its application, noting the station remains unprofitable and "has no hope of recovery without a repositioning of the station susceptible to grow its audience and market share." Its advertising revenues dropped from $2 million in 2012-13 to $1.3 million in 2017-18, due mainly to a 20-30% drop in tuning hours.
Leclerc says the new station, whose format offers something the existing stations don't, will also offer a much-needed alternative to the commercial radio duopoly of Cogeco Media and Bell Media in the Montreal market. It's proposing that, at least for now, all of its programming will be produced in Montreal, with about an hour a day also airing on its Quebec City WKND station.
Leclerc itself was created after Cogeco's purchase of Corus Entertainment's Quebec assets in 2011. Cogeco was forced to sell two stations in Quebec City to conform with the CRTC common ownership policy. The Leclerc family (Jacques, Jean-Francois and Nicolas) bought the stations, which operated under the Rythme FM and CKOI brands, and eventually rebranded them to WKND and Blvd, respectively.
Comments on the transaction are being accepted until December 19.
