MONTREAL — TTP Media, the independent broadcaster which has been trying for almost a decade to launch two news-talk AM radio stations here, has faced yet another setback. A windstorm in late November has knocked both stations off the air, and it will be several weeks before they're transmitting again.
Nicolas Tétrault, a real estate agent and former politician who is one of three partners behind the company, told Cartt.ca that the storm caused damage to a lot of equipment at the transmission site on the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve south of Montreal. This included damage to the power supply, he said.
Repairs have been hampered by the lack of available parts for the transmitters, which TTP Media bought from Cogeco. "Two or three parts are not in inventory," Tétrault said. "They have to custom-order."
He added both the CRTC and Industry Canada were informed of the station's technical problems. "We're extremely proactive, that's all we can say," he said, and he believes they will be back on the air early in the new year.
French station CFNV 940 AM and English station CFQR 600 AM were licensed in 2011 and 2012, respectively, with the former winning a surprisingly competitive proceeding for a clear-channel AM frequency. At the time, TTP Media (which also includes Rajiv Pancholy and Paul Tietolman) promised stations that would compete directly with news-talk leaders CJAD 800 and 98.5 FM and provide high-quality talk programming with a strong newsroom.
The stations finally went on the air in 2016 and 2017, after several lengthy delays related to technical issues. Since then, their programming has been almost entirely music, though CFNV has had some talk programming provided through a partnership with internet radio station CNV.
So far, the company has not yet announced a single hire for either station, but has been trying to raise funds to get properly launched.
Nevertheless, Tétrault is confident the stations will be broadcasting regular programming soon, with the English station starting talk programming as early as February. "That is my guess," he said.
TTP Media has been promising to launch programming "soon" since 2011, so many of those looking forward to alternative sources of talk programming in the city are losing hope they'll ever hear it.
