For the first time in years, competition in talk radio is weakening the dominance of 98.5 FM in Montreal. The Cogeco station still remains at the top, but its market share is falling in all niches, attacked in particular by the arrival of QUB at 99.5 Montreal and the rise of the sports station BPM Sports.
Overall, Paul Arcand’s former station lost 18% of its audience, or around 4 market shares, slipping below 20 shares for the first time since fall 2019.
The alliance between QUB radio and 99.5 Montreal, which made a lot of noise when it was announced at the end of last summer, bore fruit especially during the week, in the window from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., where we finds the hosts of QUB: Mario Dumont, Isabelle Maréchal, Benoit Dutrizac, Sophie Durocher and Richard Martineau. In this window, 99.5 FM saw its market share increase by 74% compared to last fall.
The general director of the 99.5 FM station for Leclerc communications, Benoit Simard, even points out that this increase has only grown throughout the survey to reach a 143% increase in the last weeks of the survey, in November.
“We have seen phenomenal growth over the 13 weeks of the fall Numéris survey, with exceptional numbers in the final weeks. We feel the enthusiasm. Listeners are becoming more and more loyal, which is very encouraging,” said Mr. Simard.
The departure of Paul Arcand and the significant changes made to the 98.5 schedule also seem to have benefited the sports radio BPM Sports, which saw its market share double, as well as Radio Circulation (owned by Cogeco) which knows strong progress.
However, -’s Première Chaîne does not seem to have really benefited from these upheavals in talk radio in Montreal, with a slight overall decline in its market share.
On the QUB Radio side, we welcome this first survey, which adds the FM radio audience to those already installed on its digital platforms and on television.
“The data proves that the content offered by QUB appeals to listeners, who are increasingly following our new programming on our various platforms. Thanks to a bold vision and quality programming brilliantly driven by its headliners and their exceptional teams, we have succeeded in expanding QUB’s reach and offering a greater diversity of voices in the radio market. , declared Mathieu Turbide, Vice-President, Digital Content at NumériQ and Quebecor.
As for music radio stations, Rythme FM (Cogeco) is leading the way, followed by CKOI, Rouge FM and Énergie. All music stations are up compared to last fall.
