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Imagine yourself at the helm of a radio station that just scored a 26.2 share of the total audience in one of the biggest markets in the nation.
Welcome to the world of Luc Tremblay, steward of North America’s most successful pop music station — a station still threatened by Spotify.
Tremblay serves as VP/GM of Cogeco Media‘s legendary Quebecois CHR CKOI-FM 96.9 and Hot AC sibling CKBE-FM 92.5 “The Beat” in Montréal.
He’s been in the role since June 2016, and spent decades in radio working for CKOI’s primary in-format competitor, CKMF-FM 94.3, before rising in the ranks to a VP/Operations role at Astral Média. He departed the operation, now owned by Bell Media, in January 2012 for a role as VP/Sales at La Presse — one of the largest French-language newspapers in the world.
Perhaps his diversion to print and online news and digital sales gives Tremblay a unique perspective on how to conquer a media market that has been unique since the CRTC’s approval of “CanCon” regulations — a move that greatly reshaped Montréal radio, ending bilingual broadcasts made famous by such local legends as Mark Denis at 1970s Top 40 giant CKGM.
CanCon’s legacy is a market where measurement by Numeris, using PPM methodology for quarterly surveys, is done with surveys given to Anglophones and to Francophones — unlike what Nielsen Audio could do in a high-density Hispanic market such as Miami or Los Angeles.
In the summer 2018 ratings, CKOI enjoyed some of its best results in years.
But it is The Beat 92.5 that deserves a good look from U.S. radio operators. The timing couldn’t be better, as the Center for Immigration Studies just reviewed data from the U.S. Census Bureau showing that 67.3 million residents now speak a language other than English at home — a number equal to the entire population of France.
CKBE scored a 20.8 share, overall, among English-preferred PPM survey participants in greater Montréal.
Among Francophones, the station scored a 5.4 share.
In the U.S., perhaps one station somewhat comes close in terms of ratings dominance among those who may prefer English or Spanish as their main language of choice: Cox Media Group’s WFEZ-FM “Easy 93.1” in Miami.
Still, the comparison is very much apples to oranges.
First, The Beat 92.5 successfully surged past one direct competitor, Bell Media’s CJFM-FM “Virgin Radio 96.1.” That station earned a 10.7 share in the summer book — half of what The Beat earned.
In U.S. terms, a 10 share would be unprecedented. But, in Montréal, its ordinary based on the limited number of commercially licensed FM stations serving English-speaking audiences. Bell Media is the major Anglophone broadcaster, with heritage Rocker CHOM-FM 97.7 paired with Virgin Radio for what would seem to be a 1-2 sales punch.
Cogeco Media negated that — with its lone English-language offering. Its other properties, aside from CKOI, are Francophone AC CFGL-FM “Rythme 105.7” (at Noon on Nov. 1 spinning the Scissor Sister’s “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin'” into Puff Daddy’s “I’ll Be Missing You”, Bruno Mars’ “Grenade,” U2’s “With Or Without You” and LGS’s “On Perd La Tete”) as part of a very-Montreal megamix decided to comply with CanCon rules); dominant French-language Talker CHMP-FM 98.5, and all-Traffic CKAC-AM 730 — the former home of CHMP’s programming.
THE PROMISE
For Tremblay, his focus is on “delivering the promise of the station in all ways possible.”
That starts with The Beat’s positioning statement: Montréal’s Perfect Mix.
“We’re answering this musically, and in the entertainment content of the station,” Tremblay says.
Much of the station’s current success is based on tweaks and one big on-air evolution that commenced some three years ago upon Tremblay’s arrival.
“The Beat was a pretty healthy station,” he says. “It was No. 2 and doing an OK performance, challenging Virgin.”
He took a good look at the female 25-54 numbers, as this is where CKBE makes most of its money.
“We had about 18 or 19 shares of the audience,” he says. “Now, we have 24 to 25 shares.”
How did The Beat achieve this?
The shift started in morning drive. “We had an okay morning show, but Virgin had the dominant morning show with half of the audience,” Tremblay says. “They were doing this for many years.”
With “Cousin Vinnie” Barruco at The Beat since 2012 and the morning anchor, Tremblay went with a gut instinct: Bring in a spunky female host to join Barruco.
Enter Nikki Balch, a Virgin Radio star until April 2014, when she moved to Vancouver for the MD/middays role at heritage Top 40 CKZZ-FM in Vancouver.
In June 2015, Balch returned to Montréal and joined the Beat’s morning show.
The reasoning for Tremblay was simple. “What’s the demo? It’s ‘Jennifer,’ 40 years old, with two kids,” he says. “Every morning, we will develop the content, promotion and games around her, and on entertainment fit for her needs. Psychology, relationship, kids. And … you keep it tight. Breaks are not more than 3 minutes at most, and then we go back to the music.”
The show started to gain traction. Then, in January 2019, Cousin Vinny resigned. On Feb. 4, Andy Wilson joined the show, paired with “Sideshow Sam” Lupovich.
Balch was handed the role of troop leader.
“We took a gamble and made the decision to put a female host in charge of the morning show,” Tremblay says. “It’s something we’ve not seen a lot of in the history of radio [in Canada]. And, the program started to fly.”
Nikki, Sam and Andy are topical, and fly through their show with ease. Balch is clearly in command, while offering her co-hosts just enough input on topics ranging from a new take on the ABCs song kids are learning to bad Halloween ideas.
In a digital nod, top bits including “To Tell The Truth” and a take on “Are You Smarter Than …” are shared as a podcast on the Beat’s website.
“She’s driving the show,” Tremblay notes. “She’s definitely in command. But, the others are getting their share. Andy is heard 20% of the time. Sam is heard 30% of the time.”
The formula works, as Nikki, Sam and Andy is No. 1 in the market, earning between a 22 and 23 share of the Anglophone audience.
Considering the evolution of society, have listeners written to thank them for perhaps a #metoo move? No. But, the PPM results from Numeris say it all, Tremblay says.
“They love Nikki,” Tremblay says. “They come for her and appreciate the show that feels completely different from the other show in the market.”
And, the men are coming as well — delivering numbers close to CHOM, the heritage Rocker. With little push to draw in the guys, CKBE’s Men 25-54 share is a 20; CHOM has a 23 share in the demo. Tremblay says, “We don’t target them. They come because they find a product that is well-produced, with a certain sound, feel and attitude.”
A WHOLLY HUMAN MUSICAL BLEND
The music programming on The Beat 92.5 is often described as a Canadian version of iHeartMedia’s WKTU-FM in New York.
It’s not. The Beat 92.5 offers a wide blend of rhythmic blend of songs from the 2000s through today, with a sprinkle of top 1980s female-friendly titles. “When you come to the Beat, you recognize the station — the moment you tune in, you know you’re there.”
In the lunch hour all-request program on Nov. 1, “Only Human” by the Jonas Brothers was heard right before Bruno Mars’ “Grenade.” Sibling Rythme FM had just played the Mars track. However, most Montréal radio listeners either tune to a French-language station, or an English-language station.
The Beat 92.5 and CHOM are exceptions to the rule.
Tremblay gives credit to Program Director Paul Awad and Music Director Etienne Gregoire, along with those charged with production, engineering and processing for making the station stand out.
With all of the success, Tremblay is still nervous regarding the future of The Beat, as well as for all of radio in Montréal.
Spotify is a major threat, and to a limited extent so are YouTube and Apple Music. Pandora is not available in Canada, while Sirius XM Canada has single-digit penetration in Montréal, compared to U.S. markets where it captures significant listening audiences.
While Spotify is, like Virgin Radio, an entity The Beat 92.5 is fighting every day, Tremblay believes Radio has an advantage it needs to capitalize on: The human element.
“Spotify and AI is not able to do that yet,” he says of the station’s music, hosts, and overall entertainment value.
That said, balance — and ensuring that the “perfect mix” isn’t met by lengthy spoken word segments — is very much centered around music.
This explains perhaps the biggest “oddity” of The Beat for U.S. radio station operators: Nikki, Sam and Andy enjoy a three-hour shift, starting at 5:30am and ending at 8:20am, following a commercial break leading in to two hours of nonstop music.
How is this possible? Tremblay responds that one of his former stations, today Rythme FM’s direct competitor, pioneered the concept some 15 to 20 years ago.
“It came from the assumption that people start working at 8:30am,” he says. “So, they started to end the broadcast at that time.”
Rythme FM followed suit. Both had tremendous success with that strategy. When Tremblay arrived at Cogeco/Montréal, he employed a similar strategy.
“Yes, there is still some traffic and people are commuting, but it is all about focus and superserving your demo,” he explains. “Why are you existing for your listeners? Because you want to be their companion at work. When are they getting to work? It’s 8:30am, so we play music.”
Tremblay continues, “If I am asking you to listen to this station for the whole day at work and you’re probably not going to change the station. But If I am still talking as you’re getting your day organized and going through emails, I need to shut up. That’s a tough call, but it works.”
LOONIES, SPOT LOAD AND BUYING POWER
With The Beat flying high in the ratings, advertiser demand is likely better than ever. Would that lead to stop sets of 10 minutes or more? Don’t bet on it.
“When demand goes high, you’re going to get reps saying they need more spots,” Tremblay says. “More spots? Maybe. My response: Have you sold it at a higher price?”
If there’s increased demand from advertisers such as bedding and mattress retailer Dormez Vous?, that’s great news. “The competition of digital is there, and the market is down — and by 2%-3%,” Tremblay says. “It’s a tough business, but thanks to our success in the last three years, we are showing growth.”
As The Beat is the lone English-language station in a group of five properties, it’s not become a challenge but a “must buy” — another difference than in a U.S. market where a Spanish-language station in a cluster comprised of multiple English-language stations could prove challenging to the sales team.
“We are thankful,” Tremblay says. “We have a great team. If the talent is not willing to give life to a plan than they are not doing more than just doing what you have to do. Put heart and creativity in the plan. That’s how we get the success we have. We have a team of 30 people who are really committed and engaged. That’s cool.”
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