After almost a year of waiting, the CRTC should announce “in the coming weeks” if, yes or no, the programming of QUB, the Radio de Québecor, can continue to be broadcast on the waves of the 99.5 FM. While the new season begins these days, this decision could completely change the situation in the Montreal radio landscape.
Recall that Qub was first launched in 2018 by Quebecor as a digital radio. According to the established rules, the company cannot have a traditional radio station in the metropolis, since it already owns a TV channel and a daily life in this market, namely TVA and The Montreal Journal.
Last year, Quebecor agreed with Leclerc Communication, owner of the 99.5 FM, for the retransmission of the QB programming on this antenna during great listening hours. Since then, the star animators of QUB, such as Mario Dumont and Benoît Dutrizac, can also be heard during the week on the FM band.
This way of doing things contravene the regulations, argue Bell and Cogeco, who owns the 98.5 FM, the main competitor of the 99.5 FM. The two main players in private radio in Quebec argue that “the effective control of the 99.5 FM is now exercised by Quebecor”. They seized the Canadian Radiation and Telecommunications Council (CRTC) last November for this purpose and ask the federal organization to prohibit the dissemination of QB on hertzian waves.
However, the treatment of the complaint was long overdue. In a missive sent to the CRTC at the beginning of the month, Cogeco deplored this period, which was equivalent, depending on the company, to “laxity” or “complacency” on the part of the institution. In response to this letter, the CRTC finally confirmed on Monday that the study of the file is completed and that “the Council will make a decision in the coming weeks”.
“The CRTC has been informed for a year of the broadcasting of QUB Radio programming on 99.5 FM waves, in violation of the rules in force on the diversity of votes. Despite this, the complaint filed last November remained unanswered. It is imperative that the CRTC makes a decision without delay and has the courage to enforce its own rules, ”reiterated Paul Beaudry on Tuesday, vice-president of regulatory and corporate affairs at Cogeco.
Legal understanding
The return of QUB at 99.5 FM is still scheduled for next Monday. The owners of the station said on Tuesday that they are hopeful that the CRTC will decide in their favor.
“Our position on this subject is clear and constant since the day of the public announcement of this agreement: we respect all of our regulatory obligations and license conditions at all times and rigorously, and we are convinced that the Council will reassure the Bell-Cogeco duopoly on this subject,” reacted Leclerc by email.