After the departures of radio tenors and the end of flagship programs, a new generation of presenters is preparing to take over this fall. What challenges await them? What are they preparing for the listeners? The duty takes stock with some of them as the big leap approaches.
Between team meetings, catching up on news and pilot shows, Alex Boissonneault has been actively preparing for a week to make his big debut on the air. Monday morning, he takes the reins of the show for the very first time First hour on ICI Premiere Quebec.
“I’m curious about the reaction that listeners will have after the first broadcasts. I am aware that there is a contact to be built with them, but I am convinced to get there, ”he drops in the interview, somewhat feverish as D-Day approaches.
It’s almost a poisoned gift that his predecessor left him. The former animator Claude Bernatchez hung up his microphone last June, when the program he had piloted for 17 years was at the top of the ratings in the old capital.
We keep the same team, the same name, the same way of doing the news, but I’m going to bring my color as an animator. I come with a different background, a different personality and different interests. Necessarily, there will be a dose of changes even if we remain in continuity.
“Claude was adored by the listeners, he left the show at an extraordinary level. Of course I want it to stay that way, ”says the 43-year-old journalist.
At least, he reassures himself, he is not starting from scratch. He did a few replacements at the morning shows for Radio-Canada in Ontario about ten years ago. More recently, it is especially on television that he was able to practice while he took over on shows like Les Ex, Politics buffs, The question period et Economy zone.
Political correspondent at the National Assembly for six years, he has a good knowledge of issues affecting Quebec and its region, where he is also a native, he who grew up in Saint-Ferdinand.
“Of course there will be benchmarks to be found. I’m going to have to find my tone, figure out the mechanics of the show. But what is reassuring is that the team that will support me remains the same,” he adds.
If he intends to draw inspiration from Claude Bernatchez – whose authenticity, simplicity, ability to popularize information and his great mastery of the French language he admired – he does not wish to do “Claude 2.0” for all that. “We keep the same team, the same name, the same way of doing the news, but I’m going to bring my color as a host. I come with a different background, a different personality and different interests. Necessarily, there will be a dose of changes even if we remain in continuity. »
It’s moving at 98.5 FM
Change, there will also be on the morning of the weekend on the airwaves of 98.5 FM. As of August 20, columnist Elisabeth Crête will take over the animation of this time slot occupied by Paul Houde for 15 years, and whose the contract was not renewed.
The show The Weekends of Paul Houde thus becomes Even on weekends and will make way for new collaborators, including Chantal Lamarre. We will also find Jérémie Rainville to talk about sport and society, Valérie Beaudoin will deliver a column on the United States, and François Gagnon will discuss personal finances, to name but a few.
“What we want to do with this show is to deal with current affairs, but with a more weekend tone. It is this tone that I will try to bring, explains Elisabeth Crête. On Saturdays and Sundays, people have their coffee listening to the radio, they have their week in their bodies and want to be informed, but more relaxed. »
A greater place will thus be given to entertainment and culture, underlines the new host who was chronicling on social media at the microphone of Paul Arcand. She also wants to add a great interview segment with a public figure once a week. “The idea will be to hear him speak from a more personal point of view; her interests, her passions, a challenge she lives. Very human interviews, then. »
From the height of her 31 years, Elisabeth Crête does not claim to “revolutionize everything” nor to be able to replace Paul Houde overnight. “Like many animators, Paul Houde left a very special trace in the hearts of listeners. […] There is inevitably a certain stress to propose something different. »
She also admits that she still has a lot to learn. Because if she has already made replacements for the animation at the microphone of 98.5 FM, this is the very first time that she will be at the helm of her own show. “There’s a difference between doing a weekly column and a four-hour show at arm’s length every weekend. I have a lot to learn […] I will be lucky to be able to rely on my team, on their great experience and their knowledge, to grow in this. »
It’s not a super comfortable position, but it’s okay to get out of your comfort zone. […] I know my job, I will find my bearings. And then culture is the subject I like to talk about the most.
Start from nothing
Starting September 5, a new cultural program hosted by Emilie Perreault will take the succession of The more the merrier, the more we read on ICI Première.
“For this type of show, the mentality is to choose the host and then build something around her. […] It was no use trying to make The more the merrier, the more we read. We start fresh, we do something else, ”explains Emilie Perreault.
New team of researchers, new collaborators, new program name (which will also be unveiled on Monday): starting from scratch necessarily comes with a dose of stress, recognizes the 37-year-old host.
“It’s not a super-comfortable position, but it’s okay to get out of your comfort zone. […] I know my job, I will find my bearings. And then culture, that’s the subject I like to talk about the most”, underlines the one who was a cultural columnist at Since you have to get up at 98.5 FM for six years.
With this new radio rendezvous, she intends to approach culture from every angle and inspire listeners to consume even more of it. Theatre, literature, visual arts, humour, cinema or even music, there will be something for everyone. “We will have a bank of collaborators who will come to talk about their discoveries. They will be there on a regular basis, but not daily. I want to vary opinions, to discover new voices, ”she insists, revealing that she has already invited literary columnist Claudia Larochelle, comedian and actress Mariana Mazza, or even the author and teacher Mathieu Poulin.
By Mr.me Perreault, taking over from host Marie-Louise Arsenault is a “great challenge”. “I try not to pressure myself by worrying about whether people will like me. I see it as a privilege to come after her and take advantage of the fact that she has created in listeners a habit of listening to the culture. Some will go through mourning, there will be an adaptation at the beginning, but I am confident. »