CJPX-FM (99.5

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

) is a

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-Romance, a descendant of the Latin spoken in ...

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

located in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. Owned and operated by Leclerc Communication, it broadcasts using an

omnidirectional antenna In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna (electronics), antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an Cartesian coordinate system, axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying wi ...

Mount Royal Mount Royal (, ) is a mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The city's name is derived from the mountain's name. The mountain is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentian M ...

with an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

of 8,700

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s ( class B). The station launched in 1998 as a commercial

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

station, branded Radio-Classique, and continued in that format until a sale in 2020 when it shifted to an adult contemporary format. In August 2024, CJPX shifted to talk programming, simulcasting

Quebecor Quebecor Inc. is a Canadian diversified media and telecommunications company serving Quebec based in Montreal. It was spelled Quebecor in both English and French until May 2012, when shareholders voted to add the acute accent, Québecor, in ...

Qub Radio Qub Radio is a Canadian French-language internet talk radio station operated by Quebecor subsidiary Groupe TVA, primarily from studios in Montreal, which launched on October 4, 2018. Qub, a discretionary television channel serving as an audiovi ...

, during daytime hours on weekdays, with rock music in other time periods.

History

The station had a

commercial

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

at its inception on June 25, 1998. The station was the first successful commercial classical music station in Montreal, following the failure of

CJRM-FM CJRM-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 97.3 FM in Labrador City. It is a francophone community radio station branded as ''Rafale FM''. Although still a licensed station, it has not broadcast regularly since 2015; this was due to a co ...

in 1968 and decades of reluctance since then by the

CRTC The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...

to allow such a station to go on the air. It was conceived in the 'Top 40 classics' style of

Radio Classique Radio Classique is a French commercial radio station created in 1983 that broadcasts mainly classical music. Its programmes also contain segments of economic and political news. As of 2015, it had 1.1 million listeners per day. Radio Classique w ...

in France, or Classic FM in the UK. In December 2014, it was announced that CJPX and its

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

CJSQ-FM CJSQ-FM is a French-language Canadian radio station located in Quebec City, Quebec, broadcasting on 92.7 MHz using an omnidirectional antenna with an effective radiated power of 2,840 watts (List of broadcast station classes, class B). The statio ...

would be sold to Groupe Musique Greg, a company founded by Montreal musician and radio personality

Gregory Charles Gregory Charles (born February 12, 1968) is a Canadian performing artist of Trinidadian origin. Biography Charles' father Lennox was a black anglophone of Trinidadian origin; his mother was a white francophone Canadian. Charles was born in Mo ...

. Charles' offer to buy the two stations came in response to rumours that former owner Jean-Pierre Coallier was looking to retire and sell them. The station was the only 24-hour source of mostly classical music in Montreal – including some jazz, with the two national

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

FM networks,

Ici Musique Ici Musique (stylized ICI Musique) is the French-language music radio service of Canada's national public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (''Société Radio-Canada''). It is the French equivalent of the English CBC Music, altho ...

and

CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

, switching around 2009 to a mix of classical,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

adult alternative An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and ...

and other genres. CJPX-FM did mix in some occasional jazz, film music and chansons, in a limited amount. In 2015, retired former ''

Le Téléjournal ''Le Téléjournal'' () is the umbrella title used for the television newscasts aired on the Ici Radio-Canada Télé broadcast network. ''Le Téléjournal'' (by itself) has been used since 1954 as the title of the network's flagship newscast, ...

'' news anchor Bernard Derome joined the station as a morning host. Other personalities include Charles, Marie-Ève Lamonde, François Paré and Marc Hervieux, plus Béatrice Zacharie and Jasmin Hains, both broadcasting from CJSQ-FM in Quebec City. As Radio-Classique, its main studios were located in

Parc Jean-Drapeau Jean Drapeau Park (formerly called ''Parc des Îles'') is the third-largest park in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises two islands, Saint Helen's Island and the artificial island Notre Dame Island, situated off the shore of Old Montreal in ...

Île Notre-Dame Notre Dame Island () is an artificial island in the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is immediately to the east of Saint Helen's Island and west of the Saint Lawrence Seaway and the city of Saint-Lambert on the south shore. ...

in the middle of the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...

. On April 3, 2020, the CRTC approved the sale of CJPX-FM to Leclerc Communication for $4.89 million. Leclerc Communication had previously tried to acquire CKLX-FM and

CHOI-FM CHOI-FM is a French language, French-language FM broadcasting, FM radio station that broadcasts on the frequency 98.1 Hertz, MHz out of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, with a talk radio, talk format. Locally, it is known as ''Radio X'' (a reference ...

from

RNC Media RNC Media (formerly ''Radio-Nord Communications'') is a Canadian broadcasting group based in Westmount, Quebec, with offices in Gatineau and Rouyn-Noranda. The company operates five television stations and several radio stations, mostly in Quebe ...

, but called off the sale when the CRTC required it to divest a station. The new owner replaced the classical music programming with an adult contemporary one, branded as ''WKND 99.5'', in a similar format to Quebec City's sister station

CJEC-FM CJEC-FM (91.9 Hertz, MHz) is a French-language Canada, Canadian radio station located in Quebec City, Quebec City, Quebec. Owned and operated by Leclerc Communication, it broadcasts on 91.9 MHz using a directional antenna with an average effect ...

. Radio-Classique went off air on June 13, 2020. Following several years of low ratings under the new format, on August 12, 2024, Leclerc and

announced they had reached a content distribution agreement whereby CJPX would simulcast the talk programming of the latter’s

service from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays, starting Monday, August 26, entering direct competition during those hours with longstanding market leader

CHMP-FM CHMP-FM (98.5 Hertz, MHz) is a French language talk radio, talk radio station serving the Greater Montreal Area and licensed to the off-Island suburb of Longueuil, Quebec, Longueuil. Owned and operated by Cogeco, it broadcasts with an effective r ...

(98.5 FM). As a result, the station will drop the ''WKND'' branding and format, and rebrand as simply ''99.5 Montreal''. To comply with CRTC regulations on programming for standard FM radio licences, the station will carry a

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

format at all other hours (CHMP was similarly required to carry 50% music programming until 2007). Quebecor cannot acquire the station outright under CRTC cross-media ownership regulations, as it already owns a daily newspaper, ''

Le Journal de Montréal is a daily French-language tabloid newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Quebec and is also the largest French-language daily newspaper in North America. Established by Pierre Pé ...

'', and a broadcast TV station,

CFTM-DT CFTM-DT (channel 10) is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, serving as the flagship of the French-language network TVA. Owned by Groupe TVA, the station has studios in the '' Journal de Montréal'' building on Rue Frontenac in ...

, in the Montreal media market.

References

External links

*
CJPX-FM
at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the

Canadian Communications Foundation The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) was a Canadian nonprofit organization which documented the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television networks, programs and broadcasters. The organization was established in ...

* {{coord, 45, 30, 20.16, N, 73, 35, 30.12, W, type:landmark_region:CA, display=title Jpx Jpx Jpx Radio stations established in 1998 1998 establishments in Quebec