BPM Sports: we expected a drop in listeners, but instead we had an explosion

July 2025: I learn that Tony Marinaro and Martin Lemay will not be returning to their respective shows on BPM Sports.

August 2025: I learn that Bob Hartley, André Tourigny, Mathias Brunet, Simon “Le Snake” Boisvert, Éric Bélanger, Martin Leclerc, and many other contributors will not be on air in the fall.

A few days later, Martin Lemay and Tony Marinaro both announce that they will each host a YouTube show in their former time slot… and I'm told that Max Lalonde will be replaced by Anthony Marcotte on the morning show. Lalonde will only keep a 60-minute show between the morning show and the arrival of Laraque-Gonzalez.

If Mise-o-jeu had taken bets on the station's chances of success for its fall Numeris polls, I would have put a few brownies on a regression/decline.

And I wouldn't have been alone, you'll agree…

Except that I was able to get my hands on the official figures for the most recent Montreal radio survey, the fall one, last Monday, and the failure we feared at 91.9 Montreal didn't happen. Quite the contrary, in fact!

In the 13 weeks surveyed from the end of August to the end of November, BPM Sports recorded an overall market share(Men 25-54) of around 9%. In short, 9% of men 25-54 who listened to the radio this fall listened to BPM Sports. That's one in 11!

These figures are estimated from pagers and surveys conducted by Numéris.

In the world of radio, we always compare a quarter with the same period 12 months earlier. By fall 2024-25, BPM Sports had achieved a market share of 7%. That's an increase of nearly 30%. All this despite a first week with the summer schedule, when competitors in the Montreal region already had their full staff in the studio.

Not bad for a radio station that was said to be dead at the end of the summer.

Show by show
Laraque and Gonzalez (11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.) had the highest market share: 15.3%. The closeness the guys were able to create with listeners(Army) report.

“I'd like to thank the BPM sports haters, thanks to you this summer with the announcement of the new programming, BPM has never had so much publicity. So many members of the Army got to know us thanks to you. And people are making up their own minds about the product, and not going to rely on the opinion of some people who disparaged the station because they got kicked out. Talk about it good or bad, but talk about it. So thank you, keep up the great marketing work for us, we love you!” – Georges Laraque

Needless to say, I'm thrilled to be collaborating weekly on Quebec's #1 sports radio show!

Greg Lanctôt, who takes the mic immediately after Georges and Gonzo's show, clearly caused the biggest radio surprise of the entire fall with a 14.7% market share(men 25-54) between 2:00 and 6:00 pm.

Even so, 14.7% of listeners who tune in between 2:00 and 6:00 pm is probably roughly the same number of absolute listeners as 15.3% of those who tune in between 11:00 and 2:00 pm. In short, from 11:00 to 6:00 pm, BPM Sports is listened to like cotton, as the other guy would say.

I can only applaud Lanctôt's hard work and resilience, which has taken him close to the record held by another Lanctôt/Langdeau, this one Stéphane. The latter obtained 17 market shares shortly after Jean-Charles Lajoie's departure. I guess Lanctôt, Ben Roger, and FX Bénard's good-natured, friendly manner appeals to people in their cars on their way home.

Add to this the fact that the comeback shows score less than the morning shows on 98.5 FM and QUB, and you've got an opportunity for Greg and the gang, who did better than Martin Lemay at this time last year. Let's just say that the competition is a little weaker at 3:00 p.m. than at 7:30 a.m. this year…

For his part, Max Lalonde ended his fall survey with a market share of 8.1%, which is excellent for a mid-morning sports show, a slot historically difficult to fill on 91.9 Montréal. All the more so since a one-hour show is short and doesn't always allow you to establish your vibe.

As for Anthony Désaulniers, Anthony Marcotte, and Gilbert Delorme, they ended the fall with a 6% market share, which is still very good under the circumstances; a morning sports show always scores less than a comeback show. Competition is fierce in the morning, and people are often in general news and information mode, not sports.

And let's face it, the Canadiens' early-season success and the prospects Montreal fans have for their club have helped the Montreal station succeed. It's a fact: BPM Sports will always be dependent in some way on the success of the Montreal Canadiens.

What's next?
Sometime this spring, the CRTC is expected to approve the sale of BPM Sports to Sylvain Chamberland's Arsenal Media. When he got serious about his negotiations, Chamberland was interested in a company that has changed a lot in the space of a few months.

The fact that the station has been so successful despite a number of departures is both pleasing and reassuring.

“All credit goes to the current employees at BPM Sports and RNC Media. Obviously, I'd rather buy a healthy company than the opposite.” – Sylvain Chamberland, whom I contacted this morning.

It will be interesting to see what path Arsenal Media will take with 91.9 Montreal, as well as the Gatineau and Quebec City stations. One thing is certain: if 100.9 Quebec and 96.5 Gatineau remain sports stations, they will have to integrate more local content into their programming. Arsenal Media has several options with these two terrestrial stations. We'll see.

It will also be interesting to see who will be returning and who will be leaving next year among all the people currently on air. When a radio station is successful, it's usually wise to bet on continuity and constancy, rather than change and evolution.

But when that same station is losing money year after year, it has to find a way to increase revenues… or decrease expenses.

Oh yes… Michel Villeneuve won't be coming out of retirement to co-host a sports show next fall, as some crazy rumors suggested last summer. That's just not going to happen!