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In just over a week (Monday, August 31), BPM Sports' regular programming will be back on the air for the upcoming radio season.
It may not seem like much, but that means summer is coming to an end.
If you feel like it went by quickly, just know that it's the same for Georges Laraque, who will be back behind the mic alongside Stéphane Gonzalez in about ten days.
I chatted with Georges recently to catch up on what's in store for him heading into the upcoming radio season. Why? Mainly to answer the question many people are asking about him.
Ever since it was announced that “Laraque Gonzalez” will run one hour shorter (noon to 2 p.m. instead of 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.), people have been wondering why the change was made.
What you need to know is that Georges and Gonzo haven't had the rug pulled out from under them: their roles have just changed a bit compared to last year.
That extra hour will be made up in other ways. There's no question of a demotion here for the star hosts.
How will this be made up? Notably by co-hosting a soccer podcast together every Friday. Gonzo will also have a podcast focused on predictions, and Georges will be a daily contributor to the post-game show with Greg Lanctot.
This ensures that Arsenal Media—which recently acquired BPM—will fulfill its mandate. Doing all that on top of a three-hour show would have been too much.
“Arsenal's mandate is for us to produce podcasts.” – Georges Laraque
From noon to 1 p.m., the midday show will air across the entire Arsenal network. Then, starting at 1 p.m., the music stations will resume their regular programming, leaving talk radio to the BPM Sports stations.
We're hoping, as a company, to create a listening habit so that people will instinctively continue listening to the show starting at 1:00 p.m., on the station's app or on YouTube, for example.
Arsenal aims to be a pioneer in podcasting, and Georges and Gonzo's show could help build a listening habit among fans of the network's music stations.
It's worth noting that all of this suits Georges Laraque just fine—he enjoys collaborating with Greg and is a fan of the podcast world. In fact, will he and Gonzo ever have their own podcast? It seems likely.
This new format also allows Georges Laraque to retain the benefits of FM radio while dipping his toe into the world of podcasting. It's the best of both worlds.
After all, the power of FM radio is still significant… especially for the show “Laraque Gonzalez,” which connects so well with its audience on so many levels.
The on-air show will actually be very similar to what we've seen in the past in terms of format, but there will be less time for listener calls due to the shorter broadcast time.
From what we've heard, the new bosses aren't big fans of call-in segments. So that makes sense.
‘Extension'
As a reminder, based on what we've heard (and what Réjean Tremblay has said), Anthony Marcotte and Anthony Déslauniers will be on the air from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., before Gilbert Delorme teams up with Max Lalonde until noon.
The afternoon show with Greg Lanctot will still start at 2 p.m.
