CJPN, the Black Sheep of the Fredericton Radio Market
Fredericton’s only French radio station turned 20 last August. It is an opportunity to look at CJPN’s greatest successes, biggest issues, and its future.
Before 1997, Radio-Canada was the only French non-print media available in the capital region.
“They’re doing a great job, but they did not talk specifically about local activities, because just imagine if Radio-Canada would have to talk about everything, they’d probably be just community bulletin non-stop,” says CJPN’s general manager Jason Ouellette.
For co-founder Pierre Dumas, the station was also meant to transmit French culture to francophone children.
After receiving funds from governments, the radio station went on air for the first time on August 22nd, 1997.
Many anglophones were opposed to the station.
“They did not want us to have a French radio in Fredericton,” says Dumas.
But, many anglophones have also worked hand in hand with francophones to build the station.
Two years after its opening, the station nearly closed, because it lacked funds and it had only two employees. Dumas was the general manager, and he was also hosting a show.
Since then, CJPN’s team grew, but Ouellette says funds have limited its growth. So, the station relied heavily on volunteers.
“It gave the opportunity to Radio Fredericton to stay live even though the competition kept on growing in the Fredericton market,” says Ouellette.
Volunteers still play an important role, but, in recent years, CJPN adopted a new strategy. Radio Fredericton teamed up with Saint John and Miramichi’s French stations.
The three stations have three shows on weekdays.
Michel Savoie hosts the morning show from Miramichi. He spent most of his professional career working in construction. At a meeting to save the Miramichi station, Savoie spoke for the first time on the radio. From then, he was Miramichi’s host.
The mid-day show comes from Saint-John, and André Martel hosts the drive-home show from Fredericton.
“We are really far but we are really close at the same time. We know what we have to do,” says Martel.
Ouellette believes the CRTC will never let the three stations merge.
“What could be done is a hat association. It would go over our three board members and these three people or these six people would take decisions for all three but also with refer recommend the board members to take some decisions.”
He says the three stations are too far apart and too different to merge. At the same time, they share two things in common: they are French radio stations in anglophone cities, and they must find ways to attract listeners.
So, CJPN, like its counterparts in Saint John and in Miramichi, does not only play French music but also popular English music.
“If we want to compete, if we want people to listen to our radio, there has to be some music in French and some in English. We must find the right balance,” says Dumas.
Ouellette says that even some anglophones tune in.
“Some of the people living in Fredericton want to understand French. They want to learn French, and Radio Fredericton, CJPN, is a tool for them to have a taste of our culture.”
According to Ouellette, CJPN’s success in upcoming years does not only rest on how well the station might attract listeners but also on how well it can sell advertisements. These make up the biggest share of CJPN’s budget.
The station bought a television screen to display advertisements and installed it in the Sainte-Anne Centre which organizes many events.
“So, when our sales lady goes to customers and says, ‘You wanna buy ads?’ ‘Yeah, I don’t know if the radio station is that popular.’ Well, you know what, if you buy, you get a shot on our media board upstairs, and we guarantee that 2,000 people walk in front of that board everyday,” says Ouellette.
Even when tougher economic times will come, Dumas says the station should survive, because the francophone community, which has nearly doubled in size since the late 1970s, has its back.
The community saved the station three times, so Dumas does not see why it could not do it a fourth time.
Dumas believes that CJPN will be around for at least the next few decades.
