Change of guard at 98.5 FM: columnist Patrick Lagacé will replace host Paul Arcand at the helm of his morning show, Since it is necessary to get up, in a year and a half.
Quebec’s biggest “morning man” introduced his successor on the air Wednesday morning. Columnist at La Presse, Patrick Lagacé will take over the microphone of the daily morning show in August 2024.
It was Pierre Martineau, vice-president, 98.5 and regional stations, Cogeco Media, invited to the studio by Paul Arcand, who insisted on the importance for management to respect the DNA of the show. He explained his choice by presenting Patrick Lagacé as “someone who has a journalistic profile, credibility, notoriety, able to bounce back from current events and who, as a supreme challenge, agreed to radically change his life. “.
Paul Arcand announced last summer that he would not renew his contract, wishing to “move on to something else”, almost 20 years after taking the helm of Since it is necessary to get up.
Paul Arcand made no exception for Patrick Lagacé, he interviewed him like all his guests. The journalist even admitted to his microphone that he had started to like the radio “somewhere during the pandemic”. “Before that, it was tough,” he said. I’m not a routine guy, but at some point the shoe broke, and I started to like the medium a lot. »
In a tone of humor, Paul Arcand then allowed himself to give her some advice, while avoiding “being the mother-in-law”.
Behind the scenes, Patrick Lagacé sat at the top of the list of names for the job.
The host of the late-afternoon show Le Québec Now says “the conversation started a long time ago” with Pierre Martineau. He said he was happy that “the cat is finally out of the bag”. We don’t know who will replace him on the homecoming show.
“The first time we talked about it formally, I said, ‘Look, I’m not closing the door,’ which was a way of closing the door by keeping it a little ajar. For what ? Because it’s a big challenge. Will you get up at this time? By dint of thinking, having discussions with Pierre, talking about it to my loved ones, finally I said yes, ”he says.
“I have established a conversation with the readers of La Presse that has lasted for years, which is rich and which I like very much, so I have no intention of leaving,” he underlines. , before adding that “being at La Presse” makes him “a better journalist”.
As for the program Two gold men and Rosalie, which he co-hosts on Télé-Québec with Pierre-Yves Lord and Rosalie Bonenfant, the outcome is not yet clear. “I’m going to have discussions with the broadcaster, that’s for sure,” notes Patrick Lagacé. For his part, Pierre-Yves Lord has already announced that he will leave the show at the end of this season.
The columnist recognizes the magnitude of the mandate: he will lead the most listened to radio program in Montreal… the number one station in the country. Fortunately, he has a year and a half to prepare for it.
In the interview, he does not fail to underline the “genius” of Paul Arcand, who can lead a tough interview before moving on to a lighter segment. Does it dread the comparison with its popular predecessor? “I’m comfortable with that. I can’t control this. All I can do is do what I do all the time, come prepared,” replied the 51-year-old host.
Paul Arcand, he rightly concluded the segment of his show devoted to his successor by telling him of the importance that the team had on his work and by praising the public of the morning show.
“When you get up at that time, if you don’t work with fun people, people you want to be with, people you respect, people you have fun with, it doesn’t work. The other thing I’m going to tell you, Pat, is that morning listeners are the best. They may take a little time to adopt you, but once the fidelity is there, there is a closeness, a trust. Sometimes they are angry, sometimes they go in the same direction as you, but I listen to them, it allows me to stay “grounded” and I say it in a chauvinistic way, I’m going to get bored of that. »
