Paul Houde moves from wing to centre. He becomes the Connor McDavid of BPM Sports. Or the Connor Bedard, would rather say this great fan of the Chicago Blackhawks.
The 68-year-old – soon to be 69 – will host the daily morning show on BPM Sports starting August 28. He replaces Jean-Charles Lajoie, whose departure was announced earlier this month. The new name of the show has not yet been chosen, however.
This isn’t the first time that Paul Houde has had the title of morning man. The last time he put his alarm clock to the test was in 2006, at Rythme FM.
“When I finished – it’s still 17 years – I said to myself: never again”, tells us the erudite host on the phone.
And yet, here it is again.
On August 1, we learned of the departure of Jean-Charles Lajoie from BPM Sports after a year at the head of the morning show. “After discussions, we mutually concluded that it was better for him to leave his post,” explained the station’s new general manager, Alexandre Panneton.
Mr. Houde had hosted the weekend morning show since last year. When his bosses offered him the job, he hesitated. A long time.
“It took me three weeks to weigh the pros and cons,” he says.
For what ?
” It’s hard. It’s very hard. Especially in winter, he replies. When you come back from your holiday vacation and the alarm clock goes off at 3:45 a.m., it’s dark, dark, dark. And that it’s -40 outside with the wind chill… It’s all those little things that add to the hour of airing. »
Mr. Houde finally decided to accept. Like what, you should never say never. The situation at BPM Sports, which admittedly had a hectic summer, tipped the scales. “I wanted to give them a hand,” he concedes.
The return of Jean-Charles Lajoie to BPM Sports last season did not have the expected effect on the ratings. In spring 2023, the station obtained 0.5 market share in the morning time slot in Numeris polls. Among men aged 25 to 54, the preferred target for sports content, the shares fell from 1.8 in spring 2022 to 0.9 in spring 2023.
The eldest of the Houde brothers will therefore have the challenge of raising these figures.
“Personally, I put a lot of pressure on myself,” he humbly admits. I want, as they say, to open this show so that we can get listeners at BPM Sports. »
Listeners, but also listeners, he says. “There is still some reluctance, I believe, for women to come and listen to BPM Sports. We are going to make a big effort to try to get female audiences. »
Mr. Houde, a big fan of the Blackhawks and the San Francisco 49ers, a fanatic of statistics and numbers, loves his new station. He appreciates the “really nice atmosphere”.
Among the collaborators, listeners can expect to hear, among others, his accomplice of the last 17 years Kathrine Huet. There will also be Gilbert Delorme, “the essential”. Ray Lalonde, whom he considers “like a brother”. And Réjean Tremblay, “another indestructible”.
“We’ll put him to work!” “, he exclaims about the Bleuet, who recently announced his departure from the Journal de Montréal.
And then, who knows, maybe Pierre Houde will be added to this list. “I mentioned it to management, but I want them to officially approach it as management,” he explains.
In an interview given to the show Sucré Salé broadcast on TVA during the summer, Paul Houde confided that he had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. However, he does not know its precise form.
“Everyone around me, my relatives, my wife Francine, my friends, they laughed and said: we knew it for a long time! “, he says, laughing.
The diagnosis gave the numbers lover a better understanding of his “outbursts of extreme focus on very small things.” And to better understand his difficulty with change. On the night of August 27 to 28, Paul Houde will not sleep. It is, and he knows it.
“I won’t be able to sleep. As I get older, that trait of the autism spectrum comes to me even more. […] In general, it takes a week to begin to position oneself, to mold oneself into the new format. »
In an “ideal world,” Paul Houde will host the morning show for two years, he tells us.
“By then, in 2025, I will have completed 50 years of radio! »
