Claude Rajotte is a familiar name to long-time CHOM listeners. The francophone music expert worked at the rock station for two decades, often speaking in French until the CRTC told him he couldn't do that anymore. He also worked on the other side of the language divide, spending about as much time at MusiquePlus.
Until recently he had a job at Espace Musique, Radio-Canada's music radio network. But when RadCan wanted to kill his show and move him online, he left. He took a job back at MusiquePlus, where he hosts two shows, Rajotte (Fridays at 7pm) and Hors Circuit (Sunday mornings at 1am). They're not exactly big-budget shows (Hors Circuit in particular looks pretty cheap), but the quality is in Rajotte's biting commentary (like tonight where he trashed Nickelback by saying they seem to be stuck in a 90s time-warp).
Having gone back to MusiquePlus, Rajotte wondered if maybe he could get a job at CHOM as well. But, La Presse reported, CHOM said no.
It's not because they're not interested, explained Astral Media VP Martin Spalding, just that they don't have any openings for him. "There wasn't an opportunity," Spalding said. "But that doesn't mean there won't be an opportunity in the future."
Spalding explained that giving Rajotte a show would mean cutting the time of existing staff like Bilal Butt, who hosts evenings. "For the time being, we want to allow Bilal to grow in that timeslot," Spalding said.
Sadly, the radio market isn't what it was even a decade ago, and the anglophone music stations aren't as eager as the francophone ones to grab big names to do an hour a day.
Could fate open up an opportunity for Rajotte at his other former home? As Spalding would say, never say never. But I wouldn't hold my breath.
It's that time of year again, when the STM releases its fare schedule for the next year and the entire city grumbles about it.
