Though the CRTC has decided for now that CKLX-FM in Montreal must remain a specialty jazz station, the writing is on the wall that it will eventually become Radio X full-time and abandon the unsuccessful format.

A competing station in Montreal is seeing that as an opportunity. CJPX-FM, Radio Classique, has announced that it will combine its musical selection with that of the former Planète Jazz and adopt a classical/jazz mix format, starting April 15.

“We know there was a small but loyal audience for Planète Jazz,” the station’s manager said in announcing the change on the air this morning. “We want to welcome them on board while ensuring we still provide our listeners with the best of classical music.”

It’s not clear at this point how the format will work precisely, whether the musical selections will alternate between the two or whether certain parts of the day will be set aside specifically for one of the two genres. The station said it would experiment, in consultation with listeners, to determine the right mix.

Loyal Radio Classique listeners might not like the introduction of jazz, and the station seems well aware of this. But like Planète Jazz, Radio Classique is a low-rated station and could use all the listeners it can get. Clearly it sees this move as a way to get the best of both worlds.

We’ll see later this month if that theory works.