When it came time to freshen up RockDétente’s format, Astral Radio went straight to the source for inspiration: its listeners.

The nine-station network in Quebec has debuted a new format that includes ‘107 minutes of uninterrupted hits’ segments starting at 8:30 a.m. each day, after the morning show. The new format follows through the workday, continuing through the new 10:30 to 4 p.m. Ma radio au boulot (My Radio at the Workplace) programming block.

Also new is the late afternoon show La vraie vie (Real Life) from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Thursdays, followed by Mix 80, an ’80s music show from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday and starting at 4 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Late at night, RockDétente has another new show, Nos histories d’enfance, featuring listeners’ childhood stories, at 12:10 a.m. The changes at the station also include an infusion of new music to the programming lists.

The new format follows consumer research that Astral Radio conducted to find out what their listeners would change about the stations’ format. Almost 8,000 people were surveyed and the result is the longer stretches of ad-free music and new shows, Chloé Boissonnault, director of marketing communications, Astral Radio, tells MiC.

‘By being more responsive to our listeners’ needs and lifestyles, we are confident that we could increase our cume and time spent listening,’ she explains.

Sponsorships of the new programs are available, and the amount of air time dedicated to ads has not changed despite the new 107-minute music-block format, Boissonnault confirms.

Targeting women 25 to 54 with a bull’s eye of 35 to 44, the changes at the stations are being promoted with a media campaign that includes print ads in Coup de pouce, Vita, Châtelaine and Clin d’oeil, and online display ads targeting female audiences as well.

RockDétente reaches an average of more than 1.8 million listeners per week in Quebec.