Quebec Radio: 'Trash Radio' Talk Is Number One

CHOI 98.1 FM Radio X's Jeff Fillion, 50, is among the most prominent and provocative talk radio hosts on Quebec airwaves, dominating what his critics call “radio poubelle,” or trash radio. According to the NYTimes: His critics revile him. His fans adore him.

At a time when Mr. Trump’s tirades on Twitter and beyond are changing global political discourse, Mr. Fillion and his fellow shock jocks are drawing legions of listeners in this picturesque political capital, propagating a cocktail of anti-immigrant, anti-environment and anti-feminist views.

The talk radio genre has proved particularly popular in Quebec City, where fringe anti-immigrant groups like La Meute, or Wolf Pack, stoke fears that immigrants, and Muslims in particular, are incompatible with Canadian values. Being the seat of provincial power also makes the city an ideal target for talk radio hosts who delight in lampooning the political class.

Accused of being sexist, racist and generally outrageous, Fillion, an admirer of Mr. Ford, counters that he’s none of those things but, rather, a libertarian who is not afraid to speak his mind. Fascinated by American politics and popular culture after living in Miami as a young man, he says, he was inspired by the way Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern adroitly provoked and attracted attention on talk radio.

“I was doing my thing 20 years before Trump arrived,” he said in an interview at his cramped Quebec City studio, where televisions on the wall are set to CNN and Fox News. He nevertheless credited Mr. Trump for exposing the media’s “false neutrality.”

CHOI 98.1 FM (81 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

Just in case his offensiveness crosses a line, CHOI Radio X, which broadcasts his frenetic show, employs a 40-second delay when he is broadcasting. (It has never used it, he boasts.) In a city of about 530,000 people, his noon show gets an average of 23,600 listeners, making him No. 1 in his slot.