CHOM opts for Michaels, Hyland, Desjardins to replace DiMonte

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Eight months after Terry DiMonte left the building, CHOM has finally found a replacement for the legendary broadcaster. Actually, three replacements.

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The Montreal FM rock station announced Friday that the new morning show will be co-hosted by Jay Michaels, Sharon Hyland and Chantal Desjardins. The show will be called Mornings Rock With Jay, Sharon and Chantal, and it will take to the airwaves beginning Monday, Feb. 28. Pete Marier, who has been filling in as CHOM morning man since DiMonte left, will take over weekend mornings for the station.

Michaels began his career in rock radio in Halifax and was most recently on Toronto station Newstalk 1010, co-hosting the afternoon show. Hyland has hosted various shows on CHOM for the past 25 years. Desjardins is a seasoned broadcaster who has worked on Hockey Night in Canada, CTV, Sportsnet and Citytv’s Breakfast Television. She is also a standup comedian.

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“We’ve got a really unique trio,” CHOM program director Mathew Wood said in an interview Friday afternoon. “Three people who have some serious passions. Sharon having spent almost all of her career from Ella at CHOM. She is thrilled to have been Montreal’s queen of rock for 25 years. She says she’s been at (CHOM’s) three addresses and done every shift over the course of the day. And she has an incredible passion for music.

“Jay is a veteran broadcaster. He got his start in rock radio out in the Maritimes. He was telling me today he has had a crush on the city for a long time. And Chantal is coming back. She was part of the morning show 12 years ago and she’s a different person than she was 12 years ago. She she’s done standup. And she loves the city as well.

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“The three of them will be coming together with their unique perspectives, looking to connect with the CHOM listeners about Montreal.”

It took a long time to announce a replacement for DiMonte, but Wood said they didn’t want to rush the process.

“You want to put the right show in there,” he said. “Pete Marier did a great job keeping things steady while we were getting to today.”

Wood said they like the idea of ​​having more than one host in the morning.

“More voices, different personalities — it’s easier to bounce off other people in the room,” he said.

Reached Friday at his new home in BC’s Fraser Valley, DiMonte said: “I wish them well.”

DiMonte left CHOM at the end of May, after more than 40 years in broadcasting. He started at CHOM in 1984, then did stints at Mix 96, CJAD, CHOM again, Calgary’s Q107 and then back to CHOM for a third time a decade ago. His eight-year contract ended in late May, and Bell Media executives made it clear they were not going to be renewing it.

In May, DiMonte told the Montreal Gazette: “As January and February went by, there were a bunch of changes in the building, and it became apparent there wasn’t going to be a discussion about going past May 28.”

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