(First published May 28/98)

Louise Roy has one mission: to make Telemedia Inc. grow.

The $200 million company, currently with 13 magazines and 22 radio stations, grew, with little exception, for 30 years under former president Philippe deGaspé Beaubien. He had taken it from a few declining radio stations and one TV station to its current status before retiring in 1997.

Roy's job is to take it to the next step, in company with the three de Gaspé Beaubien adult children who are now joint shareholders of the Montreal-based company. Telemedia reverted to a privately-owned company in late 1997 after more than a dozen years as a public firm.

Roy had been named president in June/97 after moving through a series of high-profile senior executive positions locally and internationally. Her background has been one of senior positions within service industries.

Following studies in sociology with a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, the Quebec City native worked in various capacities with the Quebec Department of Transport as well as being a lecturer at the Université de Montréal.

But it was her nomination in 1985 as president and CEO of the Montreal Urban Community Transit Corporation that thrust her into prominence. The MUCTC employs 8,000 employees and operates the full bus and subway network and connecting commuter train lines in the Montreal region. Her goal was to make it more customer and service oriented.

Roy moved to the Laurentian Group of companies in 1992 as senior vice-president financial and customer service, developing and coordinating corporate policies and human resource management for the banking and insurance institution.

Following the Laurentian Group's merger the Mouvement Desjardins, Telemedia came calling, but Roy had barely moved in to take responsibility for its Quebec division when Air France, which had had a loss of $4 billion Cdn., drew her to Paris, as executive vice-president of marketing and quality, to effect a turn-around of the company. That was 1996, and when she left to move back to Telemedia, the airline was out of the red and sporting a $200 million Cdn. profit.

Telemedia: A Strong Culture and Many Entrepreneurs

When Roy moved back into Telemedia, it seemed publicly that she was moving into a sphere of business little known to her, but in truth, she had sat on the Board of Directors of the company during her three years with Air France.

" By being on the Board, I got to know Telemedia and its properties quite well," says Roy. " Telemedia is a company with a strong culture focused on customers, clients, creativity and responsibility.

"My job involves strategy, locating resources and investments and making budget decisions, but to have a job like this also means being able to communicate and manage people. We must be artists in terms of being creative in the management of people.

"There are two businesses here: radio and publishing, and both are committed to creativity and responsibility. We have a good mix of young and seniors, and there's not a lot of movement. It's a long, lean operation. People must be very flexible and ready to be hands-on.

"The staff is autonomous. If people are not entrepreneurs, they have no place in the company. With the downsizing that has taken place, we have a lot of people who have had to question themselves and take on new habits and more than one hat.

"We encourage our people here to know what's going on, to take responsibility and to take charge."

In earlier years as a private company, Telemedia had lost several senior executives because of the inability to become shareholders - notably Normand Beauchamp and Paul-Emile Beaulne who went on to head Radiomutuel, and Pierre Béland and Pierre Arcand who now own Radio stations CKVL-AM, CKOI-FM, CIQC-AM and CFQR-FM. With Telemedia having reverted to a private company again, Roy as senior executive is not a shareholder, but, she says, "There are ways to have long-term incentives."

A Workaholic

An admitted workaholic, Roy finds that one of the things that cut into what would be free time is the great demand for the company, and her personal participation, in charitable causes.

"That's always the case for CEOs," she says. "Because of Telemedia's product mix, we get particularly involved in women's service causes, plus theatre and the 'Y'. And I have particular interest in artists."

This latter interest stems in part from the fact that her husband is an artist and many of her friends are painters.

"I try to lead a balanced life," she says. "I enjoy the country, walking and swimming, and most of all, I try to reserve time for friendship. I value it most."

She enjoys cooking for friends, and says she's noted for her 'lapin au moutarde.'

Acquisitions on the Menu

Time for such pursuits is limited, however, and with the new Radio Policy recently announced by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to allow an increased number of stations in some markets by one owner (see Pubzone stories, May 4/98), Roy has her eye out for acquisitions in the radio sector, the section of Telemedia that accounts for about $80 million of the $200 million business.

"The radio market is very fragmented, and internal growth, while being attained, has been hard," she says. "The partnership of Telemedia stations with Radiomutuel helped bring the AM stations to profitability, and our FM networks have been growing. For example, Rock-Détente (CITE-FM) was 6th in adults 30+ market six years ago and it's now first. And in the English market, EZ Rock is coming up, with Toronto, Orillia, London and Moncton now with the format. The format of The Fan (CJCL-AM), Telemedia Toronto-based all-sports stations, could also be extended to other stations, because we have the skills, competence and expertise of running talk radio, although there are no plans at the moment.

" But this new CRTC ruling will allow growth by acquisitions."

In terms of magazines, the company has grown in many cases through partnerships. Elle and Eating Well (the latter in the U.S.) are through partnership with Hachette Filipacchi Magazines; TV Hebdo with Trustmedia; Sympatico NetLife with MediaLinx. In addition, the company acquired an interest in Zoom Media.

"Partnerships have been good for us," says Roy. "They were good solutions to make at the time, because it's better to have 50% of something that works than nothing at all."

Fifteen years ago, if Telemedia launched a magazine, it was given a year to break even or disappear. Today, it's more like a three-year shot, says Roy.

"We're looking at future opportunities, but investing in a magazine today is a long-term investment, and faced with great competition with other media. To invest in a brand for long-term survival means it must be well-targeted and nurtured.

"Canadian like to read magazines with Canadian content, so if you have good brands, you can do well. Our Canadian Living, Homemaker's Magazine, our western books ( Western Living, Vancouver Magazine) that are growing with the economy in western Canada, are cases in point.

"But Canada is a mature market. Of magazines sold in English-Canada, 80% are American, 20% Canadian. And we can't export our best titles. Brands like Canadian Living and Vancouver Magazine would go nowhere in the U.S..

"In Canada, readers are loyal to good Canadian magazines. That's why we hope that the Canadian government will find a good solution, agreeable to all, to help protect the Canadian magazine industry in light of the World Trade Organization ruling last year." (The WTO struck down an 80% excise tax Canada levied on revenues from split-run editions of U.S. magazines sold in Canada. François de Gaspé Beaubien, president of Telemedia's North American Publishing, represents the company in dealing with the government on the topic).

Products Better Known Than Company

But while the government level recognizes Telemedia as a whole, the general public connects more with its individual properties, a situation that suits Roy just fine.

"We haven't put emphasis on the corporate image. For a lot of people, Telemedia is CKAC. For others it's Madame au Foyer or Canadian Living. It's not bad when people know our products. I'd be upset if everyone knew who Telemedia was and noone knew our properties. The company has always built on loyalty to our products.

"We're a decentralized company, with each property having its own bottom line. Our emphasis recentlyhas been in updating, changing, modernizing each of our magazines. The latest has been Homemaker's with efforts to switch it from free distribution to paid subscription. It's a big challenge, like launching a new book, but it's going well. We have 600,000 paid subscribers out of approximately 1 million total distribution and we'll grow that. It started at the end of 1997. The magazine will eventually be on newsstand racks, as well."

With the turnaround done on the magazines, Roy's attention turns to her mission: to grow the company.

"It's time," she says. "It's time to make moves."