The Jewel 107.7 in Hawkesbury has gone country.

Evanov Communications launched new formats on four of its stations on Monday, May 3, including 107.7 Hawkesbury and 92.5 Clarence-Rockland.

Formerly known as The Jewel 98.5 Ottawa-Gatineau, The Jewel 92.5 Clarence-Rockland, The Jewel 107.7 Hawkesbury, and the Jewel 106.7 Hudson/Saint-Lazare, the stations have been rebranded as Lite 98.5, Hot Country 92.5, Hot Country 107.7 and Lite 106.7.

The parent company of the stations says the hot country format will provide a fresh, up-beat sound in combination with local news and surveillance for listeners and advertisers in Rockland-Clarence and Hawkesbury, noting country music artists and formats are extremely popular in rural and urban areas alike. Musical artists such as Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Dean Brody are a few of the stations’ core artists.

The company says the Lite format in Ottawa-Gatineau and Hudson/Saint-Lazare will retain the best elements of the former Jewel, while skewing younger and be more current in its soft, melodic, pop sound. The stations will maintain their local orientation. While the music spans from the late 70s to today, Lite will include more current hits from artists such as Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Sam Smith and The Weekend.

“There is no question that the Covid-19 Pandemic has caused a shift in some paradigms and forced some adjustments along the way,” said Lars Wunsche, Executive Vice President Sales of Evanov Communications. “Prior to making the switch, we included advertisers and our sales teams in our strategic conversations, they confirmed the excitement about going forward with the new formats and brands. I have no doubt we have made the right choice for long term success.”

Evanov Communications is an independent Canadian broadcasting company that operates stations in a variety of markets.