CHOD-FM

On February 24, the application by Radio Communautaire Cornwall-Alexandria Inc. for a new Type A community FM station at Cornwall, Alexandria & area was approved. The station would operate on a frequency of 92.1 MHz and have an effective radiated power of 19,200 watts. The Cornwall campus of the Cité collégiale would support the applicant by providing space to the station at no cost; and Bell Cellular agreed to provide an antenna site at no cost to the applicant. This community station would be owned and controlled by a not-for-profit organization. The applicant proposed to broadcast 126 hours of programming per broadcast week of which 28 hours (between midnight and 6:00 a.m.) would originate from CIEL-FM Longueuil, Quebec. The CRTC judged that Cornwall could support a new FM station without jeopardizing CJSS-AM and CFLG-FM. The Commission also rejected the CBC’s request that the new station use 106.5 MHz instead of 92.1 (allocated to Brockville) so that 92.1 could remain in the CBC’s Long Range Radio Plan.

CHOD-FM signed on the air on May 1. Patrick Fortin was CHOD’s first manager.

On January 13, the CRTC approved the application to amend the licence for CHOD-FM Cornwall by changing the Promise of Performance as follows: a) by increasing the maximum weekly level of the musical programming devoted to Pop, Rock and Dance (subcategory 21) from 69% to 79%; and b) by reducing the minimum weekly level of spoken word (category 1) from 25% to 15% per broadcast week. The licensee indicated that this amendment would allow it to better carry out its mandate within the Franco-Ontarian community. 

On March 26, the CRTC approved the application by Radio communautaire Cornwall-Alexandria Inc. to change the authorized contours of the French-language community radio programming undertaking CHOD-FM Cornwall by increasing the average effective radiated power from 19,200 to 34,167 watts (maximum ERP of 45,600 to 60,000 watts), by changing the class from B to C1, by increasing the effective height of antenna above average terrain from 39 to 106.7 metres and by changing the transmission site. The licensee indicated that it conducted an investigation which revealed that such changes were necessary since the results demonstrated that a portion of the Franco-Ontarian population, the target audience, had difficulty receiving CHOD-FM’s signal.

On September 13, the CRTC approved CHOD’s application to operate an FM rebroadcasting transmitter in Dunvegan, operating at 92.1 MHz with an average ERP of 10,200 watts (maximum ERP of 20,500 watts with an EHAAT of 63.4 metres).

Marc Charbonneau (61) passed away August 4. He was a host and station manager of CHOD for the last 15 years. Charbonneau worked at CFML Cornwall, CJRC, CKCH and CIMF Hull, was a Canadian Press reporter in Sherbrooke and Montréal, and also did a stint in radio and TV with Radio-Canada.

In the fall, CHOD found out that it would receive $253,000 in federal funding for a project that would expand the reach of its antenna.