| CHIP-FM | |
| Airdate: | June 1981 |
| Frequency: | 101.9 MHz (FM) |
| Former Frequencies: | 101.5 MHz (FM) (1981–1993) 101.7 MHz (1993–2016) |
| City: | Fort-Coulonge, Quebec |
| Format: | community |
| Owner: | La Radio du Pontiac Inc. |
| Erp: | 11.8 kW |
| Website: | http://www.chipfm.com/ |
CHIP-FM is a bilingual community radio station that operates at 101.9 FM in Fort-Coulonge, Quebec. The station serves Pontiac County in Quebec and Renfrew County in Ontario.
The station is a member of the Association des radiodiffuseurs communautaires du Québec.
On March 20, 1980, La Radio du Pontiac Inc. received approval from the CRTC to operate a new community FM radio station at Fort-Coulonge (101.7 MHz with effective radiated power of 3,000 watts) with rebroadcast transmitters at Chapeau (93.5 MHz with ERP of 150 watts) and Rapide-des-Joachims (94.3 MHz, and ERP of 35 watts). [1]
The station was originally launched in 1981 at 101.5 FM; it moved to 101.7 in 1993.[2]
On June 1981, La Radio du Pontiac Inc. was authorized to change frequencies for CHIP-FM's rebroadcast transmitters, CHIP-FM-1 to 94.5 MHz in Chapeau and CHIP-FM-2 to 107.5 MHz in Rapide-des-Joachims.
In January 1987, CHIP-FM informed the CRTC that the transmitter at Rapide-des-Joachims had never been implemented and that it did not wish to seek renewal for this rebroadcaster.
On February 25, 1994, the licence for CHIP-FM-1 Chapeau was revoked at the owner's request.[3]
CHIP-FM has been owned by La Radio du Pontiac Inc. since its launch in the early 1980s.
On April 10, 2015, La Radio du Pontiac, and Torres Media Ottawa—owner of Ottawa-based blues station CIDG-FM, both filed requests with the CRTC for CHIP-FM and CIDG-FM to swap frequencies, with CIDG-FM moving to 101.7 and CHIP-FM moving to 101.9. Torres stated that the move would allow CIDG to broadcast at a higher power, with coverage comparable to competing stations in the Ottawa-Gatineau market. This was not possible under the 101.9 frequency due to a requirement to protect stations in neighbouring markets on the same frequency. It was noted that this move would not have a negative impact on CHIP's coverage, and that Torres planned to provide La Radio du Pontiac with additional funding to hire staff and promote the station as compensation for the move.[4] [5] [6] The CRTC approved the applications on December 22, 2015.[7]
On August 30, 2016, at 1:40 pm EDT, CHIP-FM officially moved to its current 101.9 MHz frequency on the FM band.[8]