CIDG-FM

101.9 DAWG FM
City of license Ottawa, Ontario
Broadcast area Eastern Ontario
Branding DAWG FM
Slogan We're Rockin' the Blues
Frequency 101.9 (moving to 101.7) MHz (FM)
First air date June 7, 2010-present
Format blues/blues-rock
Class A
Callsign meaning CI DawG
Owner Torres Media Ottawa
Webcast Listen Live
Website www.dawgfm.com

CIDG-FM, branded as DAWG FM, is a Canadian radio station which broadcasts Canada's first and only all blues and blues-rock format, operating on 101.9 FM in Ottawa, Ontario. The station's studios are located on Hunt Club Road in Ottawa, while its transmitter is located in Ottawa atop a building on Montreal Road in Ottawa's east end.

Owned by Frank Torres and Ed Torres of Skywords Traffic Network, the station was authorized by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on August 26, 2008.[1]

The station began testing its signal on June 1, 2010 and launched at 7:30 AM on June 7, 2010. That morning, The DAWG'S Breakfast with Geoff Winter featured Max Keeping and eventual Juno-winning Ottawa band MonkeyJunk as special guests.

Since its inception, DAWG FM has participated in many community events in the Ottawa area, including the creation of the first annual Class Axe Guitars Calabogie Blues and Ribfest.

Controversy

CRTC commissioner Michel Morin took the unusual step of issuing a dissenting opinion, in which he stated that Corus Entertainment's competing proposal for a new talk radio station served a greater need in the market. In his dissent, Morin called attention to the fact that very few other radio stations in North America offer a primarily blues-based format, suggesting that there may not be sufficient audience demand to support the station in the long term.[1]

On November 21, 2008, federal Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages James Moore issued a statement calling on the CRTC to review its approval of both CIDG and Astral Media's new classic hits station CJOT-FM. Moore asked the commission to assess whether the francophone population of the Ottawa-Gatineau area was sufficiently well-served by existing French radio services, and to consider licensing one or more of the French language applications — which included a Christian music station, a community radio station and a campus radio station for the Université du Québec en Outaouais — in addition to or instead of the approved stations.[2][3] In the resulting round of hearings, Torres proposed that a new francophone station could be licensed on 94.5 FM, although such a station would be second-adjacent to Astral's CIMF-FM.[4] Industry Canada subsequently aired a testing signal on 94.5 in May 2009 to determine whether the signal could be used without affecting CIMF.[5] The test found that the signal could be used without causing significant interference to CIMF, and Astral consequently gave its consent to the use of the frequency as long as the company retained its license for CJOT.[6]

On April 8, 2010, CIDG-FM received approval to decreasing the average effective radiated power from 1,300 watts to 934 watts, by increasing the maximum ERP from 3,000 watts to 4,500 watts (effective height of antenna above average terrain of 98 metres), and by relocating the antenna. [7]

Signal Boost

Though DAWG quickly gained a devoted following of fans, the limitations of the weak signal on the 101.9 frequency meant that many people in the National Capital Region could not tune into the station. In order to penetrate the concrete buildings in downtown Ottawa and to reach outlying communities, the station applied to have their signal boosted.

On April 19, 2011, Torres received CRTC approval to change the authorized contours of CIDG-FM by increasing the effective radiated power (ERP) from 934 to 1,793 watts (maximum ERP from 4,500 to 5,500 watts with an effective height of antenna above average terrain of 98 metres). [8]

On April 10, 2015 it was announced that Torres had submitted an application to change CIDG-FM's frequency from 101.9 MHz to 101.7 MHz, as well as increase its power from 5,000 watts to 19,500 watts.[9] On the same date, La Radio du Pontiac Inc., the owners of CHIP-FM in Fort-Coulonge, Quebec also submitted an application to change CHIP-FM's frequency from 101.7 MHz to 101.9 MHz. [10] The CRTC approved the applications on December 22, 2015. [11]

Sister Stations

On November 9, 2011, Frank Torres submitted an application to the CRTC to operate a new radio station at Uxbridge, Ontario. On April 3rd, the CRTC approved the new station that will operate a classic hits format at 105.5 MHz. [12]

References

  1. 1 2 Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2008-222
  2. ↑ "The Government of Canada Refers Decisions on Radio in the Ottawa-Gatineau Region Back to CRTC", November 21, 2008.
  3. ↑ Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2009-2, January 8, 2009
  4. ↑ "Language card played in bid for radio spot on FM dial". Ottawa Citizen, April 14, 2009.
  5. ↑ Scott Fybush, "On Memorial Day, No On-Air 'Rewound'". NorthEast Radio Watch, May 25, 2009.
  6. ↑ Scott Fybush, "The End of Analog". NorthEast Radio Watch, June 15, 2009.
  7. ↑ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2010-203
  8. ↑ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2011-262
  9. ↑ 2015-0266-7, Frequency change and technical amendment - contours for CIDG-FM Ottawa, CRTC, April 10, 2015
  10. ↑ 2015-0312-8, Frequency change for CHIP-FM Fort-Coulonge, CRTC, April 10, 2015
  11. ↑ Broadcasting Decision CRTC2015-575, CIDG-FM Ottawa and CHIP-FM Fort-Coulonge - Licence amendments and technical changes, CRTC, December 22, 2015.
  12. ↑

External links

Coordinates: 45°20′20″N 75°40′53″W / 45.33887°N 75.6814°W / 45.33887; -75.6814

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