Not to be confused with "CHOQ.FM", an unlicensed closed-circuit radio station at the Université du Québec à Montréal

Université du Québec à Montréal

The Université du Québec à Montréal is one of four universities in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-Basic facts:The UQAM is the largest constituent element of the Université du Québec , a public university system with other branches in Gatineau , Rimouski, Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec City, Chicoutimi, and...

.

CHOQ-FM is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 radio station which began broadcasting in 2006. A non-profit community radio

Community radio

Community radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...

 station for Franco-Ontarian

Franco-Ontarian

Franco-Ontarians are French Canadian or francophone residents of the Canadian province of Ontario. They are sometimes known as "Ontarois"....

s in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, the station broadcasts at 105.1 on the FM dial. CHOQ is also available as a digital television radio

Digital television radio

Digital-television radio, DTV radio, or DTR is an informal term which describes the music channels that are provided with a digital television service. In terms of price and musical variety, DTR falls somewhere between regular AM or FM radio, and satellite radio...

 feed on Rogers Cable

Rogers Cable

Rogers Cable Inc., a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., is Canada's largest cable television service provider with about 2.25 million television customers, and over 930,000 Internet subscribers, in Manitoba, Southern & Eastern Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.The...

 in the greater Toronto area on channel 957.

CHOQ is owned by a cooperative

Cooperative

A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...

, La Coopérative Radiophonique de Toronto.

History

The history of this station dates back to 1991, when the group was granted a special temporary FM licence for a French-language community radio programming undertaking at Toronto, on a frequency of 99.1 MHz. The station would broadcast programs during "La Semaine française à Toronto", from June 16 to 23, 1991 and was incorporated as "La Coopérative radiophonique de Toronto inc." on July 5 the same year.

On June 16, 2000, the station was denied a licence to operate a French-language community FM radio station at Toronto on the frequency 93.5 MHz. This 93.5 frequency was awarded to CFXJ-FM

CFXJ-FM

CFXJ-FM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario, which uses the on-air brand FLOW 93.5. It first aired in 2001 as Canada's first urban music station...

.

On April 17, 2003, La Coopérative radiophonique de Toronto inc. received CRTC approval for a new french-language community FM radio station at Toronto, to operate at 105.1 MHz.

On October 18, 2004 the station received a $75,000 startup grant from the Trillium Foundation.

The station's launch was originally scheduled for 2005. The station did air a testing signal for three weeks in November of that year, but did not launch its permanent signal until May 1, 2006.

Programming

The station primarily plays a francophone pop music

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 format during the day, with some informational and magazine programming airing evenings and weekends. The station also publishes a weekly Top 40 singles chart in L'Express de Toronto.

The station used to broadcast dance music

Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

 programming nightly between the hours of 10pm and 6am, branded as Energy 105.1 (Shock FM). This programming aired in English, and was not produced by Radio-Toronto, but was leased out to another company. This programming no longer airs on the station as of 2009; the station currently signs off the air during the overnight hours.

External links

• CHOQ
• CHOQ history at Canadian Communications Foundation
  Canadian Communications Foundation
  The Canadian Communications Foundation is a history of Canadian broadcasting for radio and television chronicles and documents. It also provides a history of radio and television stations, including networks, programs, broadcasters and many others....
  
  - see also CHOQ history in French http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listings_and_histories/radio/histories.php?id=1033&historyID=920&lang=french