'CITE-FM-1' is a
French-language Canadian radio station located in
Sherbrooke,
Quebec.
Owned and operated by
Astral Media, it broadcasts on 102.7
MHz with an
effective radiated power of 100,000
watts (
class C1) using an
omnidirectional antenna. While that signal gives the station an impressive coverage, thanks to the transmitter's location on
Mount Orford, it also suffers from severe deficiencies in downtown Sherbrooke, and as a result the station also operates a low-power relay there, CITE-FM-2, which broadcasts on 94.5 MHz with an effective radiated power of 50 watts, also using an omnidirectional antenna.
The station has an
adult contemporary format, and is part of the
Rock Détente network which operates across Quebec and
Eastern Ontario.
Although the station's
call sign suggests it is a relay of
CITE-FM in
Montreal, it is not actually a relay and programs from Montreal are not more common than on other Rock Détente stations (which have independent call signs). The reason for this irregular call sign is unclear. There is no known record among CRTC decisions suggesting that CITE-FM-1 was ever a full-time relay of CITE-FM in Montreal, or that the proportion of programming coming from Montreal was ever higher than for other Rock Detente stations.
Anecdotal observations suggest that a modest but still noticeable number of Montreal-area listeners listen to the Sherbrooke Rock Détente station instead of the Montreal one. Since it is highly plausible that some of these listeners report ambiguously their listening in
BBM diaries, as a result their listening to the Sherbrooke station would be assigned as per BBM rules to the Montreal Rock Détente station, which might explain the former station retaining its unusual call sign.
CITE-FM-1 started as CHLT-FM in the early 1960s, as it was created as a
sister station to
CHLT 630 (now known as CHLT-FM since that station moved to the FM band), also in Sherbrooke. Since early 2005, they are no longer sister stations, as CHLT is now owned by
Corus Entertainment. CITE-FM-1 was briefly known as CITE-FM in 1977, just before CITE-FM in Montreal started to broadcast.
External links
★
Rock Détente 102,7 FM (official website)