CHOA-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 96.5 FM in

Rouyn-Noranda Rouyn-Noranda (; Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population 42,313) is a city on Osisko Lake in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, Canada. The city of Rouyn-Noranda is coextensive with a territory equivalent to a regional county municipalit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. The station has an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

format branded as ''Wow 96.5''. Owned and operated by

Arsenal Media Arsenal Media is a broadcasting company based in Saint-Lambert, Quebec, Canada operating 18 radio stations. Through its various antennas, the company is able to reach more than one and a half million potential listeners in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean ...

, the station aired an adult contemporary format from its inception, both under independent branding and as an affiliate of

Astral Media Astral Media Inc. was a Canadian media conglomerate. It was Canada's largest radio broadcaster, with 84 radio stations in eight provinces. Astral was also a major player in premium and specialty television in Canada, with 23 specialty channel ...

RockDétente Rouge FM (or Rouge) is a network of French-language adult contemporary radio stations broadcasting throughout Quebec, Canada. Established in 1990 as RockDétente, they are owned by Bell Media. All "Rouge" stations broadcast in the same markets a ...

and

Cogeco Cogeco Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications and media company. Its corporate offices are located at 1 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec. The company is structured into three strategic business units (SBU); Cogeco Connexion, Breezeline (p ...

Rythme FM Rythme FM is a network of French language, French-language adult contemporary FM broadcasting, FM radio stations broadcasting in most major markets of Quebec. The network was created and owned by Cogeco. History The brand "Rythme FM" was intr ...

networks. The station briefly adopted a

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

format branded as ''Radio X'' after

RNC Media RNC Media (formerly ''Radio-Nord Communications'') is a Canadian broadcasting group based in Westmount, Quebec, with offices in Gatineau and Rouyn-Noranda. The company operates five television stations and several radio stations, mostly in Quebe ...

acquired CHOI in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

in 2006, but later reverted to the Couleur FM name and format, and was rebranded as ''Planète'' in 2008. The Radio X branding later resurfaced at sister stations CHGO-FM and

CJGO-FM CJGO-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 102.1 FM radio, FM in La Sarre, Quebec. Owned and operated by Arsenal Media, the station airs an active rock format branded as Capitale Rock. CJGO also has a rebroadcaster in Rouyn-Norand ...

. CHOA also has rebroadcast transmitters in

Val-d'Or Val-d'Or ( , , ; meaning "Golden Valley" or "Valley of Gold") is a city in Quebec, Canada with a population of 32,752 inhabitants according to the 2021 Canadian census. The city is located in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region near La Vérendrye ...

(103.5) and

La Sarre La Sarre () is a town in northwestern Quebec, Canada, and is the most populous town and seat of the Abitibi-Ouest Regional County Municipality. It is located at the intersection of Routes 111 and 393, on the La Sarre River, a tributary of Lake ...

(103.9). RNC applied in 1996 to convert CHOA's retransmitter in Val-d'Or into an originating station, but was denied because the market could not support a new commercial station. In December 2014, it was announced that CHOA-FM would become an affiliate of Cogeco's ''Rythme FM'' network, starting on March 9, 2015. The station was the second Rythme FM outlet owned by RNC, with

CHLX-FM CHLX-FM (97.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Gatineau, Quebec, serving the National Capital Region including Ottawa. A francophone and a Rythme FM affiliate station owned by RNC Media, CHLX airs a format of French-language adult contemp ...

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

being the first. On August 7. 2017, CHOA dropped the "Rhythme" brand and re-branded as ''Wow FM''. CHLX had similarly re-branded.

References

External links

Wow 96.5

CHOA-FM
at The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the

Canadian Communications Foundation The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) was a Canadian nonprofit organization which documented the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television networks, programs and broadcasters. The organization was established in ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Choa-Fm Hoa Hoa Hoa Radio stations established in 1990 1990 establishments in Quebec Hoa