CHRC-FM (92.5 FM, "92.5 Big FM") is a radio station licensed to

Rockland, Ontario Rockland is a bilingual community located about east of downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, part of the city of Clarence-Rockland. Rockland has a population of 13,625 (2021), making up roughly half the population of the municipality. It is home t ...

. Owned by Radio communautaire Cornwall-Alexandria, it broadcasts an adult hits format serving

Clarence-Rockland, Ontario Clarence-Rockland is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell on the Ottawa River. Clarence-Rockland, located immediately to the east of Ottawa, was formed on January 1, 1998, through the amalgamation of t ...

History

On February 25, 2013, the

CRTC The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...

approved an application for a new FM radio station in Rockland, Ontario by Dufferin Communications, a subsidiary of

Evanov Radio Group Evanov Communications is a Canadian radio broadcasting company. It is also the sole owner of Dufferin Communications Inc., 80% owner of Halifax Broadcasting Ltd. and Ottawa Media Inc. The group of Evanov companies owns and operates a number of ra ...

. Evanov proposed 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 ...

station broadcasting on 92.5 FM with an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 333

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

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 ...

and Evanov accepted that there would be a small zone of interference between the new station and

CKBE-FM CKBE-FM (92.5 Hertz, MHz, ''The Beat 92.5'') is an English language Canadian radio station located in Montreal, Quebec. It is owned and operated by Cogeco and airs a rhythmic adult contemporary format. CKBE-FM has an effective radiated power (E ...

in Montreal. In June 2013, the station was assigned the call letters CHRC-FM. That

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

was previously used by a now-defunct radio station 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 ...

. On October 15, 2013, CHRC-FM launched with a

soft 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 ''Jewel 92.5''; its lineup featured the syndicated ''

John Tesh John Frank Tesh Jr. (born July 9, 1952) is an American musician and radio and television presenter. He wrote the '' NBA on NBC'' basketball theme " Roundball Rock", and hosts the ''Intelligence for Your Life'' radio show. In addition, since 20 ...

'' ''Radio Show'' and nightly blocks of

adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...

(''The Lounge'') and beautiful music (''The Instrumental Concert Series''). Hot Country 92

In May 2021, CHRC-FM flipped to

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

as ''Hot Country 92.5''. On September 5, 2024, Evanov announced that the station, along with

CJWL-FM CITM-FM (98.5 MHz ''Mix 98.5'') is a Canadian radio station in Ottawa, Ontario. It is owned by Evanov Communications and broadcasts an adult contemporary format under the management of Torres Media, pending completion of the station's sale to the ...

in Ottawa and CKHK-FM in Hawkesbury, would close effective September 20, 2024, due to increased competition, changing listener habits, and economic conditions brought upon by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. However, on September 19, Evanov announced that it had reached agreements to sell all three stations instead, with an agreement to sell CHRC and CKHK to Radio communautaire Cornwall-Alexandria—the cooperative that owns CHOD-FM ''92.1 Go FM'' in Cornwall, pending CRTC approval. While CHOD is a francophone station, it was stated that the stations would still broadcast in English. Radio communautaire Cornwall-Alexandria formally filed applications to acquire the stations on January 24, 2025, valuing them at $150,000 each. It operated the stations under a temporary management agreement until the sale of the station was approved. On the morning of May 12, 2025, CHRC and CKHK stunted with a loop of "Bye Bye Mon Cowboy" by Quebecois singer

Mitsou Mitsou Annie Marie Gélinas (born September 1, 1970, in Loretteville, Quebec) is a Canadian pop singer, businesswoman, television and radio host, and actress. She is credited as Mitsou Gélinas when acting, but records simply as Mitsou (the Fre ...

, before flipping to adult hits at noon as ''Big FM''. The CRTC approved 1001012762 Ontario Inc. application on June 30, 2025. Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2025-164
CHRC-FM Clarence-Rockland – Change in ownership and effective control, ''CRTC'', June 30, 2025

References

External links

92.5 BIG FMCHRC-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 ...

* {{coord, 45, 31, 27, N, 75, 17, 30, W, type:landmark_region:CA, display=title Clarence-Rockland HRC HRC Radio stations established in 2013 2013 establishments in Ontario