CIMI-FM was a

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-Romance, a descendant of the Latin spoken in ...

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

and

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. ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

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 ...

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, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The station broadcast at 103.7 FM and broadcasts from the borough of Charlesbourg.

History

The non-profit organization which manages the radio station was registered in December 1999 by three young promoters, Philippe Bélanger, Dominique Tessier, Pierre-Luc Dancause, and the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

sat for the first time in January 2000. During the summer of 2000, a business plan was assembled, a technical study carried out and an application for a broadcast license was filed with the

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission 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 ...

(CRTC). On 5 March 2001, the CRTC granted the license and the station began broadcasting on 10 August of the same year at 4:15 p.m. In the beginning, 24-year-old Philippe Bélanger was program director and hosted the station's launch. The station would broadcast exclusively French-language music during the day, and English Canadian, American, and British

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

in the evening and overnight. On 2 July 2002,

André Arthur André Arthur (December 21, 1943 – May 8, 2022) was a Canadian radio host and politician. He was the Independent politician, independent Parliament of Canada, Member of Parliament for the riding of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier from 2006 to 2011. ...

took to the microphone at CIMI after he was dismissed from

CJMF-FM CJMF-FM is a French-language Canadian radio station located in Quebec City, Quebec. Owned and operated by Cogeco, it broadcasts on 93.3 MHz with an effective radiated power of 32,960 watts ( class C1) using an omnidirectional antenna. The statio ...

("FM 93") in November 2001. Arthur then signed with CKNU in Donnacona (now CHXX-FM) in August 2002, where the program would now originate and be simulcast to CIMI. Between 2002 and 2005, in spite of relatively good ratings, the station's weak signal made it hard to keep sponsors, as Genex was more interested in bringing advertisers to CKNU, to the detriment of the small Charlesbourg community radio station. As CIMI accumulated complaints, and telecommunications giants like

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 ...

(past owner of the now-defunct CHRC) 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 ...

(FM 93) accused the small station of not respecting its broadcasting mandate, they began to lose advertising revenue. François Beaulé (formerly of CHRC) directed the station from 2003 until the summer of 2005. The station now offered programming more focused on "talk radio" and has as its slogan "''la radio qui vous parle à Québec''" ("Radio which talks to you in Quebec City"). In October 2005, CKNU was sold to

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 ...

, the transaction was approved before the holidays, and everyone was laid off. CIMI lost its programming, but it applied for an increase in power and an antenna relocation, along with a frequency change to 106.9 MHz. This application was refused by the CRTC, and the frequency was obtained by

Corus Entertainment Corus Entertainment Inc. (often simply known as Corus) is a Canadian mass media and television production company. The company was founded in 1987 as Shaw Radio Ltd. as a subsidiary of Shaw Communications and was spun-off from Shaw in 1999. It h ...

to serve

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

in order to move CHLN-FM from AM to FM. This small community radio station was sued by local radio personality Robert Gillet who claimed three million dollars for

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

, after André Arthur spoke extensively about the Scorpion case, a scandal which has embroiled Gillet, having been found guilty in a court trial of having sex with a minor for a fee. In February 2006, CIMI was targeted by another lawsuit on behalf of a lawyer from

following allegations by entertainer Roby Moreault. CIMI-FM ceased programs 23 July 2008, citing financial and legal troubles. The CRTC cancelled CIMI-FM's license on 5 September 2012, after a lack of communication between the CRTC and the contact person for the station since its 2008 closure.

Audience

The audience of CIMI-FM 103.7 was generally different depending on the time of day. Programs like ''L'Alternative'', ''Rebelles'' and ''Moreault dans le Retour'' was targeted to a very large audience (males 25–54). Mornings, CIMI was aimed to an older audience with programs like ''Hier Encore'' (men and women 55+). As the day progresses the audience becomes younger in the evening (males 18–25) as it plays hard rock music. In 2003, the Canadian polling company SOM found that more than 100,000 people in the Quebec City Area listened to CIMI-FM, and that over 190,000 people knew of or have heard of the station.RadioActu.ca
, 11 April 2003 (in French)

References

External links

CIMI-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:Cimi-Fm Imi Imi Imi Imi Radio stations established in 2001 Radio stations disestablished in 2008 2001 establishments in Quebec 2008 disestablishments in Quebec