Despite the objections of hundreds of English Townshippers, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission recently approved the application for CHLT-FM radio to gain access to a new radio frequency that will likely clash with a signal from Vermont Public Radio that is widely listened to in the Townships.

Following a request from CHLT’s owner Corus Entertainment, the CRTC agreed to amend the station’s broadcasting licence to change its frequency from 102.1 to 107.7 FM, authorizing at the same time a power increase from 5,800 watts to 24,000 watts, an increase in the antenna height, and the relocation of the transmitter.
The CRTC ruled the change will provide listeners in the Sherbrooke area with a better quality signal.
CHLT manager Jocelyn Proulx said the CRTC’s decision will give the French-language news/talk radio station a much wider range and allow it to reach longtime listeners.
Formerly broadcast exclusively on AM 630, the station’s new FM signal  is not powerful enough to reach all of its listeners, Proulx explained. CHLT has been broadcasting on 102.1 FM since August 2007, but has continued to broadcast on AM 630 to continue to reach out of town listeners including those between Sherbrooke and Richmond, Coaticook, Waterloo, Stanstead and Scotstown, said Proulx.
“We can’t stop broadcasting on the AM band until we get the new frequency,” Proulx said, explaining a few more steps have to be completed before CHLT can broadcast on 107.7.
Now that the new frequency change has been approved by the CRTC, the radio station has to replace its existing tower and build a new one on Mount J.S. Bourque, the mountain behind Mount Bellevue, said Proulx.
Proulx said the request for a construction permit progressed from the borough of Mont Bellevue to the city’s urban planning committee this week.
If all goes according to plan, the radio station will get a construction permit in mid-October and begin building the new tower as soon as possible to complete it before the snow falls. That should take about six weeks, said Proulx.
Once the new transmitter and tower are built, Proulx said there will be a one-month trial period with Industry Canada to ensure the new frequency doesn’t have any parasites and that it does not clash with existing telecommunication signals.
“We can’t wait to cover the territory with a single frequency,” said Proulx. “We have been waiting for years for this to happen.”
Proulx told the Record he did not want to comment on potential problems listeners of Vermont Public Radio may face. He simply said that Corus’s request has been approved and that’s good news for CHLT listeners.
Meanwhile south of the border, Vermont Public Radio worries the new signal will likely cause significant interference to VPR’s signal at 107.9 FM in a large portion of the Townships including Hatley, Magog, Knowlton, and Stanstead. It could also cause interference in border communities in Northern Vermont.
VPR had filed a formal objection to CHLT’s application and more than 200 listeners in Quebec wrote to the CRTC to oppose the frequency change.
VPR’s objections were denied by the CRTC which noted “because VPR is a U.S. station, it was not considered in the examination of this application.”
The CRTC acknowledged that most of the interveners and individuals who opposed CHLT’s application “were concerned it would be virtually impossible to tune in to Vermont Public Radio (VPR), which currently operates at 107.9 without interference.” The CRTC also remarked that opponents also complained the loss of VPR would leave them with only one English-language station in the Sherbrooke area - the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
“Our particular remarks were not taken into account,” VPR President Mark Vogelzang told the Record Monday. “That’s not surprising. Canada is a sovereign country and the CRTC is a sovereign body. What’s surprising to me is that they didn’t take into account the objections of citizens of Canada.”
The CRTC’s decision is extremely disappointing for Vermont Public Radio, but especially so for the thousands of 107.9 fm listeners in the Eastern Townships, said a VPR statement.
“It was remarkable that so many voluntary citizens of Canada said we want to maintain our access to public radio,” said Vogelzang.
The CRTC received a mere two letters in support of the frequency change - from Sherbrooke Mayor Jean Perrault and Sherbrooke MP Serge Cardin - and well over 200 letters from citizens who objected to the move because it would greatly impact their ability to tune into VPR which is located right next to the new CHLT frequency on the FM dial.
All VPR can do now is to make sure there is no interference between CHLT’s signal and the VPR signal south of the border, said Vogelzang, remarking that if there is any interference for U.S. listeners, VPR will be able to go to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to ensure problems are corrected.
And once CHLT hits the airwaves on its new frequency, Vogelzang said there are ways to ensure Canadian listeners can avoid interference.
“We want to work with people who are experiencing interference and give them guidance on how they can improve reception of Vermont Pubic radio,” he said. “For instance, if Gramma has been listening to VPR on her  20-year-old radio in her kitchen with no antenna and suddenly she can’t hear 107.9, there are ways we can help her.”
Vogelzang said solution can been as simple as getting an antenna or moving the radio to a different location. Listeners may also choose to buy a new digital radio.
“In Vermont we have a beautiful state with a lot of mountains and we have a lot of experience helping listeners who have a mountain in between them and us.
The CRTC decision also notes that Astral Media Radio Inc. , which runs CIMO-FM-1 Sherbrooke (106.9 FM) , complained the new frequency for CHLT would create interference near the new transmitter site at Mont Bellevue, which, in turn, would compromise reception of CIMO-FM Magog’s signal in Sherbrooke.
But the CRTC countered that CHLT argued its new technical parameters would be in compliance with all domestic and international requirements in place to protect the quality of the signal of U.S. station VPR. CHLT also told the CRTC it was prepared to work with Astral to share the Mont Bellevue site and prevent any interference between the two stations.

By Rita Legault 
Sherbrooke