CIDG-FM

Former logo as Dawg FM

CIDG faced difficulties in growing an audience due to the quality of its signal, which was restricted in power in order to protect stations in Cornwall (CJSS-FM) and Kingston (CFRC-FM) on the same frequency (101.9 MHz), as well as listeners being alienated by the hybrid blues/blues-rock format it originally broadcast.[8] Despite these shortcomings, the station did receive praise for helping promote Canadian blues artists.[8]

On April 10, 2015, Torres Media Ottawa and Pontiac Community Radio—owner of CHIP-FM 101.7 in Fort-Coulonge, Quebec, filed requests with the CRTC for CIDG and CHIP to swap frequencies, resulting in CIDG-FM moving to 101.7 and CHIP-FM moving to 101.9. Torres stated that the move would allow CIDG to increase its power to 19,500 watts, giving it a signal and coverage comparable to other commercial radio stations in the Ottawa-Gatineau market. As a condition of the swap, Torres stated that it would provide Pontiac Community Radio with monetary compensation, which would be used by CHIP to hire additional staff and help advertise the station.[9][10] The CRTC approved the applications on December 22, 2015.[11] On August 23, 2016, the CRTC approved Torres' application to change CIDG's authorized contours.[12] On July 18, 2016 as part of a licence renewal, the CRTC removed CIDG's obligation to broadcast special interest music, citing that allowing CIDG to broadcast a mainstream format would allow the station to become more competitive and economically viable.[13]

Alongside the planned change in frequency, also announced that it would re-launch as a mainstream rock station known as Rebel 101.7. Co-owner Ed Torres felt that the station was experiencing difficulty in competing against other station in the market due to its blues-oriented format, stating that "It's been a challenge holding an audience because it seems to go between the blues and rock. "We've tried to tweak the format in both directions to see if we can get some traction in one format or another. But the nature of the way the licence was structured was that we had to play both." Torres stated that Rebel would have a playlist that "[spans] a number of decades"; the station's format change was also meant to fill a void left by CKQB-FM's switch from rock to top 40 in March 2014.[8] Former CKKL-FM and CKQB personalities Darryl Kornicky and Jason "J-Man" Petrunik also joined the station. The former Dawg-FM format was moved to an internet radio station, which will focus primarily on blues material as opposed to the mixture of blues and blues-rock.[8]

The change in format occurred on August 26, 2016,[8] although CIDG did not immediately move to its new frequency due to technical issues delaying the switch.[14][15] CIDG-FM moved from 101.9 MHz to 101.7 MHz on August 30, 2016 at approximately 1:30p.m. EDT.

On September 23,2019 Rebebel 101.7 increased power to newly approved parameters of 21,000 watts. https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2019/2019-104.htm

Darryl Spring - In December of 2019 Program/Music Director and Afternoon Drive Host Darryl Spring was fired. Little to no reason was given for his dismissal. This proved to be confusing to the loyal listeners of the station known as "The Rebellion". Not long after his dismissal Darryl launched a podcast at Darryl Talks To Bands and has also stated a blog at www.HeavyInOttawa.com