CHLQ-FM has broadcast from Charlottetown since March 1982, but the station listeners know as Q93 is really the third act of a four-decade run. It launched as "Magic 93," an adult contemporary and classic hits outlet, and held that format for exactly thirty years before flipping to mainstream rock as Q93 on July 16, 2012. The station rebranded again in April 2022 to Max 93.1, though it kept the same rock-driven playlist and the 93.1 frequency that generations of Islanders have had memorized for decades.
A Sister Station With Serious Reach
Owned by the Maritime Broadcasting System alongside CFCY-FM and CJRW-FM, CHLQ-FM runs at 75,000 watts of effective radiated power, a C1-class signal strong enough to cover Prince Edward Island well beyond Charlottetown itself. That kind of reach matters on an island where a handful of stations effectively define the local radio landscape, and it is part of why the frequency has stayed a fixture through three separate on-air identities.
From Magic to Mainstream Rock
The 2012 shift from adult contemporary to rock was not a small tweak, it was a full repositioning aimed at a different, younger-skewing audience while keeping the classic hits DNA of the format it replaced. That mix of 1960s-through-1980s rock staples with modern rock tracks is still the backbone of the station's sound today, even after the Max 93.1 rebrand traded out the on-air name.
An Island With Its Own Rock Pedigree
Prince Edward Island's rock and punk scene has quietly produced acts with real reach well beyond the Maritimes. Charlottetown itself is the hometown of Alvvays, whose indie rock has found an international audience, alongside Two Hours Traffic and a run of well-regarded punk bands through the 1990s and 2000s. A classic and mainstream rock station broadcasting out of that same city sits alongside a local scene that has never been shy about turning up the guitars.
Why Tune In
For listeners who want a straightforward mix of classic and current rock with the reach to cover an entire province, CHLQ-FM has been that station in one form or another since 1982. Whether you know it as Magic 93, Q93, or Max 93.1, the 93.1 signal out of Charlottetown has kept doing the same basic job for more than forty years: putting rock music on the air for Prince Edward Island.