CHIN (AM)
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| City of license | Toronto, Ontario |
|---|---|
| Branding | CHIN Radio |
| Slogan | International Radio |
| Frequency | 1540 kHz (AM) |
| Translator(s) | CHIN-1-FM 91.9 MHz (FM) |
| First air date | 1966 |
| Format | multilingual |
| Power | 50,000 watts daytime 30,000 watts nighttime |
| Class | B |
| Callsign meaning | "CHIN" is pronounced like the Italian drinking toast cin, it can also refer to CHINa |
| Owner | CHIN Radio/TV International (Radio 1540 Limited) |
| Sister stations | CHIN-FM |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www.chinradio.com |
CHIN is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts multilingual programming at AM 1540 in Toronto, Ontario. It is a Class B station broadcasting on a clear-channel shared by The U.S. and The Bahamas. It is owned by CHIN Radio/TV International, and also has an FM rebroadcaster at 91.9 to fill in reception gaps in parts of the Toronto area — this should not be confused with CHIN-FM, which offers a distinct program schedule. CHIN's studios are located on College Street in the Palmerston-Little Italy neighbourhood of Toronto, while its AM transmitters are located on Lakeshore Avenue on the Toronto Islands, and the FM rebroadcaster is located atop an apartment tower complex near Bathurst and Sheppard in Toronto's Clanton Park neighbourhood.
The station, one of Canada's first multilingual broadcast outlets along with Montreal's CFMB, was launched in 1966 by Toronto broadcaster Johnny Lombardi. CHIN-FM was launched the following year, and a second FM signal acting as the AM station's FM rebroadcaster was added in 1997 (at 101.3 MHz) with the call letters CHIN-1-FM.[1]
On April 17, 2003, Radio 1540 Ltd. was given approval to change the frequency of CHIN-1-FM Toronto from 101.3 MHz to 91.9 MHz and to increase the effective radiated power from 22 to 35 watts. [2]
CHIN's daytime lineup consists primarily of Chinese (Cantonese & Mandarin) and Italian programming, with some Albanian, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, German, Greek, Irish, Jewish, Romanian, Somali, Spanish and Ukrainian programming airing on Saturdays & Sundays.
On January 14, 2011, CHIN received approval to increase the effective radiated power for the CHIN-FM-1 91.9 FM transmitter from 161 to 1,850 watts (maximum ERP from 350 to 5,000 watts with an antenna height above average terrain of 86 metres).[3]
References
- ↑ Decision CRTC 97-539
- ↑ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2003-119, CHIN Toronto - Technical Changes, CRTC, April 17, 2003
- ↑ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2011-30, CHIN and its transmitter CHIN-FM-1 Toronto - Technical change, CRTC, January 14, 2011
External links
- CHIN Radio
- CHIN-AM history - Canadian Communications Foundation
- Query the REC's Canadian station database for CHIN
- Radio-locator information on CHIN
