1 of 1- RadioActive
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Zelda Gets A New Station & Time But Did CHIN Steal An FM Frequency?
There are several here who have mentioned Zelda Young's show on CHIN in the past. (And I wasn't too complimentary on her program myself.)
Now it turns out she'll be moving to a new frequency - but staying at the same station! She confirmed on Monday that as of March 4th, her weekday show will shift to CHIN's alternate FM outlet at 91.9 and change hours from 10-11AM to 11 AM- Noon. No reason was given for the change. The Sunday show on 1540 remains as is.
I've brought this up before, but with such scarce space on FM in Toronto, CHIN getting a second spot on the dial continues to irk me. It was awarded to them solely to simulcast their 1540 AM signal, which supposedly degrades so badly at night no one can get it. Fine, others have done the same.
But it's turned it into a virtual separate entity, giving them in effect a third fulltime radio station in Toronto - two of them on FM. Granted, other companies have more than one FM, but they didn't get it under false pretences. For a while, CHIN was simulcasting the evening shows, fulfilling the mandate, although technically they shouldn't have been able to program it separately during the daylight hours, when 1540 is at 50,000 watts.
But now, comparing the 91.9 FM sked to the one for AM 1540, it's obvious they're very different. So it can be argued CHIN is not using its "new" frequency for the purpose for which it was given. Yet they always seem to get a free pass on these kinds of things, whether it's other radio stations endlessly promoting the CHIN Picnic during the summer or changing what should have been a repeater into a separate and full fledged station in Canada's biggest radio market.
With so many would-be applicants now all but shut out here, I don't see why they should be allowed to get away with it.
- RadioAaron
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Re: Zelda Gets A New Station & Time But Did CHIN Steal An FM Frequency?
They were approved in 2017 to convert 91.9 from a translator to a separate programming service.
So, yeah, they back-doored their way in, but it's all above-board.
- RadioActive
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Re: Zelda Gets A New Station & Time But Did CHIN Steal An FM Frequency?
So all of a sudden, everyone who couldn't get 1540 at night is now able to receive it? That's false pretences and I'm surprised the CRTC agreed to it. Still doesn't seem fair to those who might have wanted to try for that frequency.
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Thread Starter- Radiowiz
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Re: Zelda Gets A New Station & Time But Did CHIN Steal An FM Frequency?
This seems to be the most recent info:
RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person.
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.
- RadioActive
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Re: Zelda Gets A New Station & Time But Did CHIN Steal An FM Frequency?
And point #15 from their application you cited appears to prove my point.
"Radio 1540 acknowledged that its proposal would result in a slight increase in interference for CHIN listeners for periods in the early morning and afternoon for part of the year, but stated that this interference would be limited and generally of short duration and should not have a significant effect on CHIN’s listenership."
Which to me just means they're admitting that the reason for getting the second FM in the first place was entirely bogus. Again, it was a problem in the past that hadn't changed but we suddenly don't care anymore? I'm not buying it.
Good for them for pulling it off, I suppose, but the regulators should be ashamed of themselves for letting them get away with it.
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Thread Starter- Saul
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Re: Zelda Gets A New Station & Time But Did CHIN Steal An FM Frequency?
I do think CHIN should have been required to face competing applications to use 91.9 (radio frequencies are public property) if it wanted a separate station.
On the other hand ...
Odds were very good that CHIN 91.9, with a separate service, would actually launch programming fairly quickly, and not otherwise screw up or melt internally. Professional. Unlike some other applicants and licence holders;
The expansion of CHIN may have been seen by the CRTC as a decent guarantee of language / cultural diversity than other non-English applicants;
In a digital world, broadcasters now have many ways to extend poor signals - online streams, digital sub-channels, etc. (This could also work against CHIN; CRTC could have decided CHIN could find a digital HD channel for same purpose).
Last edited by Saul (January 21, 2019 2:43 pm)