In the "can't you just let let it go" category (and obviously I can't) I will always believe CHIN stole the 91.9 frequency. It was originally granted to simulcast 1540's output, precisely because of the reasons cited in the above post. 

But after doing that for a while, the station explained that, "well, we're OK on 1540 during the day and only need the simulcast after sundown." So for a very short while, that's what they did. And then, without any explanation, 91.9 suddenly went full time with all new programming, while the stuff that supposedly no one could hear on 1540 remained there, as it does to this day. 

I'm not sure why the CRTC allowed it, or how they've gotten away with it for so long. But in a city where FM frequencies are so scarce, to allow CHIN Radio a third frequency and a second on the better band under false pretences seems grossly unfair. And I've always wondered why they're allowed to do it. 

CHIN had a rocky start and actually lost its license in 1970 after a Serbian show it carried called for the assassination of Yugoslavia's counsel in Toronto (another complication was a falling out between Lombardi and his business partners). Lombardi had to reapply for CHIN's license and beat out his former partner, James Service (a former North York mayor), Foster Hewitt, and several other applicants to reacquire it. Hewitt's application must have upset Lombardi as Lombardi had had a show on CKFH for years before he went on his own and launched CHIN.

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Last edited by Hansa (June 24, 2024 1:24 pm)

Was that the same Vic Phillips who ended up as a reporter on CFTO back when it was called "Worldbeat News?"

rk12 wrote:

I am in N/W Mississauga and 91.9 is just static.1540 perfect clear.My prediction is they will want more power for 91.9 and shutdown 1540. 

They're likely maxed out on 91.9.

The answer would be to use the new HD capabilities of 100.7 and multicast.

88.9 and 101.3 have been doing this successfully by niche targeting ethnic communities and selling the time accordingly.

One thing I found peculiar after the change is that on the CHIN Radio Canada page (Italian department), it states that from Monday to Saturday 8am to 5pm their program will be aired on 1540, but their streaming counterpart provides 24 hours Italian music for those tuning in outside the hour. However isn't the online streaming need to be in sync with the one that they air terrestrially? Can anyone confirm that they are still airing Portuguese programming at 7pm to 12am on the frequency? As I am outside the region currently.

According to the schedule CHIN AM is now Italian all day long except for one 15-minute South Asian show at 7:45 AM.

https://www.chinradio.com/schedule-page-1540

Last edited by Hansa (June 26, 2024 8:20 am)

Ok, but even if you accept that, the licence called for 42 hours of 1540 simulcasts a week.

Their total now: zero.

Why they were allowed to have a de facto third station when they agreed to something else entirely and use a scarce frequency to do it has always annoyed me. 

Luca Brasi LLP, Telecommunications & Broadcast law.

CHIN always was known mainly for its Italian programming and its morning show was in that language for decades. When I was a kid, my Italian next door neighbour, Pasquale, used to blast it out of his garage for a lot of the day. 

It's also where I first learned to operate a radio board. It was the mid-1970s and I wasn't even old enough to drive, but somehow wangled my way in there as an unpaid trainee. 

I still remember one fateful Sunday when a huge soccer game was going on overseas. This was long before Internet or cable, and certainly "streaming" wasn't even a real word yet. CHIN had made a big deal of carrying this vital match on its FM station. But they certainly didn't have any money for satellite coverage, so they actually were taking the feed off a SW receiver, which meant the thing constantly faded in and out. You can imagine how that sounded on FM!

In any event, the operator and I were sitting in the control room with not much to do, but ensuring the thing stayed on the air, when the phone rang. It was a listener who had just turned on the game and was desperate to know the score. 

My compatriot, who was Ukrainian, and I looked at each other. "I'm sorry," she told the caller. "But no one here speaks Italian."

"What?" the guy demanded. "But isn't this CHIN, the Voice of Italy in Toronto?"

"Yes," she replied. "But the Voice isn't working today."

And the guy hung up, very confused. We never did figure out the score since the thing wasn't in English!

WPE9HAY wrote:

1540 now is conservative talk (probably) KXEL Waterloo IA

CHIN radio 1540 can be heard here without any interference:  https://streema.com/radios/CHIN

Definitely KXEL with Red Eye Radio and Fox news at 5 a.m.  this morning.

In the good old days when CHIN was still a daytime-only station, when they went off at sunset you could often get some other interesting daytime-only American stations before they signed off at their local sunsets (in additon to KXEL, WPTR-Albany or Radio Bahamas).

I just got an explanation of why CHIN-AM is suddenly off air overnights - and it looks like it could last a while. (Which is bad news for them, but potentially good tidings for DXers.)

An engineer at the station told me the reason for the sudden sign-off is because CHIN was forced to abandon its transmitter on the Toronto Islands as the city makes way for a new water treatment plant. That means they had to locate a temporary alternate site - this one is near Trafalgar Rd. on the way to Georgetown. 

The tech indicated this new site wasn't equipped to broadcast 24 hours a day with power changes, although I'm not entirely sure if that's true. Either way, the station is currently looking for a new, more permanent place to stick the stick, and until they find one, it has now become a dawn-to-dusk AM station only.

He said it started on July 2nd and may take a year or more to go back to 24-hour-a-day broadcasting. In the meantime, they're still available online and on HD over 101.7 - although I doubt there's many of us in our cars listening to CHIN-AM on FM at those hours. 

When I asked if that was potentially putting them out of compliance for their licence, which authorizes them to be on 24 hours, I was told that didn't apply in the case of an unexpected transmitter issue. 

So there's the reason for the sudden shift at CHIN. And it may be some very long nights for the place this winter, when they have to leave the air at around 4:30 in the afternoon. 

I'm not sure, but I think this may make 1540 the only daytimer left in Toronto and most of Southern Ontario. 

Hey, but at least your water will be clean!

Not sure about 1610, but 1430 has been there broadcasting into the lake for decades. This was always one of the old CKFH's problems getting its signal out farther. 

Saul wrote:

Aren't 1430 and 1610 also on the Island?

was 1610 the site that was sitting in the lake on the south side? i have only ever heard rumors' about that! 
 

fybush wrote:

1610 and 1280 share a short tower near the Port of Toronto on Unwin Ave near the foot of Cherry Street.

Thanks for clarifying that!