Ethnic radio

[mjlarochelle]

I just posted an idea in the Toronto forum about making CHAM 820 Hamilton an ethnic station targeting the third-language communities of Hamilton, Niagara, Brantford, and Halidimand-Norfolk. This got me thinking that there are a number of medium-size cities in Canada with sizable ethnic communities without a local radio voice.

Here's a few in Ontario, with percentages of the regional population with mother tongues other than French or English:

Hamilton-Niagara - 18.5% (including Brant, Halidimand-Norfolk, Hamilton, Niagara)
London - 16.3% (including Elgin, Middlesex, Oxford)
Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie - 15.8% (including Dufferin, Simcoe County, Waterloo Region, Wellington)

 

[Tincap]

I just posted an idea in the Toronto forum about making CHAM 820 Hamilton an ethnic station targeting the third-language communities of Hamilton, Niagara, Brantford, and Halidimand-Norfolk. This got me thinking that there are a number of medium-size cities in Canada with sizable ethnic communities without a local radio voice.

Here's a few in Ontario, with percentages of the regional population with mother tongues other than French or English:

Hamilton-Niagara - 18.5% (including Brant, Halidimand-Norfolk, Hamilton, Niagara)
London - 16.3% (including Elgin, Middlesex, Oxford)
Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie - 15.8% (including Dufferin, Simcoe County, Waterloo Region, Wellington)

And then there's issue of how the communities are being served. Ottawa (and Toronto) have CHIN radio, which run 12 hours of CRI every day, the majority of it in English. Interesting as CRI's English programming can be, how's that serving the Chinese community?

~BG

 

[mjlarochelle]

And then there's issue of how the communities are being served. Ottawa (and Toronto) have CHIN radio, which run 12 hours of CRI every day, the majority of it in English. Interesting as CRI's English programming can be, how's that serving the Chinese community?

I suppose that could be meant to allow Chinese nationals and second-generation immigrants who also speak English to access programming from their homeland. However, I'd rather see actual programming in Chinese.

That said, in Toronto, there is already a station broadcasting in Chinese - CHKT 1430, the direct descendant of the old CKEY.

 

[Tincap]

And then there's issue of how the communities are being served. Ottawa (and Toronto) have CHIN radio, which run 12 hours of CRI every day, the majority of it in English. Interesting as CRI's English programming can be, how's that serving the Chinese community?

I suppose that could be meant to allow Chinese nationals and second-generation immigrants who also speak English to access programming from their homeland. However, I'd rather see actual programming in Chinese.

That said, in Toronto, there is already a station broadcasting in Chinese - CHKT 1430, the direct descendant of the old CKEY.

Isn't there a couple of stations in Toronto, broadcasting mainly in Chinese? In Cantonese, no less, which is still the majority language spoken amongst the Chinese community here in Canada. There's very little Cantonese programming for the Ottawa community (to be fair, the locally produced program carried in Ottawa, before CRI filled their early evening time slot, was rather pathetic) and my wife is amongst the Mandarin speakers who regard CRI as Chinese propaganda, not broadly serving Ottawa's Chinese community.

~BG

 

[Yeziknoradio]

I think Astral media has other plans for 820.
Wait for ratings season and see...

 

[mimo]

There's still one hour of locally produced Cantonese on CHIN Ottawa, at no0n on Mondays...that's IT. CHUO 89.1 has picked up the ball on Sunday afterno0ns at 4. Great music. It seems to be more a full service show (without the commercials of course) and seems to be more in touch with it's listening audience. I don't know what CHIN is thinking, but it sure isn't living up to it's potential. No wonder CHTK 1430 has the Cantonese and Mandarin audiences. Much better programming there. Sounds a lot more fun to0. I've heard some interesting radio karaoke contests in the afterno0n on there. People call in and they all have a chance at singing the same song for (I'm assuming) some prize or other, and some of them are REALLY GO0D!.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Just thought of something. If Hamilton could perhaps get a Hockey team up and running, 820 could go all sports!!! ;D
(Not sure if that will ever happen though!)

 

[Tincap]

There's still one hour of locally produced Cantonese on CHIN Ottawa, at no0n on Mondays...that's IT. CHUO 89.1 has picked up the ball on Sunday afterno0ns at 4. Great music. It seems to be more a full service show (without the commercials of course) and seems to be more in touch with it's listening audience. I don't know what CHIN is thinking, but it sure isn't living up to it's potential. No wonder CHTK 1430 has the Cantonese and Mandarin audiences. Much better programming there. Sounds a lot more fun to0. I've heard some interesting radio karaoke contests in the afterno0n on there. People call in and they all have a chance at singing the same song for (I'm assuming) some prize or other, and some of them are REALLY GO0D!.

That CHTK is a fun station. Unfortunately, it doesn't throw much of a signal down the St. Lawrence River. However, during our semi-regular drives between here and Sudbury, we could pick up a good day time signal from west of Pembroke on up. We enjoy the Hong Kong cheese, but listening to it, through a crackly AM signal, whilst driving along the snow-bound Highway 17, added a touch of the surreal.

~BG