KVRI 1600 Blaine Flips To Chinese

[Bongwater]

I was just scanning by their 105.3 Blaine translator and I heard Mandarin language programming. AM checks out as well.It was running South Asian last night. So the format changed today. The RDS on my phone says KVRV and still says Radio Punjab.

 

[RF101]

There is still some Punjabi content on AM1600 as of this evening.. Perhaps the Chinese segments are just expanding

..... An Internet search led to a YouTube off-air recording and ultimately this website:

http://www.chineseradiovancouver.com/

Translated:


About Us

"Chinese Radio Vancouver is located in Richmond, a satellite city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It provides broadcasting services to Mandarin-speaking listeners in the Greater Vancouver area of British Columbia through AM1600. It is the first and only Chinese radio station in Vancouver that caters to Mandarin-speaking listeners, and it is also the only Chinese radio station in Canada that broadcasts live simultaneously in the United States and Canada."

The website has an audio player ... Does it work south of the border? So far, no luck.

 

[The New Chico]

the only Chinese radio station in Canada that broadcasts live simultaneously in the United States and Canada

That would really be news to Fairchild Radio, a class C FM that gets out quite well into the US, licensed to Vancouver, and broadcasting from Richmond in (largely) Chinese. Hilarious.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

1600 has been heard with chinse before and back to punjabi later on. This is nothing new

 

[fordranger797]

A few notes:

1. 1600 hasn’t completely flipped to Chinese programming, but it does sound like the ratio of Chinese programming is increasing.

2. One of the biggest challenges of multicultural radio in Canada is that there are very strict language requirements that need to be followed. 96.1 may be a powerhouse FM radio station in Vancouver, but the programming doesn’t appeal to all Chinese listeners at all hours of the day. Chinese listeners who speak mandarin likely won’t want to listen to the block of Cantonese programming (and vise versa). This is why Fairchild rotates Cantonese and mandarin programming between 96.1 and 1470. Also note that 1320 exists, which is primarily Cantonese.

It seems like 1600 is aiming to broadcast more programming in mandarin, which seems like a smart move. Punjabi speaking listeners have a few alternatives already, with a few FMs that have popped up in Surrey.