CHKG-FM

CHKG-FM
Broadcast areaGreater Vancouver
Frequency96.1 MHz
BrandingFairchild Radio
Programming
FormatMulticultural
Ownership
Owner
CJVB
History
First air date
September 6, 1997 (1997-09-06)
Call sign meaning
HKG for Hong Kong
Technical information
Licensing authority
CRTC
ClassC
Power
  • 46,000 watts
  • 100,000 watts maximum
HAAT567 metres (1,860 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
49°21′13″N 122°57′24″W / 49.353574°N 122.956696°W / 49.353574; -122.956696 (CHKG-FM Tower)
Links
WebcastListen live
Websiteam1470.com/english

CHKG-FM (96.1 FM) is a radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It airs mostly Mandarin programming and is owned by the Fairchild Group.[1] CHKG's studios are located at Aberdeen Centre in Richmond, while its transmitter is located atop Mount Seymour.

History

In 1995, the Fairchild Group, which already owned Vancouver multicultural station CJVB (1470 AM), and Roger Charest, owner of CKER in Edmonton, made a joint bid to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to establish FM world music stations in Vancouver and Calgary.[2] The application was approved in 1996,[3] with the CRTC selecting it over bids from Telemedia for an alternative rock station and Radio One Vancouver Corporation for an "adult/pop talk" station because it found that the Vancouver radio market could not support another general-market station; CHMB (1320 AM) also proposed an ethnic station but withdrew its proposal.[1]

CHKG-FM began broadcasting on September 6, 1997. It was the fifth Fairchild ethnic media service to open, and the first multilingual FM station in Western Canada.[4][5] Programming was split between world music from 06:00 to 15:00 & Chinese hit radio the rest of the day, which together with CJVB's daytime Chinese programming provided a 24-hour Chinese service while also catering to other communities.[6]

CHKG has held subsidiary communications multiplex operation authority from the CRTC over most of its history to broadcast a subcarrier-only service, originally in Korean and later in Punjabi.[7] By the 2015 renewal, the SCMO service had returned to Korean.[8]

On December 17, 2025, the CRTC approved an application by Fairchild Radio to remove the conditions on CHKG-FM that prevented it from carrying Chinese-oriented ethnic programs from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, thereby allowing 33 hours of Chinese-language programming to move across to FM and a related application to revoke the broadcasting license for CJVB. Fairchild cited financial losses and increasing interference to the AM signal as reasons for the application.[9][10]

Programming

Original Fairchild Radio logo, used until September 2012.

CHKG operates with a program schedule that generally is the inverse of CJVB. During the day from Monday to Saturday, it airs world music programming and programs in Filipino, German, Hungarian, Italian, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Macedonian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese. The weekly Asian Influence program presents the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese pop charts. The conditions of CHKG-FM's licence prevent it from airing Chinese-language programs between 6:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. After 3:00 p.m. and all day on Sundays, CHKG-FM presents Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese shows.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b "Decision CRTC 96-288". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. July 29, 1996. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  2. ^ Boei, William (August 2, 1995). "Bid in works to bring multicultural music to FM". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. p. C1. Retrieved April 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Carlson, Tim (July 30, 1996). "Vancouver will get new ethnic-music radio station in 1997". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. p. B8. Retrieved April 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "CHKG-FM | History of Canadian Broadcasting". broadcasting-history.com. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  5. ^ Ford, Ashley (August 21, 1997). "New ethnic station on city FM dial". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. p. A33. Retrieved April 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Monk, Katherine (August 30, 1997). "New FM station searches the world for its music". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. p. B1, B2. Retrieved April 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Decision CRTC 2001-136". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. February 27, 2001. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  8. ^ "Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2015-248" (PDF). Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. June 11, 2015. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  9. ^ "Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2025-346". CRTC. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Retrieved 2025-12-17.
  10. ^ "CRTC批准加拿大中文電台 更新FM961頻道牌照 同時交還AM1470牌照". 加拿大中文電台 | AM1470 FM96.1 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2026-02-12.
  11. ^ "Fairchild Radio FM96.1 Schedule". www.am1470.com. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
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