CHIN (AM)

CHIN (1540 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by CHIN Radio/TV International, and broadcasts a multilingual radio format, with programs in Mandarin, Cantonese, Portuguese and other languages. It formerly utilized an FM rebroadcaster at 91.9 MHz, CHIN-1-FM, originally used to fill in reception gaps in parts of Greater Toronto; CHIN-1-FM now broadcasts a separate schedule of ethnic programming, no longer simulcasting CHIN . In addition, there is a full-power FM station on 100.7 MHz, CHIN-FM, which offers a third ethnic programme schedule. CHIN, CHIN-1-FM and CHIN-FM have their radio studios on College Street in the Palmerston-Little Italy neighbourhood of Toronto.

By day, CHIN broadcasts at 50,000 watts, the maximum power for Canadian AM stations. Because 1540 AM is a clear-channel frequency reserved for the U.S. and Bahamas, CHIN reduces power at night to 30,000 watts to avoid interference. It uses a directional antenna with a four-tower array. The AM transmitter site is on Lakeshore Avenue on the Toronto Islands. The transmitter for CHIN-1-FM is atop an apartment tower complex near Bathurst and Sheppard in Toronto's Clanton Park neighbourhood.