CHTO (1690
kHz) is a
commercial AM radio station in
Toronto,
Ontario,
Canada. The station airs an ethnic
radio format. It is owned by Canadian Hellenic Toronto Radio Inc., which is run by John Maniatakos and son of Peter Maniatakos who owns the
Odyssey Television Network. CHTO's programming is predominantly
Greek, although it is mandated to air programming in other languages as well. CHTO's
radio studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...
s are on
Danforth Avenue in the
Riverdale neighbourhood.
By day, CHTO is powered at 6,000
watts. But to avoid interference to other radio stations, at night it reduces power to 1,000 watts. It uses a
non-directional antenna. The
transmitter is on Waterman Avenue at Hollinger Road in the
O'Connor-Parkview neighbourhood near the
Don River. It also is heard on a
repeater station, CHTO-1 at 1490 kHz in
Mississauga
Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...
.
History
Mrs. Maniatakos operated a closed circuit specialty audio service in Toronto since 1966 under the name CHCR-FM. This service aired Greek language programming 24 hours a day. It was initially available as an
SCMO service (via
CKFM-FM
CKFM-FM (''99.9 Virgin Radio'') is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting on 99.9 MHz in Toronto, Ontario. The station is owned by Bell Media. The station airs a Top 40/CHR format, and is the flagship of Canada's "Virgin Radio" stations. CKFM's ...
) but subsequently switched to cable and was available on
Rogers Digital Cable channel 959, as part of their digital radio offerings, in Toronto and area.
In 2007 when CHTO launched, CHCR-FM was discontinued and CHTO now airs in its place on Rogers Cable.
The station was initially going to launch by the end of 2006, but this was pushed back due to technical problems. It has been on the air since .
On June 10, 2009, CHTO applied to the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
(CRTC) to increase the daytime transmitting power to 3,000 watts, in an effort to serve communities in Mississauga and Brampton. The request received approval on November 5, 2009. CHTO began broadcasting at its new power as of March 2010.
On December 4, 2012, the CRTC approved a change in ownership of the station to John Maniatakos due to the 2009 death of his mother, original owner Mrs. Maniatakos.
On October 14, 2015, Canadian Hellenic Toronto Radio Inc. submitted an application to add an AM transmitter at
Mississauga
Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...
. The new transmitter operates at 1490 kHz with a daytime power of 23 watts and a night time power of 770 watts. The call sign for 1490 AM is CHTO-1. This application was approved on September 1, 2016.
References
External links
CHTO AM1690*
*
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Greek-Canadian culture
HTO
HTO
Radio stations established in 2007
2007 establishments in Ontario