CHLO (530
kHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...
) is a
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services
** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money
* a dose of advertising ...
AM radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
in
Brampton
Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, serving
Greater Toronto
The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...
. It is owned by
Evanov Communications
Evanov Communications is a Canadian radio broadcasting company. It is also the sole owner of Dufferin Communications Inc., 80% owner of Halifax Broadcasting Ltd. and Ottawa Media Inc. The group of Evanov companies owns and operates a number of ra ...
and broadcasts a
multilingual
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...
format. Most programming is
Punjabi with other languages of
South Asia
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
. Some
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
,
Croatian,
Tagalog,
Bulgarian, and
Spanish language
Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...
shows are heard on weekends. CHLO's
radio studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for recording and mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enough to record a single sin ...
s and offices are on
Dundas Street
Dundas Street () is a major historic arterial road in Ontario, Canada. The road connects the city of Toronto with its western Greater Toronto Area, suburbs and several cities in southwestern Ontario. Three provincial highways—Ontario Highway 2 ...
West in the
Eatonville neighbourhood of Toronto.
By day, CHLO transmits with 1,000
watt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
s
non-directional; due to restrictions placed on the frequency by international treaty, it reduces power at night to 250 watts. The
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
is on Sixth Line in
Halton Hills
Halton Hills is a town in the Regional Municipality of Halton, located in the northwestern end of the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada with a population of 62,951 (2021).
There are many natural features within these bounds; they include the ...
. CHLO is one of only a few commercial radio stations in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
broadcasting on 530 AM.
History
The station
signed on
A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...
the air on . It originally broadcast on 1090 kHz as CFJB, a
daytimer
A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...
owned by broadcaster Fen Job. Job was killed in a car crash in 1956, and the station was sold by his estate to CHIC Ltd. in 1959, adopting the new callsign CHIC the following year.
In the 1960s, Alekos Columbos hosted a 90-minute Greek radio show on Saturdays and Klaas Mulenar preached in Dutch on Sundays, as the station incorporated more ethnic broadcasts into its schedule. In 1961, the owners also launched an FM station,
CHIC-FM on 102.1 MHz.
In 1964, CHIC became a full-time broadcaster, moving to 790 AM. From 1966 to 1969, it tried a new twist in an era where almost all radio voices were male. It launched an all-female
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...
format using the slogan "Where The Girls Are." Regular newscasts and some other features continued to be voiced by men.
In 1977, the FM station adopted the new
call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...
CFNY-FM
CFNY-FM (102.1 Hertz, MHz, "102.1 The Edge") is a radio station city of license, licensed to Brampton, Ontario. Owned by Corus Entertainment, the station broadcasts a modern rock format serving the Greater Toronto Area. Its studios are in Downtow ...
.
In 1979, the stations' owner went into
receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver – a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights" – especia ...
. The stations were subsequently acquired by Civitas Corp., the owner of
CJMS
CJMS was a French language radio station located in Saint-Constant, Quebec, Saint-Constant, Quebec, Canada, a suburb of Montreal.
It broadcast on 1040 kHz with a daytime power of 10,000 watts and a nighttime power of 5,000 watts as a List of Nort ...
in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
. Civitas became Mutual Communications in 1980, and CHIC adopted the new callsign CKMW. Mutual subsequently sold CKMW to Patrick Hurley, who incorporated as CKMW Radio Ltd., in 1983; CFNY was sold to
Selkirk Communications
Selkirk Communications was a Canadian radio and television broadcasting company, which operated from 1959 to 1989. Evolving out of Taylor, Pearson & Carson, a local broadcaster in Vancouver founded in 1934, the company grew to own 14 radio statio ...
.

As CKMW, the AM station adopted its current multilingual format, and ownership of CKMW Radio was transferred to Evanov in 1985.
The station adopted the new call sign CIAO in 1987, and moved to its current frequency in 1991 after
CJFT in
Fort Erie
Fort Erie is a town in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada. The town is located at the south eastern corner of the region, on the Niagara River, directly across the Canada–United States border from Buffalo, New York, and is the site of ...
converted to the
FM band. In January 2019, it adopted its current call sign of CHLO.
HD Radio
On June 8, 2021, CHLO became the first AM station in Canada to transition to
HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...
on the AM band.
References
External links
AM 530CHLOat The History of Canadian Broadcasting by the
Canadian Communications Foundation
The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) was a Canadian nonprofit organization which documented the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television networks, programs and broadcasters. The organization was established in ...
*
HLO
Mass media in Brampton
HLO
HLO
Radio stations established in 1953
1953 establishments in Ontario
HD Radio stations
Indo-Canadian culture
Asian-Canadian culture in Ontario
Indian diaspora mass media
Punjabi-language radio stations
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