KVRI (1600 AM) (branded as Radio Punjab) 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 ...

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 ...

licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

Blaine, Washington Blaine is a city in Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The city's northern boundary is the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. border; the Peace Arch international monument straddl ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and serving

Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term ''Greater Vancouver'' describes an area that is roughly coterminous with the r ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It airs a

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

Bollywood music Hindi film songs, more formally known as Hindi Geet or Filmi songs and informally known as Bollywood music, are songs featured in Hindi films. Derived from the song-and-dance routines common in Indian films, Bollywood songs, along with da ...

, news and talk in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, Punjabi and other

South Asian 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 ...

languages Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing. Human language is ch ...

. It is owned by

Multicultural Broadcasting Multicultural Broadcasting is a media company based in New York City founded by Chinese-American businessman Arthur Liu. It caters mostly to the Asian American community and owns television and radio stations in several of the top markets in mu ...

. By day, KVRI transmits 50,000

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 (the maximum for commercial AM stations), but to protect other stations on

1600 AM The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on AM broadcasting, AM frequency 1600 kHz: 1600 AM is classified as a regional frequency by the Federal Communications Commission. Argentina * Armonia in Caseros * EME (radio station), EM ...

from interference, at night power is reduced to 10,000 watts. KVRI uses a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

with a six-

tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower ...

, directing the signal to the northwest to cover Greater Vancouver. 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 Tracy Place in Birch Bay, Washington, about from the Canada–US border. Programming is also heard on

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

K287CI on 105.3

MHz 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 u ...

in Blaine.

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 . The station has always had the

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 ...

KVRI and has always been owned by Multicultural Broadcasting, headed by broadcasting executive Arthur Liu. The original studios were on Lincoln Road in Blaine. For many years, the station was operated by Radio India Ltd., a radio service with its offices in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, a city in

. Maninder S. Gill serves as the managing director. His sister, Baljit Bains, is the owner.O'Neil, Peter.
Surrey's Radio India to cease broadcasting

. ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

''. October 15, 2014. Retrieved on April 13, 2015. Maninder Gill is the brother of the mother-in-law of Tom Gill, a Surrey city councillor.Matas, Robert.
Defamation suit pulls Surrey councillor into feud dividing Sikh community
" ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

''. Sunday November 21, 2010. Updated on Thursday August 23, 2012. Retrieved on April 14, 2015. Robert Matas of ''

'' described Maninder Gill as "a prominent figure" of Vancouver's

Indo-Canadian Indian Canadians are Canadians who have ancestry from India. The term ''East Indian'' is sometimes used to avoid confusion with Indigenous groups. Categorically, Indian Canadians comprise a subgroup of South Asian Canadians which is a furthe ...

community. Radio India has a clientele of first and second generation Indo-Canadians. Its shows discuss the culture, politics, and religions of India. In 2014, Gill stated that the annual advertising revenue was $2 million to $3 million.O'Neil, Peter.
CRTC orders Surrey's Radio India to cease operations by midnight

Archive
. '' Vancouver Desi''. Retrieved on April 13, 2015. On August 3, 2010,Youssef, Marten.
Radio India managing director faces five charges after shooting
" ''

''. Monday August 30, 2010. Updated Friday November 12, 2010. Retrieved on April 14, 2015. building contractor Harjit Atwal and two associates of Harjit Atwal, Jaspal Atwal and Harkirat Kular,Matas, Robert.
Indo-Canadian radio host's life threatened
" ''

''. Tuesday September 21, 2010. Updated Thursday August 23, 2012. Retrieved on April 14, 2015. filed a lawsuit against Maninder Gill, 11 other employees, and the radio firm itself, accusing the channel of having defamatory material about them on a Punjabi-language broadcast aired on Radio India in May of that year. This lawsuit was filed in the

British Columbia Supreme Court The Supreme Court of British Columbia is the superior trial court for the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Court hears civil and criminal law cases as well as appeals from the Provincial Court of British Columbia. There are 90 judicial ...

.Chan, Cheryl.
Bullets rain on home of Radio India manager; Maninder Gill says he's worried for the safety of his family

Archive
. ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they ...

'' in '' Vancouver Desi''. Retrieved on April 14, 2015. Violent altercations involving the lawsuit and disputes occurred in August and September of that year. Maninder Gill faced five criminal charges after Harjit Atwal sustained gunshot injuries to his leg during a wedding held at the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Surrey; the police accused Gill of being responsible for the shooting. A

drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrators to quickly strike their targets and flee the scene before l ...

occurred at Maninder Gill's residence the following month. Maninder Gill stated that the conflict resulted from political differences regarding the

Khalistan movement The Khalistan movement is a separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing an ethno-religious sovereign state called Khalistan () in the Punjab region. The proposed boundaries of Khalistan vary between different gr ...

. The station was operating under a LMA with Radio India, Ltd., and was broadcasting from its studios in

Surrey, British Columbia Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...

until November 13, 2014, when the CRTC forced Radio India to end the LMA due to rules that prohibit a Canadian company from operating, leasing, or owning, a radio or television property in the United States solely for broadcasting to Canadians, and for operating without a license within Canada. For years, Radio India operated as a "

pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

" station which did not get a license from the

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...

(CRTC); therefore it avoided paying copyright tariffs and license fees and complying with rules regarding the station's content. The CRTC decided to act against the pirate stations in 2014. Radio India initially stated that it had political connections; Managing director Maninder Gill had mailed photographs of himself socializing with Canadian politicians. In a presentation in October of that year, Maninder Gill said that the station was going to be shut down and asked the CRTC to give him 120 days to make the shutdown; he mentioned the connections to politicians in the same presentation. The CRTC ultimately decided that the deadline to close Radio India was Midnight Pacific time on November 14, 2014.

References

External links

* {{coord, 48, 57, 15, N, 122, 44, 36, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title VRI Multicultural Broadcasting stations

History

See also

References

External links