TORONTO — Evanov Communications announced today it has begun testing its Toronto ethnic radio station CHLO AM530 in HD Radio.
CHLO was the first station founded by the company and its programming caters to many cultural and linguistic communities in the Toronto market, with a primary focus on the large and diverse South Asian audience.
According to Carmela Laurignano, Evanov’s vice-president of regulatory affairs, CHLO AM530 is the first and only AM station in Canada to adopt digital HD technology with its own standalone HD transmitter.
“We are excited to be on the leading edge. Radio broadcasting has endured, withstood, and adapted over its history and continues to remain relevant because operators have understood and adjusted to market conditions,” says Laurignano, in a press release.
“These last few years have been especially challenging for the medium,” she adds. “Unregulated platforms and distribution mechanisms have been allowed to run rampant while radio continues to be taxed with restrictions and fees. Distribution of the over-the-air programming not only offers a more reliable, clear signal and sound for the listener, it might also prove in some cases, to be a lifeline for the AM band which is so challenged to the point of being abandoned. The Covid-19 pandemic effect has further aggravated the situation.”
While HD technology continues to be classified as experimental (at least in Canada), Evanov is gambling that more and more Canadian consumers will find and adopt it, especially in their cars, reads Evanov’s press release. “This should produce organic growth which in turn should cause a bigger rollout within the industry. Evanov believes that the addition of a digital component to the signal will help alleviate the growing sound quality and interference issues that plague the AM broadcast band.”
