[A-DX] Another one bites the dust: CHNS 960 verläßt die MW

[Name gelöscht <name.geloescht@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Moin Moin,

Mike Terry hatte heute die nachfolgende Meldung in der Yahoo-Group  
"MWDX". Die auch in Deutschland oft zu hörende Station CHNS aus  
Halifax, Nova Scotia, verläßt die MW-Frequenz 960 kHz zugunsten einer  
UKW-Frequenz.

Auch nicht-MW-DXern dürfte CHNS bekannt sein, das Programm lief  
jahrzehntelang auch über deren Kurzwellensender CHNX auf 6130 kHz.  
Als die Endstufe des kleinen 500-Watt-Senders den Geist aufgegeben  
hatte, wurde nur noch mit der Exciter-Leistung von etwa 40 Watt  
gesendet. Trotzdem war CHNX im Winter hier regelmäßig zu empfangen.  
Ein Wunder der Ausbreitung. Vor einigen Jahren wurde der  
Kurzwellensender bereits aus dem Verkehr genommen, und wer geglaubt  
hat, daß man den eventuell reaktivieren würde, kann diese Hoffnung  
jetzt sicher begraben.



Staff Writer
HalifaxLive.com
Halifax NS
Canada
12 April 2006

Radio in Halifax is changing and life on the AM dial will never be  
the same
as 960 CHNS is abandoning ship for the more  lucrative FM band. CHNS  
has a
long history on the AM band, but reality bites as the vast majority  
of radio
listeners abandoned the AM band several years ago. CHNS will be  
moving to
89.9 MHz with an effective radiated power of 100,000 watts. During the
transition period,  the CRTC ruled that the broadcaster will be  
allowed to
simulcast the programming of the new FM station on CHNS for a period of
three months following the commencement of operations of their FM  
station.

The format is changing too. With the move to FM, CHNS will dump the  
stale
and long-in-the-tooth oldies format for a more commercial Adult  
Contemporary
music format with a mix of locally relevant programming service that is
community-centred and community-driven.

With CHNS moving out, Halifax will be left with just two local AM  
stations
clinging for life in a market with very few listeners and slick FM
competition and the new 'HOT' Canadian Satellite Radio networks  
Sirius and
XM picking off their listeners on a daily basis.

The recently released spring radio ratings show 920 CJCH at the  
bottom of
the heap in the AM market with a market share of 2.7 down from 3.3 in  
the
fall '05 ratings. CFDR AM (780/KIXX) sits at 3.9 down from 4.3 and  
rounding
out the AM ratings, CHNS AM sits in second with a 3.5 down from 3.7. All
three AM stations suffered losses over the previous period. The writing
appears to be on the wall, the AM dial is on its final legs in Halifax.

Rating for the remaining two AM broadcasters in Halifax will likely  
continue
to plummet as CHNS takes a large chunk of the AM audience with them  
into the
future of Halifax radio

http://www.halifaxlive.com/content/view/664/2/

"NOVA SCOTIA'S FIRST RADIO STATION"
________________________________________________________________________ 
____
_______
It was May 12, 1925 when Nova Scotia's first radio station was tuned  
in by
many listeners in the Halifax Dartmouth area. Its  
beginnings..............

Soldier, storyteller, pioneer broadcaster. Bill Borrett originally  
became
interested in radio as a soldier and signal operator in World War I.  
After
the war, he teamed up with Bill Johnson of the Northern Electric  
Company and
others to form the Halifax Radio Listeners Club. The group launched a  
radio
station, CHNS Halifax in 1926, with studios in the Carleton Hotel.  The
"HNS" part of the call letters stood for Halifax, Nova Scotia. CHNS went
into regular operation with a 500 watt transmitter, on a carrier  
frequency
of 930 kilocycles per second 930 kilohertz. After a year, the station  
was
almost extinct as Bill Johnson sold the equipment to a station in  
Vancouver.
But Senator Bill Bennett stepped in and provided another set of  
equipment
for the radio station. From these humble beginnings, CHNS became a  
full-time
station, which drew on the small communities of Nova Scotia for  
listeners
and talent. Much of the radio station's growth happened in an era where
there were limitations on how advertisers could reach their audience.

Colonel Borrett took on anything, including hockey games, when the
opportunity arose at an unexpected moment.  One night, he had to  
improvise
and fill 25-minutes as a hockey team left the arena halfway through a  
game.
CHNS were also pioneers in establishing a radio network. In 1932, Bill
Borrett had the honour to speak on behalf of Canada, immediately  
after King
George V instituted the first British Empire Broadcast. It was CHNS that
staffed and fed to the network the running account known as the  
"Moose River
Mine Disaster" in which J. Frank Willis became nationally known.

Until the CBC established its own station in Halifax (1946), CHNS  
played a
major role in originating CBC programs to the network. Popular among  
these
was "Atlantic Nocturne", a 30-minute Sunday night program featuring  
readings
to organ accompaniment by J. Frank Willis. Col. Borrett, himself,  
drawing
upon Nova Scotia's history, is best remembered for his own program  
"Tales
Told Under the Old Town Clock". The place that Citadel Hill came to  
occupy
among the outstanding attractions of our country was greatly due to  
Colonel
Borrett's restoration efforts. CHNS pioneers associated with Bill  
Borrett
included Arthur Grieg (Chief Engineer, who became Canada's first  
consulting
engineer), Lionel Shatford, Cecil Landry and Gerry Redmond. Colonel  
Borrett
represented the area for several years as a director of the Canadian
Association of Broadcasters. Bill Borrett retired from CHNS in 1951.
Posthumously, he was named to the CAB Broadcast Hall of Fame in 1986.

Source: The History Of Canadian Broadcasting
http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/

--
Tschüß,
Martin     http://webadresse.geloescht/


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