New Vancouver radio station will be aimed at entire South Asian community

Canadian journalist, formerly of the BBC, Shushma Datt will host a radio talk show during the morning drive on Vancouver’s latest South Asian frequency, Spice Radio, which is set to launch on Monday. Submitted photo.

LARISSA CAHUTE
VANCOUVER DESI

The creators of Canada’s first-ever Indo-Canadian radio station are set to launch a completely reformatted frequency in Vancouver next week.

i.t. Media Broadcast (ITMB), who founded Rim Jhim (RJ1200) in 1987, are gearing up for the launch of Spice Radio on 1200 AM on Monday.

According to program director Sudhir Datta, the rebranded frequency will be a 24/7 station geared towards the entire South Asian community.

“What we feel that’s needed is a station that encompasses the whole South Asian community — Punjabi, Hindi speaking, Tamil speaking — all the different varieties you have in the different South Asian communities,” Datta told Vancouver Desi.

“Right now the feeling is that there’s a lot of programming dedicated to one portion of the population, so we’re trying to make this so that it’s more (for) everyone, inclusive.”

According to Datta, most of the current Indo-Canadian programming is Punjabi-focused, and even with the recent radio hype over the approval of Surrey’s first-ever English-speaking radio station My Surrey FM, ITMB still felt that void existed.

“The licence that was granted to My Surrey FM is actually a mainstream radio station dedicated to all the communities of Surrey,” said Datta. “(Spice Radio) is more of an inclusive balance for the entire (South Asian) community.”

“(We’re aiming) to bridge between the communities within our South Asian community.”

Spice Radio will offer a wide variety of ethnic-based programming, including a radio talk show with Canadian journalist Shushma Datt and a two-hour live sports talk show.

The 1200 AM frequency will broadcast from Vancouver and be heard from the Lower Mainland to Vancouver Island, the U.S. border and up to Whistler.

Related stories:

• Surrey’s Punjabi radio stations facing CRTC ban
• A first for Surrey radio fans:  English-language station will try to fill the good-news gap
• Surrey nets first English-speaking radio station, My Surrey FM

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Tags: 1200AM, BBC, BC, British Columbia, broadcast, ethnic, frequency, Hindi, India, Indo-canadian, ITMB, My Surrey FM, Punjab, Punjabi, radio, radio station, Rim Jhim, RJ1200, Shushma Datt, South Asian, Surrey, Tamil, Vancouver