Radio Sher E Punjab

600 AM

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About

Radio Sher E Punjab (CKSP) is a commercial ethnic AM station in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, broadcasting as CKSP 600 AM. The studios are in Richmond. The owner is Sher-E-Punjab Radio Broadcasting Inc., controlled by Surinder Kaur Badh. The brand has served the community since 2002, and the licensed station went on air on September 28, 2020. It covers Metro Vancouver, not the whole country. The news and talk format is in Punjabi and Hindi and is aimed mainly at listeners aged 40 to 65. Audience size is not independently measured.

The schedule is built around local and international news, open-line talk shows, sports, and business. Harpreet Pandher and Taqdeer Thindal are the best-documented voices. In November 2024, they made history by broadcasting the first-ever Punjabi Grey Cup commentary, and they also work on Punjabi coverage of BC Lions games and Hockey Night in Canada. Late Nights with Aaisha Khan is an Urdu evening program. Music is secondary. Under the licence, 65 of 115 weekly local hours are spoken word. What plays is mostly Punjabi, Bollywood, and devotional recordings.

No industry awards for the station could be confirmed. The station allocates $50,000 a year to the Sher E Punjab Rising Star Awards, a support program for new talent.

Unlike its competitors, Sher E Punjab puts a stronger emphasis on talk programming in Punjabi and Hindi. Connect FM serves a broader multilingual audience, broadcasting in Punjabi, Hindi, English, and 11 additional languages. RED FM focuses mainly on music and entertainment, while Radio Swift combines music with news, talk shows, and programs for local communities.

The main strengths are the focus on Punjabi and Hindi programming and the emphasis on spoken-word content. The limitations include the lower sound quality typical of AM broadcasting compared with FM, as well as the lack of publicly available information about advertising airtime.

My view, this is an outlet for listeners who want news, discussion, and sports in their own language, not a continuous music mix. The talk shows are the main reason to tune in. If you mostly want songs, a music-focused broadcaster will suit you better.