On Wednesday afternoon, Corus Entertainment announced that News/Talk radio station 630 CHED Edmonton will permanently move from its current spot on the AM dial to 880 starting on Monday, October 9th.
If you don’t like local news or change, today’s announcement that longtime Edmonton radio station 630 CHED will be getting a new home probably doesn’t sit well with you. The station, after all, has been a news and sports staple for more than three decades in this city but will soon start a new adventure in the 880 slot formerly occupied by Global News.
“The station’s bags are packed, and it’s moving up the dial with the Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Elks, and the same great lineup of radio hosts,” said Andrew Murdoch, Manager of Talk & Talent at CHED. “This further solidifies our commitment to providing Edmonton’s best Talk, News and Sports programming, and we are excited to reach new listeners with this improved signal coverage.”
Corus’s press release said the move, which will take effect on October 9th, will provide “better city coverage and an upgraded listening experience” but will maintain the existing lineup of shows and slots. Despite the change in frequency, Corus confirmed that CHED will continue as the radio home for all Edmonton Oilers broadcasts.
If you want to get into some radio nerd science, RadioInsight.com’s news release featured some frequency details regarding the shift from 630 to 880:
“While both stations are 50kW, the 630 allocation is directional day and night as opposed to 880 being non-directional during the day. Corus flipped 880 CHQT from All-News “Global News Radio” to a simulcast of CHED in June.”
Back in June, Corus Entertainment shut down two of its AM radio formats: 880 News in Edmonton and AM 730 in Vancouver. Corus initially bought 880 (CHQT-AM) in 2000 and relaunched it as an all-news channel in 2008, but ultimately decided to shut the station down and “operate one AM news-talk station in each of Vancouver and Edmonton.”
SOME 630 CHED HISTORY
Back in the day, CHED was the brainchild of Hugh Sibbald, Lloyd Moffat, and E. A. Rawlinson, who were originally located at 1080 kHz when they first went to air on March 3rd, 1954. The OG studio was smack dab in the heart of Edmonton, right at 107 Street and 100 Avenue. Fast forward to May 14, 1963, CHED jumped over to its current 630 kHz frequency and were cranking out Top 40 hits that everyone in town was jamming along.
By 1976, CHED was absolutely killing it and was subsequently crowned as the most-listened-to radio station in Edmonton, according to the BBM Weekly Reach survey. They were riding high on that Top 40 wave, basically becoming *the* station to listen to until new guys popped up on the FM frequencies and started luring listeners away. Then, on December 1, 1993, CHED reformatted away from music and dove headfirst into the news/talk game. And the rest, as they say, is history.
The station was then acquired by Corus Entertainment on July 6th, 2000, after the broadcast license for CHED was acquired from WIC Radio.
