Venerable radio station CHED moving up the dial

[radiofan]

TAIT: Venerable radio station CHED moving up the dial
Opinion by Cam Tait •

Don’t touch that dial has been coming out of radio stations for decades: a casual plea from disc jockeys and newscasters for the listener to keep listening.

But for me, those four words strike a bittersweet note. On Wednesday another set of words — a trio, this time — that has come off our tongues with ease, bringing almost every sound the English language, seamlessly together, to create a familiar phrase hundreds of thousands of northern Albertans have come to know. And love.

“Six-thirty CHED.”

Come on, say it with me, one time.

“Six-thirty CHED.”

That phrase is retiring Wednesday. Things? They change — especially in the radio industry, and, for that matter, the media business.

The 630 CHED — I’m counting down how many times I’ll be able to say and write it while they are, still, on the air — is moving to a different spot on the AM dial.

880 CHED.

This journalistic journey is not to point out why. Rather, it’s a couple of hundred words of personal gratitude of the big impact 630 CHED had on my life.

It began in the early 1970s with a small black-and-silver transistor radio. Like most young teenagers, 630 CHED had music we loved — Top 40.

But the music was just the opening verse to a lifelong love affair with radio.

I listened for the times the news was read … how many songs were played in a row … how many seconds the disc jockey was speaking, and so on.

And then I heard Eddie Keen’s voice in 1972 reading editorials, twice a day.

Eddie is the person who inspired me to write.

I wrote two of my own editorials and took them to school, Glenrose School Hospital. We taped the morning editorial outside my classroom when I got to school and the other in the afternoon … just like Eddie.

One day after school, I got enough courage to call Eddie. That was a thrill.

My folks told our Trinity United Church Minister about my love of radio.

The minister called a few weeks later to say he had arranged a tour of the 630 CHED newsroom.

The first member of the CHED staff I met at the bottom of the back stairs on 107 Street was Randy Kilburn and 27 years later, I was best man at his wedding.

Read the full story at: https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/ta ... bddf&ei=12

[everhopeful]

If CKUA wanted to regain an AM signal, this would be perfect opportunity, but I don't think there is a desire or budget to support it.

This probably mainly about Corus getting some much needed cash from the transmitter site.

Sad to see another set of sticks go, but the city is creeping up on this land fast, the towers cant last, will be part of the past.

[jon]

No one would pay Corus the money they could make from Residential Developers for an AM transmitter site at the current CHED site. Not to mention the upcoming maintenance costs on the towers and equipment.

Anyone who wants a 50KW AM station in Edmonton should grab 1260. It could probably be duplexed on the CJCA site near Devon. 1260 was such a simple tower arrangement: one big tower and one short one only used at night.

As for CKUA, they've just spent the last six months "struggling for dear life" after being stiffed by one or more levels of government, especially on their building. We won't know until October 16th whether they will survive, i.e. - have raised the $3 million or so that they need. They certainly don't need the expense of an AM repeater transmitter.

[andysradio]

I heard a recording on the CHED web site (which I cannot find now) that said at 12 midnight Alberta time Oct. 8/9 on 630 there will be announcements telling listeners to tune to 880. I don’t know if this will be continuous or interrupt programming.

[BigListener]

I, too, can't believe it's gone. In it's late heyday, 630 was the first button on my radio from Foremost to Fort McMurray. In the day nobody beat ched for me. Not just the music but the people. The incredible morning crew (remember when they ordered pizza for our troops in Iraq?) and tight news team. Gord Edlund, Rob Christie, Bob Layton and Eileen Bell come to mind, and always Eddie Keen. And santas anonymous. The only other station that compared was, in the day, CFUN.
The very first time I heard the same news jingle on ched that they used on chqr in Calgary I stopped listening. It was sad.
Now they'e on 880, which used to make it here to Lethbridge but seems to have changed a bit and now on 880 we mostly get KJJR, a 1 kilowatt magatalker out of Whitefish. People will never know how good radio used to be.

[jon]

KJJR is a 10KW blowtorch in the daytime. Non-directional.

Whenever they test at full power at night, you can hear them in Edmonton under our local 880.

[BigListener]

Blowtorch might be a bit strong. It's a short stick behind the mall. I'm amazed how they get across the mountains, though. We also get KOFI and another one from down in Polson here during the day, and you don't have to get very far out of town to start getting some of the FM off the big mountain.

[jon]

All I know is that its DX tests were heard far and wide.