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Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
Imagine if you woke up tomorrow morning and heard CFRB being referred to as NewsTalk 1410. It would sound strange to your ears for a very long time.
Which brings us to Edmonton, where a major change is about to take place on their radio dial. On Wednesday, CHED, a one time Top 40 station that's been on 630 AM since 1963, will move down the dial to 880, after Corus closed down CHQT in a cost cutting move. CHED has been simulcasting there since late June and 880 has a better signal.
In this article from the Edmonton Sun, writer Cam Tait relates what the station has meant to him since he was young and how it changed his life and career. At one point, he reflects on how a young kid whose cerebral palsy made his speech hard to understand, eventually came to voice a spot on his favourite station - and what happened after it aired.
"When my commercial came on [DJ Don] West looked up. Down. Frowned. Took his earphones off.
Banged his right arm on the cart machine. Hooke later told me West wrote “Cart 36. Muffled and faulty.”
We all laughed — everyone, that is, except sales rep Brian Dickenson, whose client was the spot I voiced. “Nice going, Tait. I’ll be getting a cancellation of that account because of you,” Dickenson said.
“Merry Christmas to you, too.”
A nice memory of what a radio station means to people who go back to when it was a dominant and influential medium in their lives.
Venerable radio station CHED moving up the dial
- Binson Echorec
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
RadioActive wrote:
will move down the dial to 880
Time to settle this one once and for all - is moving from 630 to 880 to be considered moving UP the dial or DOWN? Both instances are used in the OP, and both have been used in the industry for decades but I've never encountered any consistency with usage.
I'm leaning toward UP in this instance: 880 is a greater number than 630, so to me, you're moving UP the dial.
What is the argument for using DOWN to describe the move from 630 to 880?
- andysradio
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
A casual listener would hardly know anything was about to change by looking their web site.
630 CHED
- andysradio
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
UP. It is moving up to a higher frequency. Further, in North America radios go up in frequency by moving to the right, which is also how we read. So to speak, it is further along.
- paterson1
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
Some 630 CHED jingles from the late 80's..
- RadioAaron
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
A casual listener would hardly know anything was about to change by looking their web site.
630 CHED
They've been on both for several weeks, so I suspect they'll be on both until the end of November (end of fall ratings) which should give the casual listeners tons of time to figure it out.
- RadioActive
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
will move down the dial to 880
Time to settle this one once and for all - is moving from 630 to 880 to be considered moving UP the dial or DOWN? Both instances are used in the OP, and both have been used in the industry for decades but I've never encountered any consistency with usage.
I'm leaning toward UP in this instance: 880 is a greater number than 630, so to me, you're moving UP the dial.
What is the argument for using DOWN to describe the move from 630 to 880?
This has always driven me crazy, and as I often say, it's not a long drive. In my mind, I picture one of those old analogue radio dials, and to get from 630 AM to 880 seems to me to be going down the dial from the left side to more in the middle (in this case.)
A few years ago, I posted a question here about this very thing, and got replies indicating both ways from different contributors. So while it may in fact be up, because the frequency is higher, I can't get that old analogue dial out of mind showing it - to me, at least - going down. Hence my use of the term. Proving, if nothing else, that old habits are hard to break.
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Thread Starter- ED1
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
A casual listener would hardly know anything was about to change by looking their web site.
630 CHEDThey've been on both for several weeks, so I suspect they'll be on both until the end of November (end of fall ratings) which should give the casual listeners tons of time to figure it out.
The station IDs have also been reflecting the simulcast, though I'm guessing most people aren't paying attention, and some will actually be surprised when the move to 880 happens.
Heard that the transmitter for 880 in Edmonton is much newer and more energy efficient than the 630 tx, and that 630 has been operating only at 10 kW (880 is operating at 50 kW).
The sad sidenote in all of this is that 'CHQT' as a call sign will (probably) be retired when the move happens.
- RadioAaron
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
So far in the current ratings period, 880 is getting about 20% of the 630/880 listening.
- mace
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
Growing up I always considered 550 WGR at the top of the dial and 1600 CJRN at the bottom.
- Binson Echorec
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
Adding to the confusion of UP and DOWN mixed usage:
I recall having a kitchen radio where the tuner moved vertically...so the bar literally moved up and down; unlike a car radio where it would move from side to side. And I'm pretty sure that vertically scrolling tuner had 550 at the top and 1600 would have been at the bottom...lending some credence to the usage of DOWN for moving from a lower frequency to higher.
- Lorne
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
Adding to the confusion of UP and DOWN mixed usage:
I recall having a kitchen radio where the tuner moved vertically...so the bar literally moved up and down; unlike a car radio where it would move from side to side. And I'm pretty sure that vertically scrolling tuner had 550 at the top and 1600 would have been at the bottom...lending some credence to the usage of DOWN for moving from a lower frequency to higher.
I have two radios with that kind of tuner; one is a Sony and the other a Pulser (Canadian Tire). Both of them have the highest frequencies at the top.
- RadioActive
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
How, then, would you characterize this radio dial? It's the manual tuning option for my 2024 Mazda 3. It's a giant circle.
(By the way, if you care about the Entertainment System in a car, never buy a Mazda 3. It's so poorly designed, it's almost unusable. And don't expect any help from Mazda of Toronto, whose service has been absolutely terrible.)
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Thread Starter- ED1
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
CHED Edmonton has officially moved its programming from 630 AM to 880 AM. Logos on the website have been updated. There is also a series of promos running on 630 AM telling people to find the station on 880.
Plus, the following legal ID... "630 CHQT Edmonton, a Corus Entertainment radio station."
Last edited by ED1 (October 9, 2024 2:24 am)
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
Global News Edmonton did a quick video hit on the change Wednesday. Its story notes that not only is the station giving away breakfast to listeners this Friday, it's also offering chances to see Bruce Springsteen and the Oilers play (although not at the same time!)
Wonder which on-air personality will be the first to accidentally say "630 CHED."
880 CHED’s ‘Reset Your Preset’ drive-thru party happening this Friday
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Thread Starter- paterson1
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
In recognition of CHED's move to 880 AM this week, RadioWest.ca has been featuring different CHED jingles everyday. Here are some quite involved jingles from the early 60's when they were at 1080.
And some hot top 40 jingles, mid to late 80's when 630 CHED was still a powerhouse music station..
- fybush
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
I'm on a GO train heading home from Pearson after a few lovely days in Alberta, in part to hear the CHED move.
The loop of promos on 630 will go away Nov. 10 and 630 will fall silent entirely.
The signal comparison is interesting. 880 is as good or better than 630 across metro Edmonton, and better than 630 to the north, for whatever that's worth.
But down highway 2 toward Red Deer and Calgary, there's no comparison. 630 is loud and clear in Calgary, while 880 is weaker during the day and gone entirely at night to protect KRVN in Nebraska.
(In fairness, CHED lost one of six towers at the 630 site and has been non-directional for a few months.)
- andysradio
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
Scott, any word discussed regarding 730/980 Vancouver?
- MJ Vancouver
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
CHED Edmonton has officially moved its programming from 630 AM to 880 AM. Logos on the website have been updated. There is also a series of promos running on 630 AM telling people to find the station on 880.
Plus, the following legal ID... "630 CHQT Edmonton, a Corus Entertainment radio station."
Did they swap the calls between the two frequencies - putting CHED on 880 and CHQT on 630?
- ED1
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
CHED Edmonton has officially moved its programming from 630 AM to 880 AM. Logos on the website have been updated. There is also a series of promos running on 630 AM telling people to find the station on 880.
Plus, the following legal ID... "630 CHQT Edmonton, a Corus Entertainment radio station."Did they swap the calls between the two frequencies - putting CHED on 880 and CHQT on 630?
Yes. The call signs were officially switched on October 9 at 12 AM with ISED.
- ED1
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Re: Edmonton Sun Writer Pays Tribute To A Radio Stn. Changing Frequency
I'm on a GO train heading home from Pearson after a few lovely days in Alberta, in part to hear the CHED move.
The loop of promos on 630 will go away Nov. 10 and 630 will fall silent entirely.
The signal comparison is interesting. 880 is as good or better than 630 across metro Edmonton, and better than 630 to the north, for whatever that's worth.
But down highway 2 toward Red Deer and Calgary, there's no comparison. 630 is loud and clear in Calgary, while 880 is weaker during the day and gone entirely at night to protect KRVN in Nebraska.
(In fairness, CHED lost one of six towers at the 630 site and has been non-directional for a few months.)
I'm driving up Highway 2 late this evening so I'll have to listen to 880 when I reach Red Deer. I suppose if people in Red Deer wanted Corus Radio programming they can tune to 770. However when it comes to Oilers/Elks games, unless there's a local station in Red Deer that's part of the Oilers/Elks Radio Network, they'll have listen online.
As far as this morning is concerned, the drive-thru party mentioned earlier in this thread is happening. Lots of CHED alumni also visiting the station this morning. Former Elks football host/sales guy Bryan Hall rattled on nicely about the history of CHED a few minutes ago. As of typing this post, the mayor of Edmonton is still calling the place "630 CHED" haha.
Last edited by ED1 (October 11, 2024 11:52 am)