Corus Entertainment's 630 CHED moves up the AM scale

AM radio station 630 CHED, a mainstay of Edmonton broadcasting for more than 60 years, will change its frequency this fall, according to parent company Corus Entertainment.

The programming – including broadcasts of Edmonton Oilers games, for which CHED holds the live radio rights – will move to 880 AM, another Corus-owned station formerly known as Global News 880.

According to an internal memo obtained by CBC News, the change will take effect on October 9, coinciding with the Oilers' season opener.

“The message at the time was that this would be a transitional phase and that there would be only one AM station operating in the market afterward,” Ward Smith, senior vice president of Global News, said in the memo.

“CHED’s broadcast on 880 will provide better coverage of the city and a stronger signal for listeners, and we have an exciting plan to market this change to our listeners.”

The company ceased operations of radio station 880 AM in June and has since broadcast CHED content on both frequencies.

The company plans to sell the land in Edmonton on which the 630 CHED station is located, Smith said. The license to operate that frequency will go to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which regulates Canadian broadcasting.

CHED began broadcasting in Edmonton in the mid-1950s on the 1080 frequency and moved to 630 AM about a decade later. The station has owned the Oilers' broadcast rights since 1995.

“With everything that's happening in the media industry these days and all the changes that are happening, this is really just another brick in the wall,” says Grant Ainsley, who runs a media communications firm in Edmonton and previously worked at 1110 CHQT.

He pointed out that there have been numerous mergers and mass layoffs in the last ten to 15 years.

“While it is certainly a historic event, given what we remember as 630 CHED, nothing in the media these days would surprise me,” Ainsley said.