CHQT was an AM

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. Owned by

Corus Entertainment Corus Entertainment Inc. (often simply known as Corus) is a Canadian mass media and television production company. The company was founded in 1987 as Shaw Radio Ltd. as a subsidiary of Shaw Communications and was spun-off from Shaw in 1999. It h ...

, the station first launched in August 1965. In June 2008, after having broadcast various music-based formats, CHQT flipped to an

all-news All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and radio syndication, syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news sta ...

format as a counterpart to sister news/talk station CHED. In June 2024, CHQT was closed by owner

as a part of company-wide cuts, and began to simulcast CHED for a transitional period. CHED's programming and

call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be fo ...

were permanently moved to CHQT's signal on October 9, 2024, with Corus citing its better coverage (while they both broadcast at the same power, CHQT was non-directional in the daytime unlike CHED, which used a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

at all times).

History

The station signed on August 19, 1965 on 1110 kHz, with 10,000 watts power. It originally broadcast a Middle of the road format. In 1979, CHQT started using 50,000 watts power. In 1986, the station changed frequency to 880 kHz as it was sold to Monarch Broadcasting, Ltd. In July 2000, Shaw Broadcasting sold the station to

. In June 2001, CHQT flipped to

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

as ''Cool 880''. In October 2003, the station briefly flipped to a variety hits format as ''880 Joe AM''. The format moved to sister station

CKNG-FM CKNG-FM (92.5 Hertz, MHz) is a radio station in Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The station plays an adult hits format branded on-air as ''Chuck @ 92.5''. CKNG's studios are located on 84th Street in southeastern Edmonton, while its transmitt ...

as ''92.5 Joe FM'' on January 13, 2004, after which CHQT reverted to oldies; it is likely CHQT flipped to the format merely as a placeholder while CKNG prepared for their flip to avoid a rival company preemptively making any similar move. On May 20, 2008, CHQT re-launched as an

station, branded as ''iNews 880'', complementing sister talk radio station CHED. On May 29, 2018, the station re-branded as ''Global News Radio 880 Edmonton'', as part of an ongoing rebranding of Corus's news/talk radio stations to create synergies with

Global News Global News is the news and Current affairs (news format), current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as ...

television programming. As part of the rebranding, the station added an audio simulcast of Global Edmonton's ''Global News Hour at 6''. An audio simulcast of ''Global News at Noon'' was added as of March 2019. As of July 2020, an audio-only rebroadcast of ''

Global National ''Global National'' is the English language flagship national newscast of Canada's Global Television Network. Editorial and production staff are based out of Global's national news centre at CHAN-DT, Global BC in Burnaby, British Columbia, with Da ...

'' aired on CHQT at 7 p.m., following the News Hour simulcast. On June 26, 2024, as part of cuts by Corus, CHQT discontinued its all-news format and began simulcasting with CHED. At the time, Corus stated that the simulcast was an interim measure, and that it would ultimately only operate one news-talk AM station in Edmonton. In August 2024, Corus announced that CHQT would close, and that CHED's branding and programming would move permanently to the 880 signal on October 9, 2024. Corus stated that CHQT's signal had better coverage than that of CHED; while both stations operated at a power of 50 kilowatts, the 880 AM transmitter is non-directional during the day whereas 630 was directional at all times. The 630 AM license was formally revoked by the CRTC on January 17, 2025, and its transmitter site will be sold.

References

External links

History of CHQT
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Canadian Communications Foundation The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) was a Canadian nonprofit organization which documented the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television networks, programs and broadcasters. The organization was established in ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chqt Hqt Hqt Hqt Radio stations established in 1965 1965 establishments in Alberta Radio stations disestablished in 2024 2024 disestablishments in Alberta Defunct radio stations in Alberta