CHAH-AM

On January 6, the CRTC approved an application by 1811258 Alberta Ltd. for a broadcasting licence to operate an ethnic commercial AM radio station in Edmonton. The commission said the applicant proposed a quality application, including a sound business plan that drew on its experience providing brokered ethnic programming on CKJR Wetaskiwin. The Commission considered that this proposal would have limited impact on existing stations in the market, including the ethnic service CKER-FM. Further, awarding a licence to 1811258 Alberta would repatriate revenues from an out-of-market station (CKJR) that was providing programming to the Edmonton market. The new station would serve a growing ethnic audience of Edmonton residents by offering a mix of spoken word and music programming targeting the South Asian community, as well as other ethnic communities. Specifically, the station would broadcast 126 hours of local ethnic programming each broadcast week directed to at least 9 distinct ethnic groups in at least 17 different languages. At least 91% of the programming broadcast each broadcast week would be devoted to third-language programs. The applicant committed to broadcast approximately 42 hours of spoken word programming each broadcast week, including 10 hours of news, 6 hours of which would be devoted to local and regional stories relevant to its audience. At least 60% of all its musical selections would consist of world beat and international music. In addition, it proposed to devote, by condition of licence, at least 12% of its musical selections in each broadcast week to Canadian selections, which exceeded the regulatory minimum for ethnic programming periods set out in the Regulations. The licence would expire August 31, 2023. The frequency to be used – 580 kHz – was the long time home to the now defunct CKUA-AM. Power would be 10,000 watts.

CHAH Radio Sursangam Edmonton began on-air testing in the summer.

My Radio 580 officially signed on the air on September 28.