City Edmonton, Alberta Branding CBC Radio One First air date 1948 | Broadcast area Northern Alberta Frequency 740 kHz (AM) Format public broadcasting | |
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CBX is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 740 AM in Edmonton, Alberta. It broadcasts the programming of the CBC Radio One network. CBX is a Class B station broadcasting on a Canadian clear-channel frequency; the dominant station on 740 AM is CFZM in Toronto, Ontario. CBX's studios are located at Edmonton City Centre on 102nd Avenue Northwest in downtown Edmonton, while its transmitters are located near Beaumont.
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It is the second most listened-to radio station in the Edmonton market according to the Fall 2014 PPM ratings.
History
The station was originally launched in 1948 on AM 1010. It served the southern two-thirds of Alberta, including Edmonton and Calgary, from a single 50,000-watt transmitter site at Lacombe, near Red Deer--roughly halfway between Edmonton and Calgary. Prior to its launch, CBC Radio programming aired in Edmonton on private affiliate CFRN 1260. In 1953, with signal reception in the city deteriorating, the rebroadcaster CBXA was launched on 740.
In 1964, the CBC launched separate radio services in Edmonton and Calgary. CBX was reoriented to be Edmonton's CBC station, and its transmitter was relocated to Beaumont on CBXA's frequency of 740. CBR signed on as Calgary's CBC outlet, using CBX's old frequency of AM 1010.
In 2004, CBC Edmonton operations moved into a new digital broadcast facility downtown, bringing all operations of Radio and TV, under one roof. The old TV facility on 75th Street had 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2), while the Radio building on 51st Ave. had 48,000 square feet (4,500 m2). The new combined facility has 38,700 total square feet. It is located at the Edmonton City Centre, on Winston Churchill Square.
On March 16, 2006, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved the station's application to add a "nested" FM transmitter at 93.9 MHz in Edmonton to simulcast the AM programming. This relay, CBX-2-FM, officially began April 20, 2007.
Local programming
Local programs produced by CBC Edmonton and aired on CBX include Edmonton AM, and Radio Active. CBX also produces half-hourly news bulletins between 5:30 AM and 6:00 PM each weekday. Provincial or national news bulletins air on CBX outside of those hours. World Report and The World This Hour also airs at the top of each hour during Edmonton AM and Radio Active, respectively.
CBC Edmonton also produces two music shows for the entire CBC radio networks: Saturday Night Blues and Canada Live air nationally on CBC Radio One/Sirius 137, and CBC Radio 2, respectively.
The last few BBM radio ratings measurements have shown CBX steadily climbing in audience share in Edmonton. As of the spring 2009 BBM measurement, CBX is the second-most listened to radio-station in Edmonton, behind news-talk radio station CHED. Edmonton AM also ranks second in the morning, while Radio Active ranks fourth amongst the afternoon radio drive-time shows.
Transmitters
On September 10, 2012, the CBC applied to move the following CBC low-power AM transmitters to the FM band. The CBC received approval on January 31, 2013 to convert the remaining AM transmitters to the FM band and the new FM transmitters will operate on these following frequencies:
On October 25, 2013, the CRTC approved the CBC's application to delete the following low-power AM transmitter, CBXH John D'Or Prairie. An FM transmitter operates at 102.5 FM as CBXH-FM.
The AM transmitters were deleted once the new FM transmitters commenced operation.