CHQT

Edmonton, Alberta
Broadcast area	Edmonton Metropolitan Region
Frequency	880 kHz
Branding	Global News Radio 880 Edmonton
Programming
Format	All-news
Affiliations	ABC News Radio, Westwood One News
Ownership
Owner	Corus Entertainment (Corus Radio Company)
Sister stations	CHED, CISN-FM, CKNG-FM, CITV-DT
History
First air date	August 19, 1965
Former frequencies	1110 kHz (1965-1986)
Call sign meaning	Canada's Highest Quality Talk
Technical information
Class	B
Power	50,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates	53°22′7″N 113°19′5″W / 53.36861°N 113.31806°W / 53.36861; -113.31806
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	globalnews.ca/radio/880edmonton

CHQT (880 AM, Global News Radio 880 Edmonton) is a commercial radio station licensed to Edmonton, Alberta. Owned by Corus Entertainment, the station broadcasts an all-news format.

CHQT broadcasts with a power of 50,000 watts, using a non-directional antenna in the daytime. But because AM 880 is a clear channel frequency, CHQT must use a directional antenna at night. Global News Radio 880 Edmonton can be heard in AM stereo using the C-QUAM system.

According to the Numeris Winter 2018-2019 Meter Ratings Report, the station ranks 18th (out of 19 stations measured)^[1]

As of February 28, 2021, CHQT is the 16th-most-listened-to radio station in the Edmonton market according to a PPM data report released by Numeris.^[2]

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.^[3]

In July 2000, Shaw Broadcasting sold the station to Corus Entertainment.^[4] In June 2001, CHQT flipped to oldies 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 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 all-news station, branded as iNews 880, complementing sister talk radio station 630 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 television programming, and its local station CITV-DT. As part of the rebranding, the station added an audio simulcast of Global News Hour at 6.^[5][6] An audio simulcast of Global News at Noon from Global Edmonton was added as of March 2019. As of July 2020, an audio-only rebroadcast of Global National airs on CHQT at 7 PM, following the News Hour simulcast.