May 1, 1922: CJCA makes first broadcast from Journal newsroom
By Edmonton Journal, edmontonjournal.com
May 1, 2012 7:34 AM
EDMONTON - Alberta’s first radio station, CJCA, began broadcasting from the newsroom at the Edmonton Journal.The station’s 23-metre-high radio tower was erected above the Journal building at 101st Street and Macdonald Drive.
A small studio was built in the corner of the newsroom, beneath the Linotype machines used to type stories.
Dick Rice, an ex-British navy radio operator, set up the horn-shaped microphone.
At precisely 11 p.m., the equipment was switched on and Mayor David Duggan leaned into the micro-phone.
The first words broadcast were: “Hello, hello, hello. This is Mayor Duggan of Edmonton speaking.
“No more election campaigns for me.
“Edmonton is putting in radio broadcasting plants and you can sit at your firesides and hear my speeches.”
In the mid-1980s, the station changed to an all-talk format, but financial difficulties forced it off the air Dec. 1, 1993.
Rights to the station were purchased by Touch Canada Broadcasting and in April 1994 it returned to the air as a gospel station.
ref. - http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/192 ... story.html