City | Edmonton, Alberta |
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Branding | AM930 The Light |
Frequency | 930 kHz |
First air date | May 1, 1922 |
Format | Religious |
Power | 50,000 watts |
Class | B (regional) |
Transmitter coordinates | 53°23′0″N 113°28′35″W / 53.38333°N 113.47639°WCoordinates: 53°29′26″N 113°29′46″W / 53.49056°N 113.49611°W |
Callsign meaning | Randomly assigned |
Owner | Touch Canada Broadcasting |
Sister stations | CJLI |
Webcast | CJCA listen online |
Website | AM930 The Light |
CJCA is a Canadian radio station. It operates at 930 AM with the current brand name "AM930 The Light" in Edmonton, Alberta.
It was first licensed in 1922, and it first broadcast on May 1, 1922, becoming Alberta's first radio station. It was an affiliate of the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission from 1933 to 1936 when it affiliated with the newly formed Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. CJCA was originally owned and operated by the Edmonton Journal, and was later purchased by Selkirk Communications. As of 1994, it broadcasts entirely Christian programming.
During the 1960s CJCA was one of two major pop and rock stations in Edmonton (the other being CHED).
Walt Rutherford, Phil Floyd, John McKittrick, Murray Blakely, Terry Spense and Earl McKittrick were in the newsroom. Gord Skuttle was the Chief engineer (assisted by Andre Picard). Harry Boon was the Music Director with Dalt Elton as Program Director. The Top 40 was played twice in a row on Saturdays. Dixieland Jazz was played live from a club for an hour on Thursday nights. Each high school had its own "fight" song for dedications. The DJs were household names, and their pictures were passed out as folding cards. The Top 40 sheet was distributed weekly, and once a month a listener would win the Top 40 records for that week.
An FM station was started from the back production studio. The FM simulcast the AM except for 6:00 pm to midnight when CJCA FM played more traditional adult pop music which was handled by an operator who played the records along with the pre-taped announcer.
Many "Radio 93" on-air personalities who went on to bigger markets include singer–songwriter Barry Boyd, who had a Canadian hit record, "Wishin'". In the mid 60s Barry moved to KFXM Radio in San Bernardino, California, which also called itself 'Tiger Radio'. Before returning to Edmonton, Barry was a jock on KCBQ in San Diego. Barry died in Edmonton in 2001. Other famous CJCA DJs included Mike Marshall, who later crossed the street to CHED and then became Frank Brodie at the legendary CKLW in Windsor, Ontario. Jim Hault was a longtime CJCA morning man. Hault later became an on-air institution in Vancouver.