CKUA
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CKUA is a Canadian radio station, located at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Created in 1927 through a provincial grant, CKUA was the first public broadcaster in Canada and also the first to offer educational radio programming, including music concerts, poetry readings, and university lectures.
In 1997 the station was nearly shut down due to political squabbles and attempts at privatization. The station was saved from demise when control was handed over to the public from the provincial government-appointed directors. As of 2003, more than two-thirds of the station's funding came from its listeners in the form of donations. Most donors originate in Canada and the United States, but they also hail from such places as China, Australia, Ecuador, Mexico, Italy, France, Sweden, Abu Dhabi, Egypt, and Hong Kong.
Culture
CKUA is considered a cultural icon by many artists and mucicians throughout Canada. The station's will to support local artists has helped launch the careers of such renowned musicians as k.d. lang, Jann Arden, and Bruce Cockburn. In addition, the employ of CKUA has contributed to the careers of Arthur Hiller, Robert Goulet, and Tommy Banks, among others.
CKUA schedules different programs througout the week and thus can offer many different genres. These include, but are not limited to: blues, bluegrass, celtic, country, classical, jazz, reggae, house, hip hop, dance, rock, and world music. CKUA's music library boasts one of the largest and most diverse music collections in Canada, with over 70 000 CDs, 50 000 LPs, and 10 000 78 rpm records, as well as a few aluminum transcription discs, 45s, and other various media formats.
Broadcast Technics
The station broadcasts its signal across the entire Province of Alberta on the AM band through one Edmonton based transmitter. The signal is also carried province-wide on FM through a network of 17 strategically located transmitters. CKUA also broadcasts in western Canada on select satellite providers. As of February 29, 1996, CKUA became the first radio station in Canada to stream their broadcast online, and now have upgraded the service to carry in excess of five hundred streams. The station currently has over 160 000 weekly listeners.
Due to CKUA's extensive coverage, the station is one of only two broadcasters (the other being AccessTV) to carry the Emergency Public Warning System. The provincial government-funded programme provides the station with 12% of its annual incom.