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How far does your CKUA donation go?

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CKUA goes to great lengths to keep all of us connected, today and every day.

How far, you ask? Our CEO, Marc Carnes explains:

Whereas a local radio station’s broadcast centre and transmitter are usually located in the same town, CKUA has to reach 16 towers and transmitters across the province of Alberta as well as a worldwide online listening audience. Whether a show originates in our Calgary or Edmonton studio, what happens next is pretty mind-boggling and only possible thanks to our crack team of technical professionals.

For the people who tune in online or through the app:

  • Circumference of the earth: 46,000 km
  • Listeners tune in from over 740 communities around the world, representing 23 countries and five continents

For people who tune in through FM, which is the bulk of our listeners:

  • The signal from Edmonton goes to Mississauga: 3500 km
  • Mississauga beams the signal to a satellite above the earth: 36,000 km
  • The satellite transmits the signal back to 16 receivers across Alberta: 36,000 km
  • Transmission from each transmitter to you: anywhere from 1 – 100kms
  • Total: 75,000km (give or take a few)
  • Area covered across Alberta from the 16 transmitters: several hundred thousand kilometres reaching 90+ percent of the populated parts of the province in over 300 communities.
  • Time delay: About 4 seconds – half the length of a bull ride, or the time it takes to tie a shoe.

The Proclaimers might “walk 500 miles” (and possibly even “500 more”) just once to make it to your door. We happily travel 121,000 kms every minute of every day to stay connected to you, our CKUA community.

This is part of why we ask for your support. Part of the magic and cost of radio at the scale of CKUA’s is the ability to connect you with your favourite hosts, their music and their stories. Just like your favourite artist has an instrument, this is CKUA’s.

The total technical cost to keep you connected with CKUA and your fellow listeners, whenever and wherever you might be is over $1,200,000 per year or about 18.5% of our annual operating budget of $6.48M.

Helpful links:

Celeigh Cardinal’s CKUA Story

Donate today!

Tuning In to the CKUA Community by Grant Stovel

How to donate online to CKUA! (we can’t take calls right now)

‘Keep Calm and CKUA On’ – A fundraising message by Marc Carnes