On 13 July 1953 the station adopted the call letters CHED and shortly thereafter named Don McKay, a former chairman of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, as the general manager of the station. The station then hired local commentators Guy Vaughan (a former newsreader at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation [CBC]), Ron Chase, and Bob McGavin as newsreaders. This was in part the station's attempt to provide, in the words of McKay, "a happy blend of familiar and new voices." Other members of the CHED staff included Warner Troyer, Stu Phillips, and Phil Floyd. The news director of the station was Allan Slaight, the future president of the Standard Broadcasting Network. During this time, the station moved into its first broadcasting location, at 10006 107th Street, in the city's downtown. The station would remain in that location until it moved into its present building at 5 204 84th Street in 1982.

     CHED first aired on 3 March 1954, the 50th anniversary of the city's founding. The emphasis of the early programming was on more familiar concert and show runes, from Broadway musical scores to popular movie soundtracks, as well as music from swing bands of the era. This material was complemented by news every hour on the half hour and weather information on the hour, as well as periodic sports news and on-the-spot features announced by Bart Gibb. Full local, national, and international news came from wire services, including the British United Press and Broadcast News, as well as from CHED's city reporting staff. In 1955 then programmer and disc jockey and future station manager Murray McIntyre "Jerry" Forbes was responsible for spearheading the "Santas Anonymous" toy-drive campaign, which has become one of the largest Christmas toy drives in North America, currently delivering more than 26,000 toys to needy families in the Edmonton area.

     On 1 November 1962, CHED underwent an important technical change, moving its frequency to 630 kHz and increasing its power to 10,000 watts day and night (originally, the station had only 1,000 watts of nighttime power). This gave the station substantial coverage throughout the northern region of Alberta and into Saskatchewan.

     The change of frequency and subsequent increase in coverage marked the beginning of a substantial period of prosperity for the station, beginning in the late 1960s. The station had adopted a Top 50 rock format in 1957, but it achieved audi­ence supremacy with the rise of rock and the development of "personality radio," which saw the development of old-time "boss jocks"-well-known local personalities-in prominent roles as disc jockeys who hosted a variety of local events, introduced concerts and other promotional opportunities for the station, and participated in community initiatives. An example of this occurred in 1967, when the local newspaper, the Edmonton Journal, temporarily discontinued the comic pages because of a newsprint shortage. In response to this development, CHED announcers read and described the comic strips to audiences over the air. Newsreader Bob McCord read Peanuts, and other local personalities appeared at the station to read other areas, including Mayor Ivor Dent's reading of the Wizard of Id. The rationale, according to McCord, was that "with all of this world's troubles, it's no time to be without the funnies."

     The success of personality radio was most prominent among CHED's roster of disc jockeys. With a team that included Len Theusen, Bruce Bowie, Chuck Chandler, Wes Montgomery, and Keith James, CHED dominated the AM market with a morning show that occasionally posted a 50 percent share of the audience. Theusen's radio show, which aired evenings between 9 P.M. and midnight, was among the most popular shows on the dial. Theusen himself was not popular with everyone: the station was once forced off the air when he was attacked on the air by a former disc jockey. The station's local popularity did not go unnoticed by the music industry, and CHED was featured in a 1973 issue of Billboard magazine's spotlight on Canadian radio.

     By the 1980s, changes in ownership, programming format, and the local broadcast landscape resulted in the substantial reorganization of the station. In 1989 Moffat's Edmonton division (630/CHED) formed a partnership with Maclean Hunter station CKNG-FM (Power-92). The CHED management team was responsible for the operation of both radio stations until their sale to Western International Communications Ltd. (WIC) on 1 September 1992. More than a year later, the station changed its format to news/talk with the slogan"Alberta's Information Superstation" on 1 December 1993. By 1995 CHED had secured a virtual monopoly on the broadcasting rights for major professional sports; the station now broadcasts Edmonton Oilers hockey and the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. In late 1999, WIC's broadcasting (radio and television) holdings were divided up, and Corus Entertainment (a division of Shaw Communications) purchased the radio properties, including the operation of CHED.