CFFR

Last updated
CFFR
Broadcast area Calgary Metropolitan Region - Southern Alberta
Frequency 660 kHz (AM)
BrandingNewsRadio Calgary
Programming
Format All-News
Affiliations CityNews
Ownership
Owner
CFAC, CHFM-FM, CJAQ-FM, CJCO-DT, CKAL-DT
History
First air date
January 10, 1984;40 years ago (1984-01-10)
Call sign meaning
Calgary's Finest Family Radio
Technical information
Class B
Power 50,000 watts
Links
Webcast Listen Live
Website calgary.citynews.ca

CFFR (660 AM) is a commercial radio station in Calgary, Alberta, broadcasting an all-news radio format. It is owned by Rogers Radio and is branded as 660 NewsRadio Calgary. The studios are on 7th Avenue Southwest in downtown Calgary.

Contents

CFFR is a Class B station. It is powered at 50,000 watts, the maximum for Canadian AM stations. AM 660 is an American clear channel frequency, so CFFR uses a directional antenna with a three-tower array to protect other stations from interference. [1] Its transmitter is off 48th Street West in Okotoks.

History

Gold-based AC

CFFR signed on the air on January 10, 1984;40 years ago. [2] It was owned by Rowlco Communications, Ltd. The station started out with a gold-based adult contemporary format known as 66 CFR. "CFR" initially stood for "Calgary Family Radio" with the additional "F" in the call sign being incidental. Later, the CFFR call letters were used for "Calgary Flames Radio", representing the NHL hockey team in town. (Game coverage moved to sister station CFAC 960 AM upon its relaunch as all-sports.)

The first song played on CFFR was "A Hard Day's Night" by the Beatles. Earlier that week, the station stunted with the sound of a clock ticking. CFFR's announcements used the same early 1980's jingles as CFTR in Toronto. Various number 1 songs from 1964 to 1983 were heard. Hard Day's Night was an ode to all the work that the staff had done to get the station up and running.

During its early years, "66 CFR" played hits from the late 1950s to the 1980s. [3] The last song played in the music format was "We Built This City" by Starship. [4] The announcement of 66 CFR leaving the air was accompanied by the closing chord of the Beatles' "A Day in the Life", which had also been the first sound heard at the start of the production piece introducing the station.

All News

As of April 3, 2006, CFFR was airing an all-news format, branded as 660 NewsRadio Calgary. It is one of several radio stations owned by Rogers with a news or news/talk format. As of winter 2020, CFFR is the 11th-most-listened-to radio station in the Calgary market according to a PPM data report released by Numeris. [5]

In June 2021, Rogers announced that it would rebrand CFFR and its other all-news and news/talk radio stations under the CityNews brand. The new moniker would begin on October 18, 2021. [6] The radio station's website is co-branded with CityNews and includes reporting from Citytv Calgary's newscasts.

In July 2024, the station rebranded as 660 NewsRadio Calgary, along with Rogers' other news radio stations across Canada. [7] Local anchors deliver the news during the day and evenings. Late nights, CFFR joins with CFTR Toronto, CKWX Vancouver and CJNI-FM Halifax in airing a national all-news radio service.

Past station logos

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citytv</span> Canadian television network owned by Rogers Communications

Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consists of six owned-and-operated (O&O) television stations located in the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver, a cable-only service that serves the province of Saskatchewan, and three independently owned affiliates serving smaller cities in Alberta and British Columbia. There is also one station using the brand name serving Bogota, Colombia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CKVU-DT</span> Citytv station in Vancouver

CKVU-DT is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television station CHNM-DT. The two stations share studios at the corner of West 2nd Avenue and Columbia Street in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood of Vancouver; CKVU-DT's transmitter is located atop Mount Seymour in the district municipality of North Vancouver, with additional transmitter link facilities on the roof of the Century Plaza Hotel in Downtown Vancouver.

CityNews is the title of news and current affairs programming on Rogers Sports & Media's Citytv network in Canada. The newscast division was founded on September 28, 1975 as CityPulse as a standalone local newscast on the network's Toronto station owned by CHUM Limited. Through the acquisitions of the Edmonton, Winnipeg and Calgary A-Channel stations in 2004, it was relaunched under the CityNews brand on August 2, 2005 and later expanded to Montreal in 2012. The remaining Citytv stations airs the news headlines segments during each station's Breakfast Television morning show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CFTR (AM)</span> News radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

CFTR is a commercial all-news radio station licensed to Toronto, Ontario, serving the Greater Toronto Area. Owned by Rogers Radio, a division of the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications, the station became Canada's first solo station to broadcast an all-news radio format, following in the footsteps of the CKO national all-news radio network, a format that has since been replicated in major markets across the country. The CFTR studios are located at the Rogers Building at Bloor and Jarvis Streets in downtown Toronto, while the station transmitter is located on the southern edge of Lake Ontario at Oakes and Winston Road in nearby Grimsby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CJAX-FM</span> Radio station in Vancouver

CJAX-FM is a commercial radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia. Owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts an adult hits radio format branded as Jack 96.9. Its studios are at 2440 Ash Street in the Fairview neighbourhood of Vancouver. CJAX was the first conventional radio station in North America to adopt the "Jack" branding, officially classified as "variety hits" or "adult hits". Most "Jack" stations play a wide mix of music from the late 60s through the 90s, as well as some current and recent adult contemporary and hot adult contemporary singles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CKFM-FM</span> Radio station in Toronto

CKFM-FM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario. The station is owned by Bell Media. The station airs a Top 40/CHR format, and is the flagship of Canada's "Virgin Radio" stations. CKFM's studios are located at 250 Richmond Street West in the Entertainment District, while its transmitter is located at the top of the CN Tower.

CKBY-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Smiths Falls, Ontario, and serving the National Capital Region including Ottawa. It is owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media. From 2020 to 2023 it was branded as CityNews 101.1 with the call letters CJET-FM which simulcasted a News/Talk format with co-owned CIWW. On October 26, 2023, the CityNews branding and simulcast was terminated, CIWW went silent, and 101.1 reverted to its former call letters and Country format, which had been at 92.3 FM.

CHFM-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting in Calgary, Alberta. Owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, the station broadcasts an adult contemporary format. CHFM's studios are located on 7th Avenue Southwest in Downtown Calgary, while its transmitter is located on Patina Hill Drive Southwest in West Calgary.

CHQT was an AM commercial radio station licensed to Edmonton, Alberta. Owned by Corus Entertainment, the station operated as an all-news radio station at 880 kHz from 2008 to mid-2024, when it converted to a rebroadcaster of sister station CHED. CHED and CHQT traded frequencies on October 9, 2024 with CHED's programming relocating permanently to the 880 AM while CHQT moved to CHED's former frequency of 630 kHz and broadcast looped announcements advising listeners to "reset your preset" to 880. The looped announcements continued until November 1, at which point CHQT went silent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CJNI-FM</span> Radio station in Halifax, Nova Scotia

CJNI-FM is a Canadian radio station in Halifax, Nova Scotia. CJNI has a news--talk--sports format branded as 95.7 NewsRadio Halifax. The station is owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, which also owns sister station CFLT-FM. CJNI-FM is currently the only commercial news/talk/sports station in Atlantic Canada. Studios and offices are on Young Street in Halifax, while the transmitter is located on Washmill Lake Drive in Clayton Park.

CFAC is a radio station serving Calgary, Alberta. Owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, the station broadcasts a sports format branded as Sportsnet 960 The Fan, co-branded with the Sportsnet television channel also owned by Rogers. Its studios are located on 7th Avenue Southwest in downtown Calgary, in the same building as Rogers' other Calgary stations, CFFR, CHFM-FM and CJAQ-FM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CIWW</span> Radio station in Ottawa (1922–2023)

CIWW was a radio station in Ottawa, Ontario owned by Rogers Radio. The station was the oldest radio station in Ottawa, first signing on in 1922. The station broadcast at 50,000 watts, the maximum for Canadian AM stations. The transmitter site was on McKenna Casey Drive, near Strandherd Drive and Ontario Highway 416 in Nepean. To protect other stations on 1310 AM, it used a directional antenna. By day it employed a two-tower array and at night a five-tower array. The nighttime signal was beamed mainly into Canada. The towers were removed sometime in late 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CKWX</span> Radio station in Vancouver

CKWX is a commercial radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts an news/talk radio format branded as 1130 NewsRadio Vancouver. CKWX's studios and offices are located at 2440 Ash Street in the Fairview neighbourhood of Vancouver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CJAQ-FM</span> Radio station in Calgary

CJAQ-FM is a Canadian radio station in Calgary, Alberta. The station uses the on-air brand name Jack 96.9. It is the second "Jack" station in Canada and the world, after its sister CJAX-FM in Vancouver. CJAQ's studios are located on 7th Avenue Southwest in downtown Calgary, while its transmitter is located on Patina Hill Drive Southwest in the Prominence Point neighbourhood in west Calgary.

Jesse and Gene is a Canadian morning zoo radio show that aired in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada radio market between 1986 and 1997. The duo of co-hosts consisted of Jesse Dylan and Gene Valaitis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CKCE-FM</span> Radio station in Calgary

CKCE-FM is a radio station in Calgary. Owned by the Jim Pattison Group, it broadcasts a hot adult contemporary format with some segments of hot talk and listener interaction.

CKMX was a radio station broadcasting at 1060 AM in Calgary, Alberta, and owned by Bell Media. Its comedy format was branded on-air as Funny 1060. CKMX's studios were located in the CTV Calgary Studios on Patina Rise SW in the Prominence Point neighborhood of Calgary, and its transmitter site near Southeast Calgary. At night, CKMX could be heard as far west as Battle Ground and Snohomish, Washington. It could also be heard on shortwave on 6.03 MHz via its repeater CFVP, reaching western North America.

The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 660 kHz: 660 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency. WFAN New York City and KFAR Fairbanks, Alaska, share Class A status of 660 kHz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CKNO-FM</span> Radio station in Edmonton, Alberta

CKNO-FM is a radio station in Edmonton, Alberta. Owned by the Jim Pattison Group, it broadcasts a hot adult contemporary format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CKWD-FM</span> Country music radio station in Calgary

CKWD-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting at 95.3 FM in Calgary, Alberta owned by Jim Pattison Group. The station broadcasts a country format branded as Wild 95.3. CKWD's studios are located on 58th Avenue Southwest in Calgary, while its transmitter is located on Old Banff Coach Road. The station is owned and operated by Jim Pattison Group who also owns sister station CKCE-FM.

References

  1. ↑ FCCdata.org/CFFR
  2. ↑ Broadcasting & Cablecasting Yearbook 1987 page B-328. Retrieved Sept. 12, 2024.
  3. ↑ "RadioWest.ca • View topic - 66 CFR Sign On 25 Years ago .. January 10, 1984". www.radiowest.ca.
  4. ↑ "660 News launch". Archived from the original on 2021-12-22 – via www.youtube.com.
  5. ↑ "Winter 2020 PPM Data" . Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  6. ↑ "Rogers extends CityNews brand to five more of its news radio stations". Medicine Hat News . The Canadian Press. June 4, 2021. Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  7. ↑ https://x.com/CityNewsVAN/status/1817915484739965043 CityNews 1130 Rebrands as NewsRadio Vancouver

50°45′27″N114°03′46″W / 50.75750°N 114.06278°W / 50.75750; -114.06278

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.