CFFR explained

CFFR
Area:Southern Alberta
Airdate:January 10, 1984
Frequency:660 kHz (AM)
City:Calgary, Alberta
Format:All-news
Owner:Rogers Radio
Affiliations:CityNews
Licensee:Rogers Media, Inc.
Sister Stations:CFAC, CHFM-FM, CJAQ-FM, CJCO-DT, CKAL-DT
Power:50,000 watts
Branding:NewsRadio Calgary
Class:B
Website:calgary.citynews.ca
Webcast:Listen Live
Callsign Meaning:Calgary's Finest Family Radio

CFFR (660 AM) is a Canadian radio station broadcasting in Calgary, Alberta, and began broadcasting on January 10, 1984. As of April 3, 2006, it operates in an all-news format, branded as 660 NewsRadio Calgary. It is a Class B, 50,000 watt station broadcasting on the clear-channel frequency of 660 AM. CFFR's studios are located on 7th Avenue Southwest in downtown Calgary, while its transmitters are located near Okotoks.

Previously, CFFR had operated a gold-based adult contemporary station entitled 66 CFR. "CFR" initially stood for "Calgary Family Radio" (with the additional "F" in the call sign being incidental), and later for "Calgary Flames Radio", although game coverage moved to sister station CFAC upon its relaunch as all-sports. The first song they played was at 7:16 am, was "A Hard Day's Night" by the Beatles after signing on with the station stunting with a sound of a clock ticking, CFFR's announcements with the same early 1980's jingles as CFTR in Toronto, and various number 1 songs from 1964 to 1983; and it was an ode to the work they had done just to get the station up and running. "66 CFR" during its early years played various hits from the late 1950s to the 1980s.[1] The last song played before the format change was "We Built This City" by Starship.[2] 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.

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.[3]

In June 2021, Rogers announced that it would rebrand CFFR and its other all-news and news/talk radio stations under the CityNews brand beginning October 18, 2021.[4] 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. [5]

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: RadioWest.ca • View topic - 66 CFR Sign On 25 Years ago .. January 10, 1984. www.radiowest.ca.
  2. Web site: 660 News launch. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/prpu-jhbzY0 . 2021-12-22 . live. www.youtube.com.
  3. Web site: Winter 2020 PPM Data . 2021-04-01 .
  4. News: Rogers extends CityNews brand to five more of its news radio stations. The Canadian Press. . Medicine Hat News. June 4, 2021. June 5, 2021. June 4, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210604213625/https://medicinehatnews.com/business/2021/06/04/rogers-extends-citynews-brand-to-five-more-of-its-news-radio-stations/. dead.
  5. https://x.com/CityNewsVAN/status/1817915484739965043 CityNews 1130 Rebrands as NewsRadio Vancouver