 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | |
| Frequency | 660kHz |
| Branding | 660 NewsRadio Calgary |
| Programming | |
| Format | All-news radio |
| Affiliations | CityNews |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| CFAC,CHFM-FM,CJAQ-FM,CJCO-DT,CKAL-DT | |
| History | |
First air date | January 10, 1984 (1984-01-10) |
Call sign meaning | Calgary's Finest Family Radio |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | CRTC |
| Class | B |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 50°45′27″N114°03′46″W / 50.75750°N 114.06278°W /50.75750; -114.06278 |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | calgary.citynews.ca |
CFFR (660AM) is a commercialradio station inCalgary, Alberta, Canada, broadcasting anall-news radio format. It is owned byRogers Radio and is branded as660 NewsRadio Calgary. The studios are on 7th Avenue Southwest indowntown Calgary.
CFFR is aClass B station. It is powered at 50,000 watts, the maximum for Canadian AM stations.AM 660 is an Americanclear 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 inOkotoks.
CFFR signed on the air on January 10, 1984.[2] It was owned by Rawlco Communications, Ltd. The station started out with agold-basedadult contemporary format known as66 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 theNHL hockey team in town. (Game coverage moved to sister stationCFAC 960 AM upon its relaunch as all-sports.)
The first song played on CFFR was "A Hard Day's Night" bythe Beatles. Earlier that week, the stationstunted with the sound of a clock ticking. CFFR's announcements used the same early 1980'sjingles asCFTR inToronto. 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" byStarship.[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.
As of April 3, 2006, CFFR was airing anall-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 byNumeris.[5]
In June 2021, Rogers announced that it would rebrand CFFR and its other all-news and news/talk radio stations under theCityNews brand. The new moniker would begin on October 18, 2021.[6] The radio station's website is co-branded with CityNews and includes reporting fromCitytv Calgary's newscasts.
In July 2024, the station rebranded as660 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 withCFTRToronto,CKWXVancouver andCJNI-FMHalifax in airing a national all-news radio service.
