:''CFAC also stands for

Commander Fleet Activities Chinhae Commander Fleet Activities Chinhae ( ko, 진해 함대지원부대;
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radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

serving

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

. Owned by

Rogers Sports & Media Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties, such as the Citytv and Omni Television terrestrial television stations, Sportsnet, ...

, the station broadcasts a

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

format branded as ''

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then ...

960 The Fan'', co-branded with the

television channel also owned by Rogers. Its studios are located on 7th Avenue Southwest in

downtown Calgary Downtown Calgary is a dense urban district in central Calgary, Alberta. It contains the second largest concentration of head offices in Canada, despite only being the country's fourth largest city in terms of population. The downtown is divided i ...

, in the same building as Rogers' other Calgary stations,

CFFR CFFR (660 AM) is a Canadian AM radio station broadcasting at 660 kHz in Calgary, Alberta, and began broadcasting on January 10, 1984. As of April 3, 2006, it operates in an all-news format, branded as ''CityNews 660''. It is a Class B, 50,000 wa ...

CHFM-FM CHFM-FM (''Star 95.9'') is a Canadian radio station broadcasting at 95.9 FM in Calgary, Alberta. Owned by Rogers Sports & Media, the station broadcasts an adult contemporary format. CHFM's studios are located on 7th Avenue Southwest in Downtown ...

and

CJAQ-FM CJAQ-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 96.9 FM 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 st ...

. CFAC broadcasts with a power of 50,000 watts 24 hours a day on the regional frequency of 960 AM. The daytime signal is non-directional, and the nighttime signal is directional using a three-tower array located on Rainbow Road just east of the Calgary city limits.

History

Organized radio broadcasting began to gain prominence in Canada in early 1922. Initially there wasn't a formal licence category for stations providing entertainment broadcasts intended for the general public, so the earliest stations operated under a mixture of Experimental, Amateur, and governmental authorizations. One of the most prominent pioneer broadcasters was William Walter Westover Grant, who during this time installed radio communication equipment for the Canadian Air Board's Forestry patrol."W.W.W. 'Bill' Grant (1892-1968)"
by J. Lyman Potts, Canadian Communications Foundation, March 1997 (broadcasting-history.ca) In 1921 these operations were established at the

High River Air Station RCAF Station High River was a station of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) located at High River, Alberta, Canada. High River Air Station The Canadian Air Board began operating the High River Air Station in January 1921 after having moved the ...

in southern Alberta. Grant constructed government station VAW at this site, and, in addition to the forestry work, began to make a series of experimental entertainment broadcasts, believed to be the first in western Canada, that were audible approximately 50 miles (80 km) away in Calgary. (In May 1922 Grant founded CFCN (now CKMX) in Calgary.) In the spring of 1922 the ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'' began to publicize the topic of radio, including Grant's broadcasts. In late April the newspaper installed what it called "the most complete receiving set in Western Canada" at its headquarters, and reported that it had successfully picked up High River concerts on April 27 and April 28. During this same time the Canadian government announced the formal creation of a radio broadcast service, which included the establishment of a "Private Commercial Broadcasting" licence."Fees For Examinations and Licenses"
''Report of the Department of the Naval Service for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 1922'' (June 30, 1922), page 27. In late April 1922 an initial group of twenty-three commercial broadcasting station licences was announced, including one issued to the ''Herald'' for operation on 400 meters (750 kHz), with the randomly assigned call letters of CHCQ."Radio Department: Broadcasting Stations"
''Winnipeg Evening Tribune'', April 25, 1922, page 5. (In this list, CKCE Toronto should be 450 instead of 45 meters, and for Winnipeg, "CHCE" should be CHCF and "CKbC" should be CKZC.) CHCQ's transmitter and studio were located in room 1006 on the tenth floor of The Herald Building. The primary technical work was performed by G. J. J. Jermain and S. H. Sturrork, assisted by W. W. Grant at the High River station."Board of Trade President Formally Opens the Herald Radio Broadcasting Station", ''Calgary Daily Herald'', May 3, 1922
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This account states, apparently erroneously, that the new station's call sign was "CQCA", although all other accounts from this period, both before and after this date, listed the call letters as "CHCQ". The first test transmission began at 2 o'clock on May 1, after the transmitter vacuum tubes had arrived that morning, and the next day's paper reported that "very gratifying success was obtained". Programming included phonograph records plus singing and the playing of a violin by Margaret King of the Palace theatre orchestra."First Broadcasting Tests on the Herald Radio Phone Provide Agreeable Results", ''Calgary Daily Herald'', May 2, 1922
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continued on
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The ''Herald'' announced the formal station opening would take place at 8:30 the evening of May 2, beginning with a speech by Frank Freeze, president of the Calgary Board of Trade. This formal debut closed with Margaret King singing "God Save the King". Calgary Herald radio schedule (CFAC & CHCQ) - October 16, 1922

Calgary Herald radio schedule (CFAC & CHCQ) - October 16, 1922

The April 1922 initial list of commercial broadcasting station grants had also included a second Calgary station, licensed to George M. Bell and transmitting on 430 meters (698 kHz), with the randomly assigned call sign of CFAC. On August 26 it was announced that the ''Herald'' was taking over operation of CFAC as a second, more powerful station. This was in addition to CHCQ, as the announcement noted "The set used during the past four months will not be discarded but is bring installed in the new quarters and will be used in case of accident with the larger machine, thus assuring a continuity of service." CFAC's broadcast debut under ''Herald'' oversight took place at 7.45 p.m. on August 29. Charles Logwood, radio engineer of the Canadian Independent Telephone Co. of Toronto, was credited with installing the CFAC transmitter for the Radio Corporation of Calgary and the ''Herald''. (Logwood, a longtime associate of

Lee de Forest Lee de Forest (August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American inventor and a fundamentally important early pioneer in electronics. He invented the first electronic device for controlling current flow; the three-element "Audion" triode va ...

, had a broadcasting career that dated back to 1916, over experimental station 2XG in New York City). The ''Herald'' commonly posted its daily broadcasting schedule on its front page. Until December 13, 1922 both CFAC and CHCQ were listed, but beginning the next day only CFAC appeared. Information on CHCQ's fate is limited, although one later review stated that the station closed sometime in 1924. On May 1, 1923 the ''Herald'' presented a special program "in celebration of the first anniversary of CFAC", and its historical review combined the earlier broadcasts of CHCQ with those of CFAC that started in August, with a sidebar noting "Before the present radio station of The Herald was built, this set, that was known then as CHCQ, was used to entertain the fans." Taylor, Pearson & Carson, a company which would eventually become

Selkirk Communications Selkirk Communications was a Canadian radio and television broadcasting company, which operated from 1959 to 1989. Evolving out of Taylor, Pearson & Carson, a local broadcaster in Vancouver founded in 1934, the company grew to own 14 radio statio ...

, became a minority partner in CFAC in 1934. The station was a private affiliate of the

Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC), also referred to as the Canadian Radio Commission (CRC), was Canada's first public broadcaster and the immediate precursor to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Origins The CRBC was establish ...

, which became the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

(CBC) in 1936. The station lost its CBC affiliation in 1948, when the CBC launched CBX to serve both

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

and Calgary from a

Lacombe Lacombe may refer to: Places * Lacombe, Alberta, Canada * Lacombe County, Alberta, Canada * Lacombe, Louisiana, United States * Lacombe, Aude, France People * Albert Lacombe (1827–1916), oblate missionary to the Cree and Blackfoot * Bernard Lac ...

transmitter site. Selkirk became the station's sole owner in 1971, and was acquired by

Maclean-Hunter Maclean-Hunter (M-H) was a Canadian communications company, which had diversification (finance), diversified holdings in radio, television, magazines, newspapers and cable television distribution. History The company began in 1887, when brothers J ...

in 1989, which in turn was bought out by

Rogers Radio Rogers Radio is a division of Rogers Sports & Media (a subsidiary of Rogers Communications) that specializes in the radio broadcasting industry. Rogers Radio is Canada's third-largest radio broadcaster (after Bell Media Radio and Stingray Group) ...

in 1994. Like most early radio stations, CFAC changed frequencies a number of times. Under the provisions of the

North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, es, Convenio Regional Norteamericano de Radiodifusión) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreem ...

it moved to its current frequency assignment of 960 kHz in early 1941. In 1983, CFAC launched CFHC in Canmore to re-broadcast its programs, a practice that continued until 1992. In 2001, CFAC dropped the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format which had been the station's staple for decades and adopted its current sports format, initially as an affiliate of

CHUM Limited CHUM Limited was a Canadian media company based in Toronto, Ontario in operation from 1945 to 2007. The company was founded in 1945 as York Broadcasters Limited when it launched CHUM-AM 1050 but was acquired by salesman Allan Waters in 1954. CHU ...

's The Team sports network. When the Team network was discontinued in 2002, CFAC retained sports programming but was rebranded as The Fan. ''

Mike Richards Michael Richards (born 1949) is an American actor best known for playing Cosmo Kramer in ''Seinfeld''. Michael Richards or Mike Richards may also refer to the following people: Arts and entertainment *Mike Richards (television personality) (born ...

in the Morning'', running from 6am-10am local time weekdays, was one of the most popular shows on Calgary radio. It often featured fake phone calls, skits and songs (all performed by Richards) from or about local and international sports celebrities. As of 2010, according to BBM's recently introduced PPM ratings, the program became the highest rated sports morning show in the country. However, in January 2011 Richards left The Fan to pursue a job as morning host with

TSN Radio 1050 CHUM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario, broadcasting on 1050 kHz. The station is owned and operated by Bell Media. CHUM's studios are co-located with The Sports Network, TSN at 9 Channel Nine Court in the Agincourt, Toronto, A ...

back in his native

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. His program was replaced with a show co-hosted by ex-

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

player

Rhett Warrener Rhett Adam Warrener (born January 27, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played over 700 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Florida Panthers, Buffalo Sabres and Calgary Flames between 1995 an ...

. As of August 2008, The Fan was ranked 15th among Calgary radio stations with only a %1.9 share of the audience, arguably due to the

niche market A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focused. The market niche defines the product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that it ...

of the all-sports AM format. As of the Fall 2011 BBM Radio PPM Data, CFAC was still ranked #15, but increased its share to 3.1. In January 2011, CFAC became known as "Sportsnet Radio Fan 960", the move came as part of a co-branding initiative with its television counterpart

Rogers Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was r ...

, amid indications that rival TSN was preparing to launch a competing sports radio network, which launched shortly after in Toronto. The station's on-air identity was then changed to "Sportsnet 960 The Fan" in October 2011. As of Winter 2020, CFAC is the 17th-most-listened-to radio station in the Calgary market according to a PPM data report released by

Numeris Numeris (formerly the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement, or BBM Canada) is a Canadian audience measurement organization. Established on May 11, 1944 as a division of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, Numeris is the primary provider of viewers ...

Programming

CFAC is the flagship station for live broadcasts of the

, and the

Calgary Hitmen The Calgary Hitmen are a major junior ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Hitmen play in the Central Division of the Western Hockey League (WHL). They play their home games at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Bret "The Hitman" ...

. It also carries live coverage of the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

, and is an affiliate of

CBS Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio is a sports radio network that debuted with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013. CBS Sports Radio is owned by Paramount Global and distributed by Westwood One. Programmin ...

. And also affiliate of the NFL's

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

On-air staff

Former

References

External links

*
CFAC history
-

Canadian Communications Foundation The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) is a Canadian nonprofit organization which documents the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television. Since 1995, the organization has distributed its collection via an intern ...

*
Radio-locator information on CFAC
{{coord, 50, 59, 21, N, 113, 50, 24, W, type:landmark_region:CA, display=title Fac Fac Fac Radio stations established in 1922 Sport in Calgary 1922 establishments in Alberta Calgary Cowboys Sportsnet CNR Radio Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission