CFRK-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting at 92.3 FM in

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

owned by

Stingray Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ( ...

. The station airs a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

format branded as ''New Country 92.3''. Based on the current format, CFRK competes with

CKHJ CKHJ is a radio station in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, broadcasting at 1260 AM. The station broadcasts a country format under the '' Pure Country'' branding. The station is owned by Bell Media which also owns sister stations CFXY-FM an ...

who is predominantly an AM only station. The station is the originating station for Weekend Country Heat, which is a Saturday evening program syndicated to most other Stingray country stations across Canada. Weekend Country Heat is hosted by John Riordon, who also hosts The Early Show on CFRK weekday mornings. Middays are anchored by the syndicated Paul McGuire Show, Shilo Bellis hosts afternoons, and The Casey Clarke show fills evening hours. The station remains as the only commercial signal in the market to feature live, local announcers seven days per week, with Izzy hosting Saturday and Sundays.

History

The station launched on July 28, 2005 under a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

format branded as ''92.3 Fred-FM'' with the first song being "

Layla "Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally recorded by Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their only studio album, ''Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'' (1970). Its contrasting movements were compos ...

" by

Derek & The Dominos Derek and the Dominos was an English–American blues rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton, keyboardist and singer Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon. All four members had previous ...

. On March 1, 2013, at Noon, after playing "

Free Bird "Free Bird", also spelled "Freebird", is a song written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant and performed by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. The song featured on the band's debut album in 1973. Released as a single in November 1974, "Fr ...

" by

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...

, CFRK flipped to Top 40/CHR as ''Hot 92.3'', whose logo and presentation was patterned after its sister station

CIHT-FM CIHT-FM (89.9 FM, ''Hot 89.9'') is a radio station licensed to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Stingray Group, it broadcasts a CHR/Top 40 format. CIHT's studios are located on Antares Drive in Nepean, while its transmitter is located in Camp ...

in Ottawa. The first song played on "Hot" was "

Scream & Shout "Scream & Shout" is a song by American recording artists will.i.am and Britney Spears, taken from the former's fourth studio album '' #willpower'' (2013). It was released on November 20, 2012, by Interscope Records as the second single from ...

" by

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...

and

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

. On February 7, 2013, the CRTC approved Newcap's application to modify the technical parameters of the English language commercial radio programming undertaking CFRK-FM Fredericton by decreasing the station's average effective radiated power (ERP) from 93,000 to 42,000 watts (and by increasing the maximum ERP from 93,000 to 100,000 watts), by increasing the effective height of antenna above average terrain from 124.8 to 137.5 metres, by changing the radiation pattern of the antenna from non-directional to directional, and by relocating the antenna and transmitter from their current site at Hamtown Corner to Mount Hope. On June 1, 2015, at Midnight, after playing "Amnesia" by Ilai Swindells, CFRK flipped to

, branded as ''New Country 92.3''. The first song on "New Country" was " Sun Daze" by

Florida Georgia Line Florida Georgia Line is an American country music duo founded in 2010 by Tyler Hubbard of Georgia and Brian Kelley of Florida, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. Their 2012 debut single " Cruise" broke two major sales records: it was ...

.Hot 92.3 Becomes New Country
/ref> The lack of a local Country FM radio station prompted the format change.

Former logos

File:923FredFMlogo.jpg, 2005-2013 File:Hot923logo.jpg, 2013-2015 File:Newcountry923logo.jpg, 2015-2017

References

External links

New Country 92.3
* * Frk Frk Frk Radio stations established in 2005 2005 establishments in New Brunswick {{NewBrunswick-radio-station-stub