CFFR signed on the air on January 10, 1984; 40 years ago (1984-01-10).[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 stationCFAC960 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 CFTRToronto, CKWXVancouver and CJNI-FMHalifax in airing a national all-news radio service.
