| City of license | Calgary, Alberta |
|---|---|
| Branding | Sportsnet 960, The Fan |
| Slogan | Calgary's Sports Radio |
| Frequency | 960 kHz (AM) |
| First air date | May 2, 1922 |
| Format | Sports |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Callsign meaning | C FAn Calgary (the callsign predates its branding by 80 years) |
| Former callsigns | CQCA |
| Owner | Rogers Radio |
| Sister stations | CJCL, CFFR, CHFM-FM, CJAQ-FM, CKAL-TV, CJCO-TV, Rogers Sportsnet |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | Sportsnet 960, The Fan |
CFAC is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at AM 960 in Calgary, Alberta. The station, owned by Rogers Radio, broadcasts sports programming with the brand name Sportsnet 960, The Fan.
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CFAC was launched on May 2, 1922 by the Calgary Herald with the call sign CQCA (no radio and TV stations in Canada use "CQ" on the first half of their callsigns anymore). It changed its callsign to CHCQ a week later, and to the current CFAC in August of that year. Taylor, Pearson & Carson, a company which would eventually become Selkirk Communications, became a minority partner in the station in 1934. The station was a private affiliate of the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, which became the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1936.
Like most early radio stations, CFAC changed frequencies a number of times (see Canadian allocations changes under NARBA), and settled at 960 in 1941.
The station dropped its CBC affiliation in 1964, when CBR was launched. Selkirk became the station's sole owner in 1972, and was acquired by Maclean-Hunter in 1989. Maclean Hunter, in turn, was bought out by Rogers Radio in 1994.
In 1983, CFAC launched CFHC in Canmore to re-broadcast programs from CFAC, up until 1992.
In 2001, CFAC dropped the country music format which had been the station's staple for decades and adopted its current sports format as an affiliate of CHUM Limited's The Team sports network. It retained sports programming, but was rebranded as The Fan, when the Team network was discontinued in 2002.
Rogers also owns Calgary stations CFFR, CHFM and CJAQ, which, along with CFAC, all broadcast from within the same building.
"Mike Richards in the Morning" was a morning show that runs from 6am-10am local time weekdays. It was one of the most popular morning shows on Calgary radio and often features fake phone calls, skits and songs (all performed by Richards) from or about local and international sports celebrities. However, in January 2011, Richards left The Fan to pursue a job as morning host with TSN Radio 1050 back in his native Ontario.[1] His show has been replaced with a show co-hosted by ex-Calgary Flames player Rhett Warrener.
As of August 2008, The Fan was ranked 15th among Calgary radio stations with only a %1.9 share of the audience,[2] arguably due to the niche market 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.[3]
On March 17, 2009, it was announced on "The Big Show" that The Fan 960 would be dropping the ESPN Radio Syndicate and picking up Fox Sports Radio Syndicate. The change happened the week of March 23, 2009. The station has since returned to ESPN.
As of 2010, according to the new measurement called PPM's, Mike Richards in the Morning became the highest rated sports morning show in the country, according to BBM.
In January 2011, CFAC became known as "Sportsnet Radio Fan 960", the move coming as part of a co-branding initiative with its television counterpart Rogers Sportsnet, amid indications that rival TSN was preparing to launch a competing sports radio network, which launched shortly after in Toronto. The stations on air identity was then changed to Sportsnet 960, The Fan, in October 2011.[4]
The Fan 960 is the flagship station for the following teams' radio broadcasts:
The Fan 960 also features live coverage of the following:
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