CFGQ-FM (107.3 FM, "107.3 The Edge") is a radio station in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

. Owned by

Corus Entertainment Corus Entertainment Inc. (often simply known as Corus) is a Canadian mass media and television production company. The company was founded in 1987 as Shaw Radio Ltd. as a subsidiary of Shaw Communications and was spun-off from Shaw in 1999. It h ...

, it broadcasts a classic alternative format. CFGQ's studios are located on 17th Ave SW near Westbrook Mall, while its transmitter is located at 85th Street Southwest and Old Banff Coach Road in western Calgary. As of Winter 2020, CFGQ was the 7th-most-listened-to radio station in the Calgary market according to a PPM data report released by Numeris.

History

The station was launched on April 15, 1982, as CKIK-FM, and first broadcast an adult

album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM broadcasting, FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of Rock music, rock albums and is currently associated ...

format. Throughout the 1980s and much of the 1990s, CKIK (known on-air as ''107 KIK FM'' and later as ''Rock 107'') played a variety of rock formats. Early in its history, the station encountered financial difficulties, which were alleviated in 1985, when Harvey Glatt, Ottawa music

impresario An impresario (from Italian ''impresa'', 'an enterprise or undertaking') is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, Play (theatre), plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film producer, film or ...

and founder of CHEZ-FM, acquired a 75% interest in the station, which he held until 1995. CFGQ-FM Q107 logo

In September 1997, CKIK flipped to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

as ''Power 107''. In January 2002, it flipped to

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

as ''The Peak 107.3''. In 2004, the station returned to a rock format as

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

as ''Q107'', after which it adopted its current call letters. In 2007, Terry DiMonte, formerly associated with

CHOM-FM CHOM-FM (97.7 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial radio, commercial FM radio, FM radio station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it broadcasts a mainstream rock radio format. The studios are in the Bell Media Building at 1717 ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, joined CFGQ as its morning host. In December 2011, Terry DiMonte left CFGQ, returning to CHOM in Montreal. In August 2019, the station replaced its morning show with ''Willy in the Morning'' from sister station

CFMI-FM CFMI-FM (101.1 MHz) branded as ''Rock 101'', is a commercial radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is owned by Corus Entertainment with studios in Downtown Vancouver, in the TD Tower. The station has a radio format that combines ...

CHQR simulcast

On December 16, 2022, it was reported that CFGQ would launch a new format on January 9, 2023, with CFGQ's remaining local personalities (including afternoon hosts "Tarzan Dan" Freeman and Cam Sullivan) announcing the end of their respective shows. On the announced date, the station became an FM simulcast of AM

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...

station CHQR, with both stations collectively rebranded as "QR Calgary". In May 2023, following inquiries by the

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...

(CRTC) regarding whether the simulcast complies with broadcasting regulations, Corus filed a set of applications with the CRTC to formalize the simulcast by re-designating CFGQ as the originating station of the news/talk format under a specialty FM licence, revoking CHQR's AM licence, and formally designating the current CHQR facility as an AM rebroadcaster of CFGQ.

''The Edge''

In June 2024, before the CRTC began any action on Corus' application, the company abruptly rescinded the application and announced that it would abandon the CHQR simulcast on CFGQ instead. A Corus spokesperson stated that the choice was made because the company was "not able to monetize QR on both AM and FM the way we had hoped". Corus then confirmed that CFGQ would return to a music-based format by the end of July. Later that month, ''RadioInsight'' reported that Corus had purchased the

domain name In the Internet, a domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services, and more. ...

"1073Edge.com", implicating the possibility of a

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

format modeled after Toronto sister station CFNY-FM ''102.1 The Edge''. On July 31, 2024, at 7 a.m., CFGQ flipped to a classic alternative format as ''107.3 The Edge''. The new format focuses primarily on

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

, and new wave music from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s (marketed by the station as "iconic alternative"). The station will also air Alan Cross's '' The Ongoing History of New Music'', and continue to carry

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

CFL games. The station competes primarily with Harvard Media's modern rock CFEX-FM, and to an extent with

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (Canadian French, French: ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada). Its operations include nati ...

's active rock CJAY-FM. In February 2025, Corus announced the addition of Justin Wilcomes, also known as Drex, in the morning slot effective March 3. ''The Drex Show'' will also air in the afternoon on CFNY in Toronto.

Rebroadcasters

CFGQ also has an FM transmitter in Banff (CFGQ-FM-2), which broadcasts at 100.1 MHz with an effective radiated power of 92 watts.Decision CRTC 2000-304
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References

External links

QR CalgaryCFGQ-FM history
- Canadian Communications Foundation * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cfgq-Fm Fgq Fgq Fgq Radio stations established in 1982 1982 establishments in Alberta