CHQR is a radio station 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 ...

operating 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 ...

, Canada. Broadcasting at AM 770, it airs

talk radio 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, Interview (jo ...

programming. With the exception of one show, all of CHQR's weekday programming is produced in-house. CHQR is also the exclusive radio voice of the

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 ...

. CHQR is also the last AM station in the Calgary market to broadcast in

C-QUAM C-QUAM (Compatible QUadrature Amplitude Modulation) is the method of AM stereo broadcasting used in Canada, the United States and most other countries. It was invented in 1977 by Norman Parker, Francis Hilbert, and Yoshio Sakaie, and published in ...

AM stereo AM stereo is a term given to a series of mutually incompatible techniques for radio broadcasting stereo audio in the AM band in a manner that is compatible with standard AM receivers. There are two main classes of systems: independent sideban ...

. CHQR is a Class B station on the

clear-channel A clear-channel station is a North American AM broadcasting, AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from Interference (communication), interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classifi ...

frequency of 770 kHz. CHQR's studios are located on 17th Avenue Southwest in Calgary, while its transmitters are located just south of the Calgary city limits near De Winton. As of Winter 2021, CHQR is the most-listened-to radio station in the Calgary market according to a PPM data report released by Numeris.

History

The station originally began broadcasting at 810 AM in 1964, and received approval to move to its current frequency on June 26, 1986. On November 9, 2011, Corus Entertainment Inc., on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiary CKIK-FM Limited applied to 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) to add an FM transmitter to serve Calgary on the frequency 106.9 MHz to rebroadcast the programming of CHQR 770. This application was denied on May 24, 2012. In December 2015, CHQR was added to sister station CKRY-FM's HD2 sub-channel when they activated HD Radio services, becoming the first station in Alberta to do so. On January 9, 2023, CHQR rebranded as ''QR Calgary'' and added an FM simulcast on

CFGQ-FM CFGQ-FM (107.3 FM, "107.3 The Edge") is a radio station in Calgary, Alberta. Owned by Corus Entertainment, it broadcasts a classic alternative format. CFGQ's studios are located on 17th Ave SW near Westbrook Mall, while its transmitter is loca ...

. That spring, following inquiries by the 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 repurposing the current 770 AM facility as a rebroadcaster of CFGQ. In doing so, Corus questioned the format's continued viability on AM in Calgary, reiterating the arguments it had made during its 2011 rebroadcaster application while also referencing increased interference, and automakers removing AM radio from

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...

s due to electrical interference issues. Corus withdrew the application in June 2024, and announced that it would end the simulcast by the end of July 2024 in favour of returning to a music format on 107.3 FM. A Corus spokesperson stated that the simulcast was not economically successful "the way we had hoped". CFGQ broke from the simulcast in late-July, and relaunched as

classic alternative Classic alternative is a radio format focusing on alternative music from the late 1970s to early 1990s, with particular focus on the early days of MTV. Typical genres * New wave: A major part of this category, especially early bands like The Cars ...

''The Edge'' on July 31.

References

External links

QR Calgary

CHQR history
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Canadian Communications Foundation The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) was a Canadian nonprofit organization which documented the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television networks, programs and broadcasters. The organization was established in ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chqr Hqr Hqr Hqr Radio stations established in 1964 1964 establishments in Alberta