The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Will Calgary Get A New All Sports Format After The Rogers Shutdown?

RadioActive · August 10, 2026 6:32 pm

No one's saying if a format change is imminent in Cow Town, after Rogers shuttered its all sports station in the city last month. But something is in the works, with whispers about the Calgary Flames about to get a new affiliate - and possibly a new all sports radio outlet to go with it.

That would be a surprise, but it's clear the Flames would love to have that format to call home.

A "big announcement" is said to be coming, although no one will say what it is.

Calgary sports radio announcement imminent: report

ED1 · August 11, 2026 12:05 am

I wonder if it has to do with Stingray's recent purchase of 97.7 FM in Calgary... Stingray also runs Sports 1440 Edmonton in partnership with OilersNation after TSN Radio shut down in that city in 2023.

Last edited by ED1 (August 11, 2026 12:05 am)

RadioAaron · August 11, 2026 7:10 am

ED1 wrote:
I wonder if it has to do with Stingray's recent purchase of 97.7 FM in Calgary... Stingray also runs Sports 1440 Edmonton in partnership with OilersNation after TSN Radio shut down in that city in 2023.

97.7 is a consistent top 5 in the market, so no.

RadioAaron · August 11, 2026 9:23 am

If I had to guess - Pattison has a DOA country station on 95.3. They can't go full-time sports without approval, but they can cary the games and air related shows.

andysradio · August 11, 2026 9:37 am

RadioAaron wrote:
If I had to guess - Pattison has a DOA country station on 95.3. They can't go full-time sports without approval, but they can cary the games and air related shows.

And I am leaning to thinking this is what the announcement will be: The Flames on a new station. That's it. Not a full 24h sports station.

RadioAaron · August 11, 2026 9:42 am

andysradio wrote:
RadioAaron wrote:
If I had to guess - Pattison has a DOA country station on 95.3. They can't go full-time sports without approval, but they can cary the games and air related shows.
And I am leaning to thinking this is what the announcement will be: The Flames on a new station. That's it. Not a full 24h sports station.

For sure. There's only one commercial AM left in Calgary, and it's Corus' N/T. I don't think Stingray has a rimshot AM to lease out like in Edmonton.

Scarboroughbluffsradiof99 · August 11, 2026 10:02 am

Maybe stingray will apply to have 97.7 go hd and have sports on hd2.

RadioAaron · August 11, 2026 10:14 am

Scarboroughbluffsradiof99 wrote:
Maybe stingray will apply to have 97.7 go hd and have sports on hd2.

Nobody’s going to be doing anything new on HD2 anywhere.

RadioActive · August 12, 2026 10:21 am

The Calgary Flames have a new affiliate in the city - and it's the major Corus AM station there. No change in format at QR 770 AM though - the station remains a news/talk format.

QR had the rights in the past and will again for the foreseeable future. The new agreement is for five years.

Calgary Flames coming home to QR Calgary 770 AM radio

RadioAaron · August 12, 2026 11:10 am

In normal times, that would have been the obvious guess. I wasn't sure Corus could pul it off in its current state.

RadioActive · August 12, 2026 11:12 am

RadioAaron wrote:
In normal times, that would have been the obvious guess. I wasn't sure Corus could pul it off in its current state.

Well, it's a five year deal, which means Corus believes they'll still be around by then.

RadioAaron · August 12, 2026 1:33 pm

RadioActive wrote:
RadioAaron wrote:
In normal times, that would have been the obvious guess. I wasn't sure Corus could pul it off in its current state.
Well, it's a five year deal, which means Corus believes they'll still be around by then.

Just another contract that can move to the new owner of the station (or, more likely, whichever FM they end up moving the broadcasts to)

RadioActive · August 12, 2026 4:18 pm

Drex had a high muckety-muck from Corus Calgary on his show Wednesday, gushing about the deal that brought them the Flames. She claimed they haven't hired anyone yet to fill the positions for the broadcasts and admitted they didn't leave themselves much time - the first NHL pre-season game is September 19th, with the Flames facing Seattle the following day.

I guess you can't take anything for granted, but why not just hire the same guys who did it for the All Sports station in Calgary? They're experienced, are familiar with the team and most important, listeners know who they are. Also, they're looking for work!

RadioAaron · August 12, 2026 8:28 pm

Would be interesting to know whether it's Corus or the Flames who will be hiring the on-air crew.

Radiowiz · August 12, 2026 8:34 pm

RadioActive wrote:
RadioAaron wrote:
In normal times, that would have been the obvious guess. I wasn't sure Corus could pul it off in its current state.
Well, it's a five year deal, which means Corus believes they'll still be around by then.

Not necessarily. Maybe the idea is to best declare a profitable AM frequency for a sale...

RadioAaron · August 12, 2026 8:38 pm

Radiowiz wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
RadioAaron wrote:
In normal times, that would have been the obvious guess. I wasn't sure Corus could pul it off in its current state.
Well, it's a five year deal, which means Corus believes they'll still be around by then.
Not necessarily. Maybe the idea is to best declare a profitable AM frequency for a sale...

It's not profitable.

RadioActive · August 12, 2026 8:40 pm

RadioAaron wrote:
Would be interesting to know whether it's Corus or the Flames who will be hiring the on-air crew.

The exec. certainly made it sound like its Corus' decision, saying on air, "We're still trying to decide" who to hire. But either way, time is a-wasting. I will be very surprised if they don't ask the old crew to join the new station. It makes sense - they know the team and they're familiar to listeners. Why fool around with something that, except for Rogers, was working?

RadioAaron · August 12, 2026 8:41 pm

RadioActive wrote:
RadioAaron wrote:
Would be interesting to know whether it's Corus or the Flames who will be hiring the on-air crew.
The exec. certainly made it sound like its Corus' decision, saying on air, "We're still trying to decide" who to hire. But either way, time is a-wasting. I will be very surprised if they don't ask the old crew to join the new station. It makes sense - they know the team and they're familiar to listeners. Why fool around with something that, except for Rogers, was working?

"We're" = the Corus/Flames partnership.

RadioAaron · August 12, 2026 9:24 pm

For reference:

C97.7 (90s hits - Stingray). 10.2
AMP 90.3 (CHR - Stingray). 8.4
Star 95.9 (AC - Rogers) 8.4
CJAY92 (Rock - Bell). 9.2
X92.9 (Alternative - Harvard). 7.6
CBC Radio One. 7.0
Virgin Radio (CHR - Bell). 6.2
Edge 107.3 (Classic Alternative - Corus) 6.0
Today Radio (Hot AC - Pattison). 5.8
JACK 96.9 (Classic Hits - Rogers). 5.2
XL103. (Classic Hits - Stingray). 4.4
660 News (All News-Rogers) 3.2. OFF AIR
Country 105 (Country - Corus) 2.8
Wild 95.3 (Country - Pattison). 2.8
The FAN (Sports - Rogers). 2.1. OFF AIR
CBC Music. (Variety). 0.8
QR770 (News/Talk -- Corus). 0.8

Radiowiz · August 12, 2026 11:01 pm

RadioAaron wrote:
Radiowiz wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
Well, it's a five year deal, which means Corus believes they'll still be around by then.
Not necessarily. Maybe the idea is to best declare a profitable AM frequency for a sale...
It's not profitable.

Carrying the sport is not profitable? They should be able to go from a 0.8 to a 2.1 with the sports coverage, but yeah...not sure about the rest of the time...

Last edited by Radiowiz (August 12, 2026 11:03 pm)

ED1 · August 13, 2026 12:10 am

As bad as Corus’s fortunes have been lately, they’ve been doing a decent job as the Edmonton Oilers radio rights holders with 880 CHED. CJOB in Winnipeg is also the home of all Jets hockey broadcasts, and these two (along with CHQR) have the rights to their respective CFL teams radio broadcasts.

CHED has pre-game and post game shows in addition to the play by play coverage, and they also have a 2 hour daily show dedicated to the Oilers/NHL that runs all year. On top of that, the on-air team actually flies with the Oilers on away games. They’re not just calling away games from a monitor.

Corus should have enough experience making these NHL games work on CHQR for Calgary Flames fans.

Last edited by ED1 (August 13, 2026 12:11 am)

RadioActive · August 13, 2026 6:36 am

A brief side note from the Calgary Herald, on a possible conflict on QR 77, which also carries the Stampeders.

"What will happen on nights when there is a Flames game and a Stampeders game at the same time? We don’t know, although it’s worth noting that’s only scheduled to happen once this year, when the Flames take on the Anaheim Ducks and the Stampeders play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Oct. 10."

Should be interesting to find out which game gets priority and where the other one goes.

Calgary Flames find new radio home at CHQR 770 AM: Why fans should be happy

RadioAaron · August 13, 2026 10:47 am

Radiowiz wrote:
RadioAaron wrote:
Radiowiz wrote:

Not necessarily. Maybe the idea is to best declare a profitable AM frequency for a sale...
It's not profitable.
Carrying the sport is not profitable? They should be able to go from a 0.8 to a 2.1 with the sports coverage, but yeah...not sure about the rest of the time...

Depends. Play by play doesn't really drive ratings outside of a playoff run. The Calgary FAN had lower ratings in evenings than other dayparts. (The morning show was actually very highly rated)

If they use the newer model where the team essentially leases the airtime, produces the broadcast, and sells sponsorship, then yes....small instant profit.

ED1 · August 13, 2026 11:06 pm

RadioActive wrote:
A brief side note from the Calgary Herald, on a possible conflict on QR 77, which also carries the Stampeders.

"What will happen on nights when there is a Flames game and a Stampeders game at the same time? We don’t know, although it’s worth noting that’s only scheduled to happen once this year, when the Flames take on the Anaheim Ducks and the Stampeders play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Oct. 10."

Should be interesting to find out which game gets priority and where the other one goes.

Calgary Flames find new radio home at CHQR 770 AM: Why fans should be happy

Previously, when Corus had to carry an Oilers game and an Elks game on the same day, the Oilers game would air on 880 CHED, while the football game would air on its country FM station CISN Country 103.9.

I wouldn't be surprised if Corus does the same thing and put the Stamps game on Country 105 or 107.3 The Edge (107.3 was also simulcasting Stampeders football for a while after Corus' ill-fated attempt at moving CHQR to FM).

One more factor in this is that both the Calgary Flames and the Calgary Stampeders are owned by the same company (Calgary Sports & Entertainment Corp). So there's also the possibility that CSEC will prevent an overlap of their team's schedules.

Last edited by ED1 (August 13, 2026 11:09 pm)

ED1 · August 14, 2026 12:26 am

RadioAaron wrote:
Radiowiz wrote:
RadioAaron wrote:

It's not profitable.
Carrying the sport is not profitable? They should be able to go from a 0.8 to a 2.1 with the sports coverage, but yeah...not sure about the rest of the time...
Depends. Play by play doesn't really drive ratings outside of a playoff run. The Calgary FAN had lower ratings in evenings than other dayparts. (The morning show was actually very highly rated)

If they use the newer model where the team essentially leases the airtime, produces the broadcast, and sells sponsorship, then yes....small instant profit.

That's what the Edmonton Oilers do on CHED. Their 2-hour daily Oilers show is a time buy on that station.

RadioActive · August 14, 2026 6:07 am

Amidst all the hoopla about the Flames finding a new radio outlet, there was some ironically timed sad news for the team and its fans. Peter Maher called the franchise's games for 33 years.

Flames Mourn Passing Of Peter Maher, The Voice Of The Flames