Calgary has a new rock radio station. The Jim Pattison Broadcast Group launched 95.3 The Peak (CHPK-FM) yesterday. With an Adult Album Alternative (AAA) format, the station will target women ages 25 to 49 with new and emerging artists like Said the Whale, Zerbin, Current Swell and Dear Rouge as well as alternative music from 2000 to the present. Like 102.7 The Peak in Vancouver launched in 2009, the Calgary station will focus on giving local acts airtime with its commitment to 40% Canadian content.

Rick Arnish, chairman, Jim Pattison Broadcast Group, tells MiC that the company undertook research during the licence application process that highlighted there was a demand for AAA in Calgary, particularly with female listeners, that wasn’t being met. Market testing led the company to choose a less-than-abrasive rock playlist its dubbed “world class rock.”

Arnish says that the initial focus will be on local Calgary advertisers, adding that the success of the format at the Vancouver station will help bolster regional and national advertisers’ confidence in the Calgary station.

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