QR 770 announces two popular voices returning to Calgary Flames broadcasts
Sports radio in Calgary took a major hit following the closure of Sportsnet 960 in July, but change isn’t always a bad thing.
Just over a month after 960’s closure, it was announced that QR 770 had struck a five-year agreement with the Calgary Flames to serve as the team’s radio broadcast.
“We’re excited to share this news with our fans and, most importantly, to let them know we heard them loud and clear as we now have a new home for the future of Calgary Flames radio broadcasts,” said Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation president and CEO Robert Hayes.
On top of the radio broadcast of all Flames games, it was also announced that there would be a daily Flames show. The question became, who would be the main faces of the operation?
We now know, as it was announced on Thursday morning, that Derek Wills will continue to serve as the radio play-by-play voice of the Flames. Meanwhile, Pat Steinberg will host Flames Now daily from 4 to 6 p.m. alongside Jock Wilson. As was the case at Sportsnet 960, he will also continue to host the pre and post game shows.
“To say in that time slot and be able to bring stories and awesome hockey guests… we want to make sure that it’s a home for all hardcore Flames fans, and we also want to make sure that it’s a really accessible, high-energy show for everybody listening. I’m really excited,” Steinberg said.
Wills appears to be equally as excited for this new opportunity, and was quick to acknowledge many behind the scenes who allowed for this to happen.
“Just a tip of the cap to everybody at Corus [Entertainment], QR, the Flames, for getting this deal done,” Wills said. “Because what we’ve learned, even though it’s the Flames’ offseason right now, people have missed Pat. People have missed that content. There’s been a huge hole.”
There was no announcement made about who will work with Wills as the colour commentator during Flames games. That had been Meaghan Mikkelson at Sportsnet 960, though it remains to be seen who it will be moving forward.
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