"We have news to share today about changes to TSN 1260..."

   If you were or are a citizen of Edmonton, you've seen or heard CFRN 1260. At your favorite sports games, on the car radio in the AM section, or maybe even on CTV Morning News... TSN 1260 was a legacy brand of it's own. We say was because as of today, TSN 1260 is off-air as per the prompt you hear when you tune in, now until the radio sign-off is complete. It marks the end of a 96 year-long streak as a successful radio station in a market that primarily tunes in to FM radio.

   I could go on to tell you about the stats and history, but Wikipedia has all of that information and I would be pulling my information from there. Instead, I want to give you the perspective of someone that listens to this station daily. I say listens because it's my last day, as I currently have the dull, novacaine of a loop still playing on the channel on shut down day. An Emergency Alert has just came through so I've decided to celebrate this frequency to the fullest on 1260's death day.

  My day job is a service tradesemen-type routine where I drive around town fixing equipment in various buildings. Because of that, I wake up, grab a coffee, say goodbye to my family and walk out the door. From there, my van is already on TSN 1260 and I'm instantly hit with the sounds of whatever Dustin Neilson and Lieutenant Eric are doing or talking about. Kind Of Easy Trivia, Sobey's Beer Of The Week, you name it. From time to time I'll text in and give my feedback or suggestions, or for instance just on Monday when I texted in to the TSN 1260 line thanking the team for pumping up the Edmonton Elks Tailgate Party. These guys dub their following the #AMNasty and they welcomed Edmonton to the club every morning over the AM frequency. Call me something of an AM Nasty myself!

After 10AM I'll listen in to the Lowetide and Jamieson Show featuring what is basically 2 older gentlemen bantering back and forth with a young producer Matthew moderating the show. Dave Jamieson I'm particularly fond of due to his background as the former Communications and Marketing Director for the Edmonton Eskimos. I'll drive around Edmonton making stop after stop, picking up 30 minute clips of TSN 1260 in the process. I love getting my sports news on the go and TSN 1260 was the solution for me.

   As a working man in the service field, I didn't want to drive to many calls while listening to the Jason Gregor Show. Going to multiple calls while Gregor and Strudwick were chatting away usually means that you are going to be late for dinner. Jason Gregor opens up with his straight-forward attitude while Jason Strudwick gives you that classic former hockey player insight, making a perfect blend of opinions and facts. I've finished my days with the Jason Gregor Show for over a year now and I still tuned in up until last Friday. I finish my day off with these guys and it's become a tradition for me.

   Throughout all 3 of these shows you would find giveaways for not only the big concerts and events in town but the smaller events in Edmonton Riverhawks and Edmonton Stingers tickets, fundraisers for charities, shoutouts to sponsors and awareness to events and businesses that need it. TSN 1260 had become much more than a radio station, it was a full rundown of what was happening in your city that day and week. When you turned your dial to AM 1260, you were welcomed to their studios with open arms. The James H. Brown text line was never quiet on 1260 which, for modern AM Radio, that's a blessing.

  The AM Nasties in the morning are currently waiting on a line for a Neilson and LTE show. Jamieson is the Director of EE Alumni and Lowetide has a gig writing for the Athletic, amongst others. Gregor also writes articles and Strudwick has many jobs in the sports community. Tom Gazzola is an Edmonton Oilers insider so he will find work soon. It's hard to say what will happen with the crew that was abruptly laid off at their 9 AM commercial break but we don't doubt that they will find meaningful work elsewhere in the city or country.

   So at long last, we now ask... "What Do We Do?" Coming from a man who currently has his radio tuned to that monotone, emotion-inducing prompt informing that CFRN has gone off-air, I really don't know. The dream would be to have Edmonton's Sports Community rally to save 1260. An even better solution would be if Bell changed their mind and reinstated TSN 1260 as a radio station but based on how "Cool Papa Bell" has already treated the situation in laying off the entire 1260 team at a commercial break, we don't see 1260 making a comeback soon, if ever.

   I don't know what I'll do tomorrow morning when I jump in my vehicle. I don't know what I'll listen to and I don't know how I'll feel. What I do feel currently is sadness and emptiness. I feel like I just lost a long-time friend. While most, if not all of these personalities have drawn from me a smile or any other form of reaction, they're all going to continue their roles in the sports community in some capacity. The loss of their collective work as a cohesive companion to what I do for work is something that I will mourn today. Katherine called me an old man for listening to AM radio but the reality is that TSN 1260 convinced 30-something year-olds to select AM and turn the knob and for that, I applaud the feat. It worked on me as your average, middle-aged working man and I thank 1260 for the experience.

   It's a sad day for Edmonton Sports. Edmonton has lost a shining star in TSN 1260. While many didn't see any relevance in the AM Radio staple, the personalities worked hard for the citizens of Edmonton and made many of our days a bit more enjoyable. As a good friend of ours Aaron mentioned, we didn't think a radio station would effect us this way.

   We give everyone from TSN 1260 our sincere thanks for interacting with us and being a major part of our days. We wish you the best of success and will follow you wherever you may go. Farewell, CFRN 1260 AM.

   "No one listens to AM radio like they used to... it's all about FM... and colour TV's..."