Frank Ryan founded the station, which began broadcasting with a 1,000-watt transmitter at 560 kHz on May 3, 1947. The first studios were located at the
Ottawa Auditorium on O'Connor Street, where the station spent its first ten years. In 1962, the station moved to its current frequency of 580 kHz and increased its daytime power to 50 kW, and nighttime power to 10 kW. In January 2012, Bell Media applied to increase nighttime power to 30 kW noting that co-channel stations in
Antigonish (
CJFX-FM),
Baie-Comeau (
CHLC-FM) and
Thunder Bay (
CKPR-FM) have all switched to FM. On September 26, 2012, Bell Media's application received CRTC approval to increase CFRA's night-time power from 10 to 30 kW and by modifying its antenna pattern (improving reception towards
Montreal), resulting in changes to its authorized contours. All other technical parameters would remain unchanged. CFRA would remain on 580 kHz. ==Lowell Green CBSC complaints==