Market Profile
Grande Prairie is a thriving community in north-western Alberta. 50,227 people call Grande Prairie home. We are the central shopping and service area for north-western Alberta and north-eastern British Columbia. Our market area population is in excess of 250,000. Grande Prairie is and has been one of the fastest growing cities in Canada. (Download our coverage map here) Economic activity is fuelled by the following industries:
| OIL + GAS | The Peace Country is one of the major suppliers of oil and natural gas for the province and the country. Grande Prairie is the center of that activity. All major oil and gas companies have offices in the city and the support services industry is one of the largest. |
| FORESTRY | Ainsworth, Weyerheauser and Canfor are all represented with operations in the Grande Prairie area. They employ over 1,000 people. |
| AGRICULTURE | The Peace Country is one of the most vibrant agriculture areas in Canada. Wheat, Barley, Oats and Canola are the primary crops. |
| TOURISM | One of the most significant economic areas for Grande Prairie is tourism as defined by the Chamber of Commerce. Grande Prairie services a large area of northwestern Alberta and northeastern B.C. All of the major retail outlets including Walmart, Costco, Home Depot and Canadian Tire have large outlets in Grande Prairie. The Great Northern Casino helps drive a large number of consumers to the city from as far away as Yellowknife and Hay River. |
Grande Prairie Radio Market
On November 15, 2006 the CRTC granted three new licences to operate commercial FM radio stations in Grande Prairie. Q99 is a division of Bear Creek Broadcasting Ltd. and operates at 98.9 on the FM band, broadcasting at 100,000 watts. Q99 is an Adult Contemporary Hits radio station catering to adults between the ages of 25-54.
Q99 is the only locally owned and operated radio station in Grande Prairie. Q99 is owned by local businessmen, Brian Nash and Ken Truhn who both have a long history of being heavily invested in the community. Mr. Truhn runs the operation and has 30 years of experience in the radio business having worked right out of High School for what is now Rock 97 and from 1995 to 2005 as the General Manager of Big Country. Mr. Nash owns and operates a local Travel Agency and Tour operation and has been in the Grande Prairie area since dirt was formed. Between them, they have been responsible for bringing such events as the 2004 Royal Bank Cup, 2006 Ford World Women's Curling Championship and the 2006 Oilers training camp to the city. Both own and operate the annual Country Music Festival in Grande Prairie.
The market is currently served by five stations, Q99, Free 104FM, Big Country 93.1 FM, Shine 96.3 FM and Rock 97 FM. Free 104 and Rock 97 have branded themselves as Rock/Classic Rock formats, Big Country speaks for itself, and Shine FM is under a Christian format. Q99 services the Majority of the population which is not catered to by the Rock or Country formats. Rock 97 formerly known as Sun FM and Big Country are the heritage stations in the market.
The Grande Prairie market is also serviced by a local daily newspaper as well as the CFRN northwestern feed. Billboards are available in the area but are in high demand.
Radio remains a dominant choice in marketing all products and services in the area.