Q92 in Sudbury, and I will surmise the other Rogers classic rock stations in the north , Timmins and North Bay , have the shortest playlist I have ever heard. I don't even tune Q92 in anymore and took it off my preset list on my car radio. You can only hear Motley Crue and Tweeter and the Monkey Man so many times before it becomes annoying. I replaced Q92 with CKLU, the non profit community station broadcasting from Laurentian University. 

I think 1976 may be the backbone of classic rock radio due to the fact that it was the year that disco was edging into the mainstream in North America and punk was making waves in the UK, so maybe it was the last year for what we now know as classic rock to dominate. It had some good contributions, as I liked Bowie, Queen and Thin Lizzy from my teens. I also liked Focus, Yes, Budgie and Uriah Heep, to name a few, which did not get much airplay in my neck of the woods!

When Y95 Hamilton (the forerunner of Y108) adopted their classic rock format in 1991, they positioned themselves as "classic rock with the new rock that matters." Also, when Q107 changed their format to classic rock in the early 2000's, they would occasionally play "new music from a classic rock artist" like U2's "Beautiful Day" or Aerosmith's "Jaded". Somewhere along the line though, classic rock morphed into oldies for the FM hard-rocking crowd.

Although Q107 no longer positions themselves as classic rock and hasn't since about 2016 (after a couple of less-than-successful attempts to modify their format, first in 2014 by dumping a truckload of millennial rock into the mix, and then in 2015 where they tried to be a slightly harder-rocking Boom), they do play newer music than with their classic rock format, but they don't play any current music, to my knowledge. Which is kind of a shame, considering they used to play a good number of new acts decades ago, especially Canadian musicians that were often featured on their "Homegrown" album series. But I guess this is what works for them nowadays.


PJ

Last edited by Paul Jeffries (March 4, 2026 10:43 pm)

In keeping with this thread, worth noting that March 5th marks the day exactly 55 years ago that Led Zeppelin played the first ever public performance of what may be the classic rock staple: "Stairway To Heaven."

The album it was on was not out yet, so the public had never heard the now iconic tune. The group performed it live in concert in the U.K. before a deliberately small audience. 

"During the very first show of the tour on March 5, 1971, the band took the stage at Ulster Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and performed “Stairway to Heaven” live for the first time."

The rest, as they say, is history. So if there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now.

1971 Hit Ranked One of the Greatest Rock Songs of All Time Was First Performed Live 55 Years Ago

Not quite the same thing as classic rock, but radio consultant Sean Ross looks at what songs so-called "classic hits" stations added to their usually tight playlists in the past year - and which ones they rejected. He surveyed a large number of radio stations with the format, including Boom 97.3 and WOMC Detroit.

He found there are more subtractions than additions, and many of these places are playing it safe. It's a delicate dance as they try to appeal to different demos at the same time. 

"It was inevitable that Classic Hits stations would start to look to ’00s throwbacks, particularly given how the early 2000s are the high-school years for listeners at the younger end of the 35-54 target. But the early ’00s also give Classic Hits more overlap with other formats, including CHR, and any of those titles — whether Eminem or Evanescence — can be provocations for older listeners."

What Classic Hits Added...Then Dropped