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Classic alternative

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Classic alternative is a radio format focusing on alternative music from the late 1970s to mid 2000s, with particular focus on the early days of MTV.[1][2][3]

Background

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Some stations with an "all-'80s" format have added elements of the 1980s and '90s classic alternative format to their regular playlist. Cox's KHPT in Houston and WPOI in Tampa are prime examples of all-'80s stations that heavily relied on artists such as Peter Schilling, The Cranberries and New Order. KHPT flipped to a classic alternative format after its run as an all-'80s station. The same goes for KJAQ in Seattle, one of the first stations in the country to try this format.

Digital cable music service Music Choice (originally DMX) provided a station labelled New Wave for several years. The station was later renamed "Retro-Active", and later Classic Alternative, all of which played seventies to eighties new wave, post-punk, synthpop, etc. After several years, the station filtered in 1990s (and even sometimes post-millennium) artists. However, an artist like David Bowie can often fit in classic alternative because he meets the criteria.[4][5]

SiriusXM offers a classic alternative station, 1st Wave, which was launched in 2008 following the merger between Sirius and XM and replaced similar stations on both services.[6][7]

The format began to see wider adoption in late-2022 and 2023, particularly among stations and brands that have had a legacy in modern and active rock formats in their respective market. In December 2022, WNNX in Atlanta relaunched the heritage "99X" brand of sister station WWWQ as a classic alternative station,[8] while in July 2024, Corus Entertainment extended its Edge brand—long associated with its heritage modern rock station CFNY-FM in Toronto—to Calgary's CFGQ-FM using a classic alternative format (positioned as "Iconic Alternative").[9] In October, Corus then switched its Winnipeg active rock station CJKR-FM to classic alternative,[10] while CFNY followed suit in April 2026.[11]

References

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  1. ↑ Is Classic Alternative Becoming the New Classic Rock? - Alan Cross' A Journal of Musical Things
  2. ↑ In Utah, people still love 'alternative' music. But what is that, exactly? - The Salt Lake Tribune
  3. ↑ WKKL Returns With Classic Alternative - RadioInsight
  4. ↑ Bill Virgin, "Radio Beat: It sounds like '90s music could be the next big format on Seattle dials"
  5. ↑ Damien Cave, "Nirvana Bump Bizkit Off Dial - "Classic alternative" radio brings back the golden Nineties"
  6. ↑ Snider, Mike. "As Sirius, XM signals merge, customers are confused". ABC News. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  7. ↑ "1st Wave artists defined 'alternative' by experimenting with new wave & punk music before it was cool". Hear & Now. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  8. ↑ Venta, Lance (5 December 2022). "WNNX Brings Back 99X". RadioInsight. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  9. ↑ Thiessen, Connie (2024-07-31). "Corus launches 107.3 the Edge in Calgary". Broadcast Dialogue. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  10. ↑ Thiessen, Connie (2024-10-08). "Corus rebrands Power 97 as 'Winnipeg's Iconic Alternative'". Broadcast Dialogue. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
  11. ↑ "CFNY Goes Iconic Alternative". RadioInsight. 2026-04-13. Retrieved 2026-04-14.
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