Classic Rock Radio is NOT Dead

In Chicago, WDRV (The Drive) has excellent ratings, and according to Tom Taylor's NOW column, it's also strong around the country...

Classic rock looks pretty hot. The format hasn’t exactly been on the dark side of the moon (sorry, Pink Floyd fans), but it’s gotten less attention lately than country, CHR, hot AC, sports, and a few others. But check the trend that’s been building in some PPM markets – For the third time since this Summer, CBS Radio’s classic rock KZOK tops the Seattle market with 6+ AQH share, here in the brand-new November book. Perhaps even bigger news is that CBS’s classic rock WZLX just won the Boston book (though narrowly). That’s literally the first time that a rock outlet of any stripe has led the market since WBCN (R.I.P.) did it in the second Reagan Administration. (The year was 1987.) And in Phoenix, Hubbard’s classic rock KSLX is now up to third place, 4.5-4.9-5.1. Those broad 6+ shares mask even more impressive adult numbers – which your local classic rock sales rep will proudly tell you about. Same for results in terms of loyalty to the format and the music.

That's right fellow rockers, we may look like dinosaurs, but we aren't dead yet.