Classic Rock Stations
A comparatively recent genre of stations for the UK, the elder statesman of this motley crew (can you see what we did there!) being Planet Rock, which started in 1999 within the GWR group (which went on to be part of Global, if you didn’t know), but has ended up one of Bauer’s (the opposition) since 2013. The Absolute family’s Classic Rock Station, launched not much later in 2000, as Virgin Classic Rock. Virgin became Absolute in 2008, of course, so Virgin Classic Rock became Absolute Classic Rock, before a NEW Virgin Brand launched a new version of Virgin in 2016 (this time owned by Wireless), spawning it’s own classics station as Virgin Anthems as recently as 2018. I hope you’re keeping up as I’ll be asking questions later. Union Jack Rock was the baby of the bunch, launched only in December 2020, but even though it was on national DAB, playing only BRITISH Rock artists, it closed along with the rest of the Union Jack Brands in early 2022.
So, although Absolute Classic Rock and Planet Rock are both part of the Bauer family, you can instantly see from the graphics that they have totally different ideas on playlist size and variety, and this is a great example of what makes our radio monitoring work so interesting! You can see from the yellow line on the graph that Planet Rock’s massive playlist means the variety stays up well into the 2nd week of listening and beyond, while all the others are basically in repeatsville after between just a couple of days and a week. Global launched it’s Radio X Classic Rock station on 16th February 2023.
(Analysis of Virgin Anthems does NOT include the Chris Evans Breakfast Show music which is just his main “Virgin Radio” show simulcast on Anthems, and not the usual “Anthems” playlist Songs which play the rest of the day)
Analysis: 24 days, up to 25-11-2023
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 6135
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 2406
Variety factor for this station is : 39.2%
50% OF PLAYS is 610 Songs (25.3% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 319 MOST played songs (13.2% of the total)
or 1454 LEAST played songs (60.4% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 14h 46m
10th most played song airs every: 18h 34m
319th most played song airs every: 6d 0h
610th most played song airs every: 8d 0h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 2322 (96.5%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
19 after 21 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 2573
..in 3 months: 3866, in 6 months: 5120
..in 9 months: 6055, in 12 months: 6884
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [39 plays] The Answer – Wild Heart
2 [38 plays] Jelly Roll – The Lost
3 [37 plays] The Cadillac Three – Comin’ Down From You
4 [35 plays] The Rolling Stones – Mess It Up
5= [34 plays] each for…
+ Green Day – The American Dream Is Killing Me
+ Kenny Wayne Shepherd – Dirt On My Diamonds
7 [33 plays] Europe – Hold Your Head Up
8 [32 plays] Joanne Shaw Taylor – Sweet Lil’ Lies
9= [31 plays] each for…
+ Rival Sons – Mosaic
+ The Commoners – Devil Teasin’ Me
Analysis: 28 days, up to 25-11-2023
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 6904
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 968
Variety factor for this station is : 14%
50% OF PLAYS is 229 Songs (23.6% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 139 MOST played songs (14.3% of the total)
or 614 LEAST played songs (63.4% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 1d 5h 13m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 11h 22m
139th most played song airs every: 2d 0h
229th most played song airs every: 2d 13h 5m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 423 (43.6%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
2 after 21 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 980
..in 3 months: 1105, in 6 months: 1189
..in 9 months: 1253, in 12 months: 1351
Top 17 Most Played:
1 [23 plays] Joan Jett – I Love Rock And Roll
2= [21 plays] each for…
+ Alice Cooper – School’s Out
+ Creedence Clearwater Revival – Bad Moon Rising
+ Motorhead – Ace Of Spades
5= [20 plays] each for…
+ Black Sabbath – Paranoid
+ Blue Oyster Cult – Don’t Fear The Reaper
7= [19 plays] each for…
+ Def Leppard – Animal
+ Golden Earring – Radar Love
+ Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’
+ Pearl Jam – Even Flow
+ Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall
+ Survivor – Eye Of The Tiger
+ T Rex – Children Of The Revolution
+ The Cult – She Sells Sanctuary
+ Toto – Hold The Line
+ Yes – Owner Of A Lonely Heart
+ ZZ Top – Legs
Analysis: 26 days, up to 26-11-2023
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 7359
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 779
Variety factor for this station is : 10.5%
50% OF PLAYS is 148 Songs (18.9% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 92 MOST played songs (11.8% of the total)
or 560 LEAST played songs (71.8% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 17h 20m
10th most played song airs every: 20h 48m
92nd most played song airs every: 1d 3h 7m
148th most played song airs every: 1d 5h 42m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 362 (46.4%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 14 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 803
..in 3 months: 840, in 6 months: 950
..in 9 months: 1364, in 12 months: 1524
Top 11 Most Played:
1 [36 plays] Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’
2= [32 plays] each for…
+ Boston – More Than A Feeling
+ Bruce Springsteen – Dancing In The Dark
+ Free – All Right Now
5 [31 plays] Reo Speedwagon – Keep On Loving You
6= [30 plays] each for…
+ Bachman-turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
+ Edison Lighthouse – Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes
+ Phil Collins – You Can’t Hurry Love
+ Roy Orbison – Oh Pretty Woman
+ Stealers Wheel – Stuck In The Middle With You
+ Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel – Make Me Smile (come Up And See Me)
Analysis: 26 days, up to 25-11-2023
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 9154
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 424
Variety factor for this station is : 4.6%
50% OF PLAYS is 142 Songs (33.4% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 90 MOST played songs (21.2% of the total)
or 224 LEAST played songs (52.8% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 14h 51m
10th most played song airs every: 16h
90th most played song airs every: 20h 7m
142nd most played song airs every: 22h 17m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 36 (8.4%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 8 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 437
..in 3 months: 449, in 6 months: 520
..in 9 months: 522
Top 12 Most Played:
1= [42 plays] each for…
+ Bachman Turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
+ Buzzcocks – Ever Fallen In Love
3= [40 plays] each for…
+ J. Geils Band – Centerfold
+ Joan Jett & The Blackhearts – I Love Rock N Roll
+ Manfred Mann’s Earthband – Blinded By The Light
+ Patti Smith – Because The Night
+ The Steve Miller Band – Abracadabra
8= [39 plays] each for…
+ Don Henley – The Boys Of Summer
+ Europe – The Final Countdown
+ Jefferson Airplane – Somebody To Love
+ Ram Jam – Black Betty
+ The Knack – My Sharona
** Station no longer broadcasting! **
Historic Analysis: 25 days, up to 23-02-2022
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 5595
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 624
Variety factor for this station is : 11.1%
50% OF PLAYS is 161 Songs (25.8% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 98 MOST played songs (15.7% of the total)
or 387 LEAST played songs (62% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 22h 13m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 1h
98th most played song airs every: 1d 13h 30m
161st most played song airs every: 1d 18h 51m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 234 (37.5%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
1 after 19 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 629
..in 3 months: 773, in 6 months: 830
..in 9 months: 861
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [27 plays] Jake Bugg – Trouble Town
2= [26 plays] each for…
+ Alex Clare – Too Close
+ Libertines – Don’t Look Back Into The Sun
4= [25 plays] each for…
+ Mumford And Sons – Believe
+ Mumford And Sons – The Cave
+ Stereophonics – Mr Writer
7= [24 plays] each for…
+ Arctic Monkeys – Arabella
+ Kaiser Chiefs – Hole In My Soul
+ Keane – Is It Any Wonder
+ The 1975 – Give Yourself A Try
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