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 Legends (which was named Virgin Anthems 2018-2025). 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 Legends does NOT include the Chris Evans Breakfast Show music which is just his main "Virgin Radio" show simulcast on Legends (/Anthems), and not the usual "Legends" playlist Songs which play the rest of the day)
Analysis: 26 days, up to 01-07-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 6640
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 2609
Variety factor for this station is : 39.2%
50% OF PLAYS is 651 Songs (24.9% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 344 MOST played songs (13.1% of the total)
or 1570 LEAST played songs (60.1% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 13h 52m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 0h 57m
344th most played song airs every: 6d 12h
651st most played song airs every: 8d 16h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 2500 (95.8%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
31 after 24 DAYS
Top 11 Most Played:
1 [45 plays] Greta Van Fleet - Play Your Games
2 [42 plays] Rolling Stones - In The Stars
3 [41 plays] Airbourne - Alive After Death
4 [39 plays] Shinedown - Three Six Five
5 [36 plays] Theory of a Deadman - Barricade
6 [30 plays] Damn Truth - The Willow
7 [29 plays] Europe - Cult of Ignorance
8 [28 plays] Deep Purple - Arrogant Boy
9 [27 plays] Foo Fighters - Of All People
10= [25 plays] each for...
+ Karma Effect - Raised on Rock 'n' Roll
+ Violet Grohl - Bug In The Cake
Analysis: 24 days, up to 01-07-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 6408
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 954
Variety factor for this station is : 14.8%
50% OF PLAYS is 222 Songs (23.2% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 136 MOST played songs (14.2% of the total)
or 606 LEAST played songs (63.5% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 1d 6h 18m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 8h
136th most played song airs every: 1d 17h 8m
222nd most played song airs every: 2d 4h 21m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 462 (48.4%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
3 after 20 DAYS
Top 17 Most Played:
1= [19 plays] each for...
+ Boston - More Than A Feeling
+ Genesis - That's All
3= [18 plays] each for...
+ Bachman Turner Overdrive - You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet
+ Bob Seger - Hollywood Nights
+ Buffalo Springfield and Neil Young - For What It's Worth
+ Cult - She Sells Sanctuary
+ David Bowie - Rebel Rebel
+ Eagles - Take It Easy
+ Iggy Pop - The Passenger
+ Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze..
+ Joan Jett - I Love Rock And Roll
+ Journey - Don't Stop Believin'
+ Kinks - All Day And All Of The Night
+ Kinks - You Really Got Me
+ Meat Loaf and Cher - Dead Ringer For Love
+ Status Quo - Down Down
+ Yes - Owner Of A Lonely Heart
Analysis: 25 days, up to 06-06-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 6189
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 1032
Variety factor for this station is : 16.6%
50% OF PLAYS is 237 Songs (22.9% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 145 MOST played songs (14% of the total)
or 681 LEAST played songs (65.9% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 1d 8h 50m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 12h 42m
145th most played song airs every: 2d 4h
237th most played song airs every: 2d 14h 24m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 596 (57.7%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
6 after 25 DAYS
Top 12 Most Played:
1= [19 plays] each for...
+ Boston - More Than A Feeling
+ Free - All Right Now
+ Moody Blues - Nights In White Satin
+ Peter Frampton - Baby I Love Your Way
5= [18 plays] each for...
+ Andrew Gold - Lonely Boy
+ Iggy Pop - The Passenger
+ Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends
+ Slade - Cum On Feel The Noize
9= [17 plays] each for...
+ Blue Oyster Cult - (don't Fear) The Reaper
+ Don Mclean - American Pie
+ Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Blinded By The Light
+ Steve Miller Band - The Joker
Analysis: 23 days, up to 01-07-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 7525
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 538
Variety factor for this station is : 7.1%
50% OF PLAYS is 193 Songs (35.8% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 123 MOST played songs (22.8% of the total)
or 266 LEAST played songs (49.4% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 20h 26m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 0h
123rd most played song airs every: 1d 5h 3m
193rd most played song airs every: 1d 8h 28m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 42 (7.8%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 12 DAYS
Top 16 Most Played:
1 [27 plays] Boston - More Than A Feeling
2 [25 plays] Rainbow - Since You Been Gone
3= [24 plays] each for...
+ Bachman Turner Overdrive - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
+ Jefferson Airplane - Somebody To Love
+ Judas Preist - Breaking The Law
+ Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall
+ Robert Palmer - Addicted To Love
8= [23 plays] each for...
+ Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love
+ Doors - Light My Fire
+ J. Geils Band - Centerfold
+ John Mellencamp - R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.
+ Kinks - All Day And All Of The Night
+ Knack - My Sharona
+ Slade - Cum On Feel The Noize
+ Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra
+ Whitesnake - Here I Go Again
** 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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