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30-550: All "Rouge" stations broadcast in the same markets as Bell's mainstream rock network, " Énergie ", although Énergie also has a few stations in markets not served by "Rouge FM". Although the stations concentrate on French adult contemporary music, it would mix in English music as well (especially in areas outside of Montreal and Ottawa, where English radio service is not available) much like Cogeco 's " Rythme FM " network, which has fewer stations than "Rouge". The flagship radio station

60-577: A given album and the latitude to decide the playlist order. Consequently, AOR radio gave mainstream exposure to album tracks that never became hits on the record charts limited to singles; Billboard , for instance, did not establish an airplay chart for album tracks until 1981. Later in the 1970s, AOR stations shifted song selection to a program director or music director rather than the DJ. Still, when an AOR station added an album to rotation, they often focused on numerous tracks simultaneously rather than playing

90-453: A more significant role in song selection, generally limiting airplay to just a few "focus tracks" from a particular album and concentrating on artists with a more "commercial" sound than those featured a few years earlier. Noted DJ " Kid Leo " Travagliante of the station WMMS in Cleveland observed the changes in a 1975 interview: "I think the '60s are ending about now. Now we are really starting

120-408: A radio format that also uses the initialism "AOR" and covers not only album-oriented rock but also album tracks and " deep cuts " from a range of other rock genres, such as soft rock and pop rock . The album-oriented rock radio format started with programming concepts in the 1960s. The freeform and progressive formats developed the tone for AOR playlists for much of its heyday. In July 1964,

150-427: A relatively brief life. With more listeners acquiring FM radios, it became more important for stations to attract larger market share to sell more advertising. By 1970, many of the stations were instituting programming rules with a "clock" and system of " rotation ." With this shift, stations' formats in the early 1970s were now billed as progressive. However, DJs still had input over the music they played. The selection

180-477: A repertoire of rock music and style of delivery that became the foundations of AOR and classic rock radio. Those AOR stations, which decided to stay demographically rooted, became classic rock stations by eschewing newer bands and styles for which their older listeners might have tuned out. Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles . The best example is Top 40 , though other formats, like country , smooth jazz , and urban , all utilize

210-406: A substantial segment of AOR stations all over the U.S. By the late 1970s, AOR radio stations began to focus on a more narrowly defined rock sound. Stations began reducing the number of folk , jazz , and blues artists played and effectively eliminated most Black artists from airplay. While AOR had once championed soul , funk , and R&B artists like Stevie Wonder , War , and Sly Stone ,

240-416: Is Montreal 's CITE-FM . The Astral jingles on this network are different from the adult hits jingles used by Astral's English-language adult contemporary stations, nut the network uses a very relaxing acoustic tune. On August 18, 2011, at 4:00 p.m. EDT , all RockDétente stations were rebranded as "Rouge FM", when the longtime "RockDétente" branding was retired after a 21-year run. On most stations,

270-595: Is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock . US radio stations dedicated to playing album tracks by rock artists from the hard rock and progressive rock genres initially established album-oriented radio. In the mid-1970s, AOR was characterized by a layered, mellifluous sound and sophisticated production with considerable dependence on melodic hooks. The AOR format achieved tremendous popularity in

300-536: Is programmed locally except for a few networked programs. From 2006 to 2010, Astral also programmed a satellite radio channel for broadcast on Sirius Canada and the American Sirius Satellite Radio , using the same format as the RockDétente stations but branded as RockVelours ("Velvet Rock"). The channel was originally located on channel 192, but later moved to channel 88 by June 2008 . Its logo

330-555: The classic hits and ballads returned due to the 35th anniversary of flagship CITE-FM Montreal , going towards its old RockDétente direction. From May 2011 to March 2012 , the stations started identifying their call letters during station identification , and on April 27 to 29, 2012, the network was briefly rebranded Rose FM as a charitable promotion for breast cancer research. All stations carry most Rouge FM programming simultaneously except for CITF-FM in Quebec City, all of which

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360-457: The '70s. The emphasis is shifting back to entertainment instead of being 'relevant.' In fact, I wouldn't call our station progressive radio. That's outdated. I call it radio. But I heard a good word in the trades, AOR. That's Album-Oriented Rock. That's a name for the '70s." Radio consultants Kent Burkhart and Lee Abrams significantly affected AOR programming. The two consultants created Kent Burkhart/Lee Abrams & Associates, which became one of

390-466: The 1970s. However, mainstream rock can be used as a modernized update of classic rock if any radio station playlist has to cut back on some active rock artists and songs due to ratings and popularity demand, which is an absolute variable in each local market by each state and each franchised or locally owned radio company operation. To this day, there are a select few mainstream rock programmed stations that will purposely play any new rock artist while keeping

420-476: The Active Rock format. This is a following trend since almost all classic rock stations rarely play harder songs and artists within their format. Outside the United States and Canada, mainstream rock refers generally to rock music deemed "radio friendly". It very rarely is referred to as a specific radio format. Album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock ( AOR , originally called album-oriented radio )

450-544: The CRTC. Mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock ) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock , active rock and alternative rock on the programming spectrum, in that they play more classic rock songs from the 1970s and 1980s and fewer songs from emerging acts than active rock and alternative rock stations, and only rarely play songs on

480-582: The Top 40 station toward a progressive rock format. Meanwhile, at competing station KPRI , program director Mike Harrison was similarly applying Top 40 concepts to the progressive format, which he dubbed "album-oriented rock." In the mid-1970s, as program directors began to exert more control over what songs played on air, progressive stations evolved into the album-oriented rock format. Stations still played longer songs and deep album tracks (rather than just singles ). However, program directors and consultants took on

510-583: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a non-duplication rule prohibiting FM radio stations from running a simulcast of the programming from their AM counterparts. AM/FM affiliate station owners fought these new regulations, delaying the enactment until January 1, 1967. The freeform format in commercial radio was created to program the FM airwaves inexpensively. Programmers like Tom Donahue at KMPX in San Francisco developed stations where DJs had

540-718: The classics involved, which sits on a borderline scale being influenced by active rock strongly. Meanwhile, some stations consist of playing all 40 years worth of rock hits, ranging from classic hard rock and hair metal artists all the way to 2000s hard rock and metal artists, the format is an open variable. Acts that receive heavy airplay on classic rock stations, including The Beatles , Elton John , Fleetwood Mac , Eagles , or Supertramp receive some airplay on mainstream rock stations, albeit less frequently than acts like Green Day , Nirvana , Pearl Jam , Foo Fighters , Red Hot Chili Peppers , or Alice in Chains . Classic hard rock artists of

570-494: The format no longer represented these styles and took a stance against disco . In 1979, Steve Dahl of WLUP in Chicago destroyed disco records on his radio show, culminating in the notorious Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park . The continuity of rock artists and songs carried through each phase links the freeform, progressive, and AOR formats. Programmers and DJs of the freeform and progressive phases continued to cultivate

600-403: The freedom to play long sets of music, often covering a variety of genres. Not limited to hits or singles, DJs often played obscure or longer tracks by newer or more adventurous artists rather than those heard on Top 40 stations of the day. This new format caused albums, instead of singles, to be rock's main artistic vehicle in the 1960s and 1970s. With a few exceptions, commercial freeform had

630-410: The last song as "RockDétente" was " Pour que tu m'aimes encore " by Celine Dion , followed by a tribute of the branding. The first song under "Rouge" was " I Gotta Feeling " by Black Eyed Peas . After rebranding, most of the soft rock songs were dropped, leaving the " Rythme FM " network to continue broadcasting them and moving "Rouge FM" towards a hot adult contemporary direction. By 2012 , most of

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660-421: The late 1960s to the early 1980s through research and formal programming to create an album rock format with great commercial appeal. From the early 1980s onward, the abbreviation AOR transitioned from "album-oriented radio" to "album-oriented rock", meaning radio stations specialized in classic rock recorded during the late 1960s and 1970s. The term is also commonly conflated with " adult-oriented rock ",

690-433: The mid to late 1970s to the late 1980s as well as all of the 1990s alternative and grunge artists completely highlight what mainstream rock is. It is less common to hear many newer rock artists. Mainstream rock has evolved into a sequel for the classic rock radio format. It has begun to remove hard rock and metal artists that are from the early 2000's as well as the 2010's on some rock radio stations, to avoid overlapping into

720-514: The most prominent AOR consulting firms during the mid to late 1970s. Abrams' SuperStars format, previously developed at WQDR, was based on extensive research, focused on the most popular artists, such as Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles , and included older material from those artists. While his format was not quite as constricted as Top 40 radio , it was considerably more restricted than freeform or progressive radio. Their firm advised program directors for

750-413: The same basic principles, with the most popular songs repeating every two to six hours, depending on their rank in the rotation . Generally, there is a strict order or list to follow, and the DJ does not decide playlist selections. While still based on the rotation concept, AOR focused on the album as a whole rather than singles. In the early 1970s, many DJs were free to choose which track(s) to play off

780-445: The singles as they were individually released. In the early 1980s, Black Music Association, a trade association , and other industry observers criticized AOR radio for lacking Black artists in their programming. AOR programmers responded that the lack of diversity was the result of increased specialization of radio formats driven by ratings and audience demographics. In 1983, the success of Michael Jackson 's album Thriller led to

810-403: The softer edge of the classic rock format or the harder edge of the active rock format. They program a balanced airplay of tracks found on active rock, alternative rock and classic rock playlists, but the music playlist tends to focus on charting hard rock music from the 1970s through the 2000s. Mainstream rock is the true successor to the widespread album-oriented rock (AOR) format created in

840-513: The station's album library and pushed popular evening jock Jim Santella—whom McLendon did not like—to publicly resign . In 1973, Lee Abrams , formerly at WRIF, successfully installed a similar format, later known as SuperStars, at WQDR in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1972, Ron Jacobs , program director at KGB-FM in San Diego, began using detailed listener research and expanded playlists in shifting

870-500: Was also updated to include the channel number switch. This channel was programmed separately from the terrestrial stations and was hosted by Mélanie Gagné and Jean-François Fillion. However, Astral Media sold the channel to Sirius Canada in September 2010 , dropped the English artists, and renamed it L'Oasis francophone, having a similar fate made with Énergie that time. *Currently being sold to other owners pending approval of

900-700: Was deep and eclectic, with a range of genres. In October 1971, WPLJ in New York began to shift its freeform progressive rock format into a tighter, hit-oriented rock format similar to what would later become known as AOR. WPLJ's parent company, ABC , installed similar formats on all of its FM stations, including KLOS in Los Angeles and WRIF in Detroit. Gordon McLendon followed suit on his stations, most infamously at WPHD in Buffalo, New York , where McLendon cut over 90% of

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