Active rock

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Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in Canada and the United States. Active rock plays current rock artists with a mix of classic rock songs. While many current artists are played on both active rock and modern rock stations, an active rock station plays a mix of current artists with popular classic rock songs.

For example, an active rock station would include songs by artists such as Aerosmith, Pink Floyd or the Rolling Stones in its playlist, whereas a modern rock station would not.

Active rock stations also put less of an emphasis on classic rock artists, in favor of modern rock or heavy metal.

A pioneering station of this format in the late 1980s was WIYY "98Rock" in Baltimore, Maryland. Other early adopters of this format by the beginning of the 1990s include stations WAAF in Boston, Massachusetts, WXTB "98Rock" in Tampa, Florida, KISW in Seattle, Washington and KEGL ,the former "Eagle 97.1", in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, CFPL Fm "FM96" In London Ontario Canada, and 99.3 CFOX-FM (The Fox) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.