Best Rock/Classic Rock stations to listen to while on the road (FM/AM)

[Flint1979]

28x12 is well over $300 a year. That's not exactly pocket change for a good number of people.

It's 93 cents a day.

[hotdogPi]

It's almost as much as Photobucket tried to charge. Remember that fiasco?

[Flint1979]

It's almost as much as Photobucket tried to charge. Remember that fiasco?

Yeah I remember. I think SirusXM is fine because you are paying a subscription and don't have to listen to any commercials.

[hobsini2]

Here are some of the ones can be heard around Illinois that are pop, rock, classic rock or alternative. I am more familiar with the Chicago area stations. This is from Wiki going through the stations up through WK** & KK**. I broke it down to the markets. Long list.

Bloomington/Normal (I-39, I-55 & I-74):
96.7 WIHN - Active rock
97.9 WBBE Bob FM - Adult hits
88.1 WESN - Alternative. College station.

Carbondale/Marion (I-57):
1580AM - Soft Oldies
101.5 WCIL - Adult contemporary

Champaign/Urbana/Danville (I-57, I-72 & I-74):
97.5 WHMS - Light Rock
99.5 & 980AM WITY - Adult hits
102.1 WDNL - Hot adult contemporary

Charleston/Mattoon (I-57):
88.9 WEIU - Hit mix. College station, short range.

Chicago:
88.9 WARG - Alternative radio station at Argo High School in Summit. Short range but good.
94.7 WLS - Classic Rock. Strong signal for all of Chicagoland.
95.5 WCHI - Mainstream rock. This is essentially 90s to today rock.
95.9 WERV The River - Classic Rock. Strongest signal is in the West Suburbs. It can be heard inside of I-294 but hardly at all in Downtown Chicago. Based in Aurora.
97.1 WDRV The Drive - Classic Rock. Strong signal for all of Chicagoland.
101.1 WKQX - Alternative. Strong signal.
103.5 WKSC Kiss FM - Top 40

Decatur (I-72):
89.5 WJMU The Quad - Alternative
107.3 WDKR - Oldies
105.1 WEJT Jack FM - Hits (Also reaches Mattoon area on I-57)


DeKalb (I-88):
94.9 WDKB - Adult contemporary

Dixon (I-88):
1460AM WIXN - Oldies


Effingham/Olney (I-57 & I-70):
103.1 WAKO The Lite - Light Hits
103.5 WIKK The Rockin Eagle - Classic rock
104.3 WCBH The Party - Top 40
105.5 & 100.5 WJKG Jack FM - Adult Hits

Fairfield (I-64):
104.9 WFIW - Adult Hits

Galena/Dubuque IA:
107.5 WDBQ - 70s, 80s & more

Galesburg (I-74):
105.3 WKAY - Adult contemporary & light rock


Harrisburg (I-57 & US 45):
98.9 WISH The Wish - Adult contemporary
102.3 WEBQ - Adult contemporary

Jacksonville {I-72):
107.1 WEAI The Eagle - Hot adult contemporary

Joliet/Morris/Dwight (I-55 & I-80):
88.7 WCSF - Indie rock. College station with a small range.
98.9 WJEZ - Classic hits
103.1 WCSJ - Classic hits
1550AM WAUR - Classic hits

Kankakee/Watseka (I-57):
94.1 WGFA - Adult contemporary
95.1 WFAV - Top 40
95.9 WIQI - Classic rock

LaSalle/Peru (I-39 & I-80):
99.3 WAJK - 90s to today Adult contemporary
100.9 WBZG Rocks! - Classic rock
103.3 & 97.7 WIVQ - Top 40

Macomb/Burlington IA/Keokuk IA area (US 34 & US 136):
93.9 WCEZ - Classic rock
101.1 WKAI - Top 40
102.7 WJEQ - Classic rock

Metropolis/Paducah KY (I-24):
98.3 WJLI River Region's Rocker - Classic rock

Mt Vernon/Centralia (I-57 & I-64):
106.9 WDML - Classic rock
1210AM & 98.7 WILY - Oldies

Peoria (I-74):
95.5 WGLO - Classic rock
98.5 WHPI - Top 40
105.7 WIXO - Active rock

Quad Cities (I-74, I-80, I-88):
93.9 KQCJ - Alternative.

Rockford/Beloit WI (I-39, I-43 & I-90):
92.3, 98.9, & 1380AM WBEL The Beat - 90s Hits
96.7 WKGL The Eagle - Classic rock
103.1 WGFB (B103) - 80s to today hits


Springfield (I-55 & I-72):
96.7 WCVS Bob FM - Adult hits
103.7 WDBR - Top 40

St Louis Metro:
96.7 WCXO Max - Adult Hits. Range is better east of St Louis.
97.5 WDLJ The Rock - Classic rock. Range is better east of St Louis.
105.3 WAOX The Ox - 90s to today Adult contemporary
105.7 KPNT The Point - Alternative.
106.5 WARH The Arch - Adult contemporary

[Rothman]

28x12 is well over $300 a year. That's not exactly pocket change for a good number of people.

Exactly.  Weird about how 93 cents a day can add up to hundreds of dollars...

[Flint1979]

28x12 is well over $300 a year. That's not exactly pocket change for a good number of people.

Exactly.  Weird about how 93 cents a day can add up to hundreds of dollars...

It's worked fine for me. I like how I can listen to any sports game I want on the radio and don't have to be anywhere close to the station in order to do it. But I get that it can be costly if you are trying to save money 93 cents a day adds up in a hurry but it doesn't bother me too much.

[hbelkins]

I dropped my SXM subscription for financial reasons. There's not really anything on there that I think is worth paying for.

[1995hoo]

I get XM for what is effectively $2 a month because my American Express card reimburses $20 a month for it. Well worth it for me, although I listen to local FM radio for traffic reports.

As far as an FM classic rock station in the DC area goes, 100.3 has sort of taken over the niche that used to be occupied by 94.7. Only thing about 100.3 is that they also air the Commanders games, so you don't get music every day.


(Edited a few days later to fix a typo.)

[jp the roadgeek]

Hartford: WDRC (102-9 The Whale)
New Haven: WPLR (99.1)
Danbury, CT WRKI (I-95, 95.1)
Springfield, MA: WAQY (Rock 102; previously mentioned)
Boston: WZLX (100.7)
NYC: WAXQ (Q 104.3)
Philly: WMGK (102.9)

[abefroman329]

Well, not everyone would be willing to blow hundreds of dollars in subscriptions to SiriusXM, so another way to go would be Pandora.

If your car is SiriusXM ready, and you don't have an unlimited data package on your phone, then Pandora isn't going to be more cost-effective.

[roadman65]

Tampa is 107.3 WXGL
Orlando is 98.9 WMMO

[skluth]

Well, not everyone would be willing to blow hundreds of dollars in subscriptions to SiriusXM, so another way to go would be Pandora.

If your car is SiriusXM ready, and you don't have an unlimited data package on your phone, then Pandora isn't going to be more cost-effective.

Only 75% of new cars come SiriusXM ready and the percent goes down with age. My 2015 Camry doesn't have it and I wouldn't get SiriusXM even if it did despite my living in the desert and enjoying long drives away from any radio station. I usually download (at home) and listen to podcasts while driving (75% of my drive time) or listen to a number of playlists (anything from classical to classic rock to jazz to early hip-hop) stored on my phone.

[TMETSJETSYT]

Mine for traveling in southern New England used to be WAAF (107.3) in Worcester/Boston and WCCC (106.9) in Hartford. Both are dead now, I believe both subsumed by religious music.

Used to be a huge fan of AAF, I was sad to see it leave. I had so many memories listening to it. Seems like all of the good stations are getting consumed by the religious format.

[TMETSJETSYT]

Classic rock is a dying genre in nearly all markets.  If you want to be able to listen to it coast-to-coast, you're better off investing in a SiriusXM account.

Not in my market (Albany, NY) , and your mad goofy if you got a sxm account, free radio is just as good, and the music played on xm isnt as good as on fm/am radio.

[TMETSJETSYT]

I dropped my SXM subscription for financial reasons. There's not really anything on there that I think is worth paying for.

Exactly. XM is garbage.

[TMETSJETSYT]

Tampa is 107.3 WXGL
Orlando is 98.9 WMMO

Both are classic hits stations.
Real rock stations:
Orlando: 101.1 WJRR
Tampa: 98.7 The Shark

[hbelkins]

Put a new receiver in my truck to replace the 1990 factory model that the amp had gone bad on. I'm amazed at the number of FM stations it picks up, even in my rural area. There's a classic rock station in, of all places, Hyden, Ky. When I was running through stations to program into presets the other day, it was playing the syndicated hair metal show that Dee Snider puts out.

[Hunty2022]

I don't really listen to rock radio stations, but I think 97.5FM is the best one for CVA.

[roadman65]

The Eagle in Augusta, GA I found to be good.

[Concrete Bob]

I live in California, but often stream WXYG (540) out of St. Cloud Minnesota:

http://thegoatwxyg.com/index.htm

Its deep, wide playlist sounds exactly like the old Progressive, Free-Form rock stations I grew up listening to in Sacramento.  Like KSFM (102.5), a.k.a.Earthradio 102 and the original KZAP (98.5). 

I was a Sirius XM subscriber for twenty years.  The quality of the programming went down the tubes big time.  I now use the Bluetooth and my mobile phone to listen to over 2,600 CDs with over 41,000 tracks in my car. 

[WillWeaverRVA]

I don't really listen to rock radio stations, but I think 97.5FM is the best one for CVA.

96.5 is my go-to in Richmond.

[Takumi]

I don't really listen to rock radio stations, but I think 97.5FM is the best one for CVA.

96.5 is my go-to in Richmond.

WAFX (106.9) out of Hampton Roads has a bigger playlist, if you can get it.

[bandit957]

Stations in smaller towns usually have broader playlists. I'm sure it's true with classic rock stations as it was with stations that played current pop. I noticed that when we went on trips in the late '80s/early '90s, contemporary hit stations in smaller towns usually had wider playlists. It was noticeable even when you listened only briefly.

[amroad17]

I don't really listen to rock radio stations, but I think 97.5FM is the best one for CVA.

96.5 is my go-to in Richmond.

WAFX (106.9) out of Hampton Roads has a bigger playlist, if you can get it.

That is the station I used to listen to when it started around 1990 when living in the Hampton Roads area.  Especially listening to "The Electric Lunch"  with Mike Arlo.  I remember when he was on FM99 WNOR.  During the early- to mid-1980's, FM99 was the station in Hampton Roads.

I have picked up WAFX west of Petersburg and in the Richmond area.

I am also inclined to agree with "˜bandit957'–terrestrial radio has not been good since the 1980's.

And, in the words of Mike Arlo when he signs off: "Bicycle!  Make it a great day!"

[SectorZ]

Stations in smaller towns usually have broader playlists. I'm sure it's true with classic rock stations as it was with stations that played current pop. I noticed that when we went on trips in the late '80s/early '90s, contemporary hit stations in smaller towns usually had wider playlists. It was noticeable even when you listened only briefly.

It's probably gotten worse, since bigger market stations are going to likely be owned by the usual suspects who demand cookie cutter excellence. Smaller stations don't have stockholders to respond to.