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Pioneer Valley Radio Station Hits 94.3 Changes Format

One of the biggest local radio stations in the Pioneer Valley has changed formats.

Radio

Radio

 Photo Credit: Pixabay/ smorazanm
Kristin Palpini

On New Year’s Day at midnight, SAGA Communication’s Top 40 Hits 94.3 Amherst-Northampton flipped to “classic hits,” according to an announcement by station owners.

The rebranded station is 94.3 Rewind, with the tag line “You Lived It, We Play It.”

The new format will be led by Lenny Diana, brand manager at SAGA Communications’ rock n’ roll stations Lazer 99.3 and Class Rock 102 since 2014.

“We swiped left on 2020 and swiped right on 2021,” Diana said in a statement. “

Diana said Rewind will play top songs from the 70s-90s.

Switching formats to classic hits is a move in line with radio trends. The top radio formats in the U.S. (starting with the most popular) are news-talk, “AC” (popular music that excludes rap, hip-hop, and teen pop), Country, Pop, and Classic hits, according to a 2019 Nielsen report. Classic hits radio stations have been gaining in popularity over the last several years while country and pop falter. 

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