When does classic rock become a classic song? The DMG experiment with a tight rock format for its Sydney and Melbourne stations seems to be metamorphosing into more of a classic hits format. This week, without fanfare, the station began airing slightly revamped promos using the words “classic songs” as well as “classic rock.”

Both 95.3 Sydney and 91.5 Melbourne led into the format change with a marathon Top 1000 Countdown over the past week, and they have now begun to institute features such as “the new workday guarantee” of 10 Classic SONGS in a row, every hour on the hour.

The music universe also appears to have widened out in the past week, to include some softer pop songs in with the recognizable rock recurrents.

The station’s ratings are disappointing in overall share, but when examined in more detail, analysis shows the station has quite a long time spent listening from its loyal listeners, which programmers must be hoping to build into an increased share over coming surveys by widening the playlist and trying to create an image that core listeners will be happy to talk about. The station label of ‘Classic Rock’ may of course work against any long term evolution, and if the new strategy works, may also undergo some alteration eventually.