Cox's KHPT in Houston and WPOI in Tampa are prime examples of all-'80s stations that heavily relied on artists such as Peter Schilling, The Cranberries and New Order.
The station was later renamed "Retro-Active", and later Classic Alternative, all of which played seventies to eighties new wave, post-punk, synthpop, etc.
However, an artist like David Bowie can often fit in classic alternative because he meets the criteria.
In December 2022, WNNX in Atlanta relaunched the heritage "99X" brand of sister station WWWQ as a classic alternative station,[16] while KITS in San Francisco—which dropped modern rock for adult hits after having its local programming discontinued in 2020 due to networking[17][18]—relaunched its heritage Live 105 branding in June 2023 with a classic alternative-leaning format.
[19][20][21] In July 2024, Corus Entertainment extended its Edge brand—long associated with its heritage station CFNY-FM in Toronto—to Calgary's CFGQ-FM using a classic alternative format.