Eric Wellman arrived at Q104.3 in the early 2000s with a mandate and a conviction: the word “classic” in classic rock was becoming a constraint, not a descriptor. Three decades after Q104.3 changed to Classic Hits from Active Rock music, the station had been in rock format life for nearly 35 years. Yet Wellman and his predecessor Bob Buchmann completed a transformation that’s still unfolding today. Last fall, Q104.3 made the symbolic decision to drop “Classic” from the station’s identity. The market noticed. The audience noticed. And the format proved its staying power in ways that most of radio wrote off long ago.
“Once you’re over the age of 54, you don’t exist anymore to an advertiser, apparently,” Wellman explains with wry honesty. That reality forced the station’s hand. For years, Q104.3 had been steadily advancing what classic rock meant. However, the language itself — “classic” — was becoming a barrier to entry for younger listeners who heard it and thought, “Oh, it’s my dad’s station. My grandparents’ station.”
The irony? The audience data said otherwise.
From Classical to Rock: The Long Evolution
The story of Q104.3 begins in 1994, when the station first flipped to what would eventually become classic rock. Before that, the station was primarily a classical music outlet (WNCN) for years. Indeed, when Wellman’s grandmother discovered he’d be working there, she was upset. “I had to apologize to her!” he recalls. “Her memory lurks over me every day as I play things that aren’t classical.”
By 1996, the station had evolved into what was termed a classic hits format. When Wellman arrived at the turn of the millennium alongside Buchmann, they had a clear vision. They wanted to complete the transformation into a full classic rock station. Then they would figure out how to keep it alive as the world changed around it. That evolution hasn’t stopped.
The playlist spans from Elton John to Linkin Park — a four-generation bandwidth that most radio formats wouldn’t dare attempt. Yet research shows that the same audience that loves classic rock icons also embraces modern rock. “It’s a big tent and there’s room for everyone!” Wellman observes. “The music itself is everything from Elton John to Linkin Park, and that’s pretty amazing when you think about it.”
A Murderer’s Row of Talent
What makes Q104.3 truly distinct isn’t just the format philosophy — it’s the on-air roster. This is where Wellman’s greatest asset reveals itself. Walk through the day parts and you’ll find a Hall of Fame lineup. Most programmers couldn’t photocopy yesterday’s schedule and run the same staff schedule forever. As Wellman puts it, referencing the Yankees dynasty of his youth: “I feel like when the Yankees were going through their streak, back in the core four days, late ’90s, early 2000s, when Joe Torre was managing, he didn’t have to fill out a lineup card. He knew who was going to be there.”
Morning: Jim Kerr is a Radio Hall of Famer, a figure so integral to New York rock radio history that his presence alone anchors the morning drive. He has the kind of tenure and connection to the format that transcends modern radio turnover. “You have to force him at gunpoint to take a vacation,” Wellman says. “There’s nothing he likes better in his life than being on the radio.” His new partners – Christin Marks and Trevor Marden round out a fantastic lead in to the day.
Midday: Maria Milito is our longest tenured staffer and the highest rated daypart consistently. A work day companion for New York since the beginning.
Afternoon Drive: Ken Dashow carries the legacy forward. He is a Brooklyn-born lifer who traces his roots back to WNEW. He worked at the short-lived WAPP commercial-free rock experiment of the early ’80s. “A born and bred Brooklyn guy, and a self-avowed Beatles geek.” The afternoon drive slot handles a unique challenge. Listenership doesn’t actually end at 5 p.m. anymore. It’s shifted earlier. “It’s more like the 3 o’clock whistle,” Wellman notes. “By 5 o’clock, the market is down to about 50% of the audience.” Dashow carries people through with the “Daily Three at Three” — a contest featuring three songs with a theme, usually tied to current events. It’s become one of the highest-rated quarter hours on the station. He also does a “Live at Five” feature daily with tracks tied to concerts, birthdays, or moments in rock history. Additionally, Dashow hosts a Sunday morning Beatles show that’s been running for 25 years.
Gerry Martire handles Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in the afternoon slot. He also serves as primary swing shift fill-in across the roster. It’s a one-two punch that’s been working since the year 2000.
Nights: Carol Miller is another Radio Hall of Famer and appears in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame too. A legend with nearly as much tenure as Jim Kerr, she’s been a personal friend of Led Zeppelin since the band’s early days. She produces the syndicated “Get the Led Out” show, which runs in-person on Q104.3. “Much like Jim, she’s forgotten more stuff than most of us know,” Wellman says. “The personal experience of having known so many of the rock stars we play on our radio station is tremendous.”
The reality speaks for itself. From 2005 until the recent morning changes, Wellman didn’t hire anyone new. That’s two decades of continuity in an industry that hemorrhages talent constantly. “We have this murderer’s row of all the best rock DJs in New York in New York history on our radio station for a long, long time,” he explains.
The Philosophy: One Song, One Band at a Time
Wellman’s approach to evolution is deliberate and methodical — what he calls “turning a cruise ship, not a speedboat.” In 2001, the idea of a classic rock station playing Pearl Jam, Nirvana, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, or Green Day seemed insane. Today, it’s business as usual. However, he didn’t make a sudden format flip. He started with a couple of songs. Then those worked, so he added a few more. Then he moved to another band that was “a standard deviation away” — a term from mathematics he uses to describe incremental risk.
First deviation: grunge and alt-rock bands like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. Second deviation: deeper cuts. Third and fourth deviations: Linkin Park represents the most obvious shift. Yet Wellman frames it simply: “It’s still a rock song, and that’s fine.”
He’s already eyeing the next phase. “Probably the next thing on the horizon is starting to look at some of those other early 2000s active rock things we didn’t touch over the years, like Shinedown or Breaking Benjamin. There might be a song or two there that we start looking into.”
His decision-making metric is simple — the “craps game” analogy. “There’s really only one place on that table where you should be putting your money that gives you the best odds. When we’re picking music, I want to play the songs that give me the most chance of having anyone tuning in loving it.”
Authenticity as Strength
What keeps Wellman optimistic about rock radio’s future is rooted in something deeper than format theory. It’s authenticity. “People have been burying classic rock or rock in general for years, probably since 1991 when Nirvana came and blew everything up,” he says. “And here we are, 35 years later. Not only did it not blow up, those bands are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and we’re playing all of them.”
His closing argument is one of conviction: “We have people who made the best music that’s ever been made, and continue to do so. Who can play their instruments, who can sing without help. And when you add that into the murderer’s row of air personalities who have that connection to our audience going back years and years and years to say ‘this is okay’ — there’s nothing wrong with these bands. They’re great, and we love the Foo Fighters as much as we love the Rolling Stones. They can all fill stadiums. So what’s wrong with that?”
Q104.3 has done it for 30 years. “Do we have another 30? Why not?”
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David Hill serves as a Music Radio Editor, Columnist and Features writer for Barrett Media. A radio lifer with more than 30 years behind the mic, in the control room, and in the program director’s chair, David’s career spans influential stops at brands such as WIYY 98 Rock, WBAL-AM, and 99X. He has worked across multiple formats and ownership groups, including iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media, developing talent, breaking music, and navigating every major industry shift from diary to PPM and terrestrial dominance to streaming disruption. When he’s not writing or analyzing the industry, Dave runs The Tune Farm, a marketing firm built to help artists and brands grow audience the same way great radio always has—by creating connection, not just impressions. He can be reached at David@BarrettMedia.com.