When CFWM (Bob 99.9) Winnipeg, Manitoba launched on March 4, 2002, playing “’80s, ’90s, and whatever,” Oldies stations were still trying to figure out how to play the ’70s, while Classic Rock stations were reluctant to move too heavily into Foreigner, Journey, Pat Benatar, or any of that late ’70s/early ’80s corporate rock that many PDs of a certain age blamed for ruining the AOR format.

In Canada, Bob-FM and the like-minded Jack-FM quickly became the thing that ate the radio in market-after-market. For about two years, the initial excitement met with indifference by American broadcasters. A year later, the first successful American Bob- and Jack-FMs had created a land rush that (briefly) claimed WCBS-FM New York, among other hastily flipped radio stations.

We’ll take a longer look at the Adult Hits format later this month, leading into Canadian Music Week. But we didn’t want to let Bob’s birthday go by unnoticed. Here’s a Fresh Listen to the station on Sunday, its tenth birthday. When we checked in at age five, Bob seemed to have shed a little of its variety and become mostly a hit Classic Rock station. This time there seemed to be a little more pop balance.

Over the last decade, ratings for the Adult Hits format have landed in a very viable place, if no longer a force of nature. Toronto, the market whose Jack-FM never got traction, now has CHBM (Boom FM), which serves much of the same need. CFWM was off 7.2–5.2–4.9 over the last year, partially as a result of its new Oldies sister station, CHIQ (Fab 94.3). That station leans older than most similar North American stations, but still leads Bob at the moment, having gone 2.9–6.7–6.6.

When heard on Sunday, Bob-FM was hosted (although the Web player itself told us to expect only “Silent Bob”). The contest promos were for “Bob’s Payroll Payoff.” And a stager recalls the station’s early days: “When Bob started, people were all like ‘whatever’ and Bob was like ‘exactly.’” (That line would have been in character with the early days of the station, although the imaging voice has changed.)

Here’s Bob FM at 2:30 on Sunday, March 4:

Kansas, “Carry On Wayward Son”
Pearl Jam, “Last Kiss”
Heart, “Nothing At All” (backsold as being from the “Whatever File”)
A-Ha, “Take On Me”
Gowan, “Moonlight Desires” (Canadian, from the ’80s synth/pop hitmaker-turned-Styx lead singer; similar in era and texture to Mike + the Mechanics or Mr. Mister)
Elton John, “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”
Tragically Hip, "My Music @ Work" (Canadian)
Phil Collins, “I Wish It Would Rain Down”
Tom Cochrane, “Sinking Like A Sunset” (Canadian)
Manfred Mann, “Blinded By The Light”
Daryl Hall & John Oates, “Out Of Touch”
Aerosmith, “Love In An Elevator”
Trooper, “Santa Maria” (Canadian, versatile corporate rockers with a 1977 hit similar to “Margaritaville”)
Adele, “Rolling In The Deep”
Prince, “Raspberry Beret”
Gino Vannelli, “Black Cars” (Canadian, a minor U.S. hit from his ’80s synth-pop era that was far removed from “I Just Wanna Stop”)