Based only on the sheer volume of activity, 2011 was the best year for format change watchers, at least since the worst of the recession in 2008-09. There were weekly Spoken Word radio launches on FM. There was a proliferation of activity on new FM translators that recalled the late-’80s, post Docket 80-90 building boom (in good and bad ways). And broadcasters’ expansion across new radio platforms further obscured the line between traditionally programmed and interactive radio—even as some of the same broadcasters were publicly adamant about those being two different things.

That said, in 2011 there were some interesting launches and some unusual success stories, and they were rarely the same thing. The year’s look at the most intriguing stations is never meant to be simply a recap of the winners, but in writing this article, I found myself repeatedly writing “proving that (insert format name here) still works,” whether it was about a Active Rock at KISW Seattle, Bob-/Jack-FM-type format returning to Cleveland at WHLK (The Lake) or a big Classic Rock win at KQMT (The Mountain) Denver.

The reactionary feel was hard to deny in a year that began with Active Rock giving way to supersoft AC at WFEZ Miami and ended with Triple-A WNWV (V107.3) Cleveland returning to Smooth Jazz (still, perhaps, the gutsiest move of all, given that format’s panic of recent years). Some innovators were almost instant casualties—KTWI (Twister 93.3) Omaha’s truly new version of Country lasted about six months. Merlin’s all-news FMs in Chicago and New York stumbled publicly and backed away from their female lifestyle lean. WQSH (Crush-FM) Albany, N.Y., began the year as the biggest ’90s gold success story to date and ended it with the airstaff ousted and changes on the way, and many ’90s outlets were gone by year’s end as well.

Even still, we’ll need two parts to properly spotlight all the intriguing offerings. We’ll return on Tuesday with a look at the stations built on New Platforms in 2011—not in any way a concession that they’re “not radio” as much as acknowledgment that there was too much interesting activity to not give it a separate spotlight. Here’s part one. Your comments, as always, are welcome.

CKFG (G98.7) Toronto – Canada’s short-lived mid-’00s Urban boom ended with its handful of stations mostly going Top 40. So you’ve got to admire the fervor with which this station’s owners have brought a unique Caribbean-flavored Urban AC to a market where otherwise standard Urban AC titles were only heard by DX’ing WBLK Buffalo, N.Y..

KBFF (Live 95.5) Portland, Ore. – Along with last year’s success story at CKNO (Now 102.3) Edmonton, Alberta, proof that Hot AC could still play yesterday-and-today, could still find its own identity (as opposed to a slightly different CHR), and could still launch big in a PPM market.

KCMO-HD-2 (Funny 102.5) Kansas City – Making an all-comedy format work on the radio has represented nearly 30 years of frustration—most of it in small markets or on AMs where it was off the industry’s radar. So it’s significant that the 24/7 Comedy Network both found a viable way to do the format and something that could post competitive numbers on an FM translator.

KCMP (The Current) Minneapolis – Very much a “back to the future” move as Alternative in the Twin Cities cheerfully became the property of a non-comm with a long playlist, low spin-count, and a large, eclectic gold library (with the balancing factor of format veteran Jim McGuinn). The numbers are still exceeding expectations after a few PPM months of entirely confounding them.

KLCK (Click FM) Seattle; WROX (96X) Norfolk, Va.; – It’s a lot harder to do a CHR/Modern Rock hybrid in 2012 than it was in 1995 when Alternative had critical mass and a lot of available product to sift through. One thing that hasn’t changed: it looked for a while like Click was going to be pulled toward the Alternative side. But with so many “Alternative” records that are really pop, it’s encouraging that broadcasters still see an opening here.

KMCQ (Q104.5) Seattle – In one way, it’s cheerfully in defiance of PPM law, a long-listed Oldies station that spans three decades. But it’s also jockless and playing a lot of music, and as such, it’s been doing a 2.5-share or so in a market that has a more conventional Oldies/Greatest Hits FM. As the “more stationality” angels and “more music/less everything else” demons argue on the industry’s collective shoulders, the second greatest public service this station performs (after giving me a place to hear “Up In A Puff Of Smoke” by Polly Brown again) is showing the industry what an online radio channel on FM would really look and sound like.

KMEL San Francisco – Like much of Urban radio, they’ve had their PPM-era ups-and-downs, but they’ve been mostly up recently, also coinciding with a good run of local R&B/Hip-Hop.

KSOC (Old School 94.5) Dallas – After 20 years of resistance to R&B Oldies on FM (or, for that matter, on AM), it was gratifying to see K-Soul segue from Urban AC to “Old School 94.5” and post instant results. But as Urban AC modernized, Smooth Jazz vaporized, and Arbitron reported that Sports Talk had become the No. 1 format for 35+ African-Americans, the hole was undeniable. KSOC’s success parallels the series of Jammin’ Oldies launches that kicked in throughout 2010, but added KYOT Phoenix this year.

KTWI (Twister 93.3) Omaha – Country radio has always managed to ride a new product/new artists boom just enough to close up any hole for a significantly newer or younger format. Clear Channel’s “New Country” format, which was designed for HD-2 and iHeart Radio, was probably further to the left than it needed to be on FM, but it represented a significant alternative. And if there’s not a need for it, then the rest of the format really has changed significantly.

WBZ-FM (98.5 The Sports Hub) Boston – Not just the FM Sports success story that finally spurred rival WEEI to FM, as well as spoken word outlets in dozens of other markets, but also the sort of “younger version of talk on FM” success story that had been so elusive over the years, even when stations had Howard Stern as a magnet.

WPLJ New York – Hot AC stations have been cheerfully ceding the ’80s to their Bob-/Jack-FM rivals and, increasingly, to Mainstream AC. WPLJ got a shot of energy last year from revisiting its one-time calling card with some interesting depth.

WPOI Tampa – For a few years, the success of KAMP (Amp 97.1) Los Angeles seemed to prove only that going even more rhythmic with an even tighter list than today’s Mainstream CHR was a very specific strategy that wasn’t for every market. But so far, Hot 101.5 has been very successful in engaging not-particularly-vulnerable rival WFLZ in house-to-house, month-to-month combat.

WPOZ (Z88.3) Orlando; K-Love Network – Z88.3’s “Positive Hits” format has been a regular occupant in the market’s top slot. Christian AC powerhouse K-Love, as it expands nationally, has been responsible for at least a few ratings surprises every month. While PPM has brought Christian AC’s success stories to the fore, it hasn’t spurred the station building among major groups that one might anticipate. Instead, Clear Channel added K-Love (and sister Air1) to the iHeart Radio platform. But even before then, K-Love had pretty clearly become the first national music superstation.

WXPK (The Peak) Westchester County, N.Y. – In their case, the intriguing part of this Triple-A has been remaining mostly unchanged over the last eight years. They remain the format’s most consistent, surprising, and consistently surprising outpost in a year that claimed several others. And they also got some well-deserved attention after the departure of New York’s WRXP.

WXXL (XL106.7) Orlando, Fla., WRVW (The River) Nashville – From Adele to Band Perry to Gavin DeGraw, one or both stations were responsible for most of the “this will never get past Hot AC” records that eventually did spread through their Clear Channel CHR brethren. With the change at KBKS (Kiss 106.1), XL and the River became the best evidence that there was “more than one way to do CHR.”

WZBN (Power 105.5) Albany, Ga. – They took “Holy Hip-Hop” from Sunday morning specialty show to full-time format this year, posting surprising numbers in the process. Of all the stations cited here, the one most allied with an emerging body of music.

Coming Tuesday, Jan. 17: “Intriguing Stations, Part II”—Rethinking the ’60s, listening to “tomorrow” and a place for space funk.