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Free-form, or free-form radio, is a
radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
programming
format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...
in which the
disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobil ...
is given total control over what music to play, regardless of
music genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from '' musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are som ...
or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercial radio stations, in which
DJs A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...
have little or no influence over programming structure or
playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs, but sometimes a loop. The term has sev ...
s. In the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, freeform DJs are still bound by
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
regulations.


History in the United States

Many shows claim to be the first free-form radio program, but the earliest on record is "Nightsounds" on
KPFA-FM KPFA (94.1 FM) is an American listener-funded talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station ...
in
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...
, D.J.'d by John Leonard. Probably the best-remembered in the Midwest is Beaker Street, which ran for almost 10 years on KAAY "The Mighty 1090" in Little Rock, Arkansas, beginning in 1966, making it also probably the best-known such show on an AM station; its signal reached from Canada to Mexico and Cuba, blanketing the Midwest and Midsouth of the U.S.
WFMU WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey. Since 1998 its studios and operating facilities have been headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. It broadcasts locally at 91.1 Mhz FM, i ...
is currently the longest-running freeform radio station in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. WNEW-FM 102.7 in NYC was the first commercial station in the US to introduce a free-form format. It stayed that way under the ownership of Metromedia Broadcasting until it was sold and the new owners were not interested. WNEW-FM was a leader in introducing new music and making household names of a good deal of the bands we know from the 1960s and '70s.
Jim Ladd Jim Ladd (born January 17, 1948), an American disc jockey, radio producer and writer, is one of the few notable remaining freeform rock DJs in United States commercial radio. Ladd first gained national prominence as host of the hour long, natio ...
of
KLOS Klos or KLOS may refer to: * Klos (surname) * Klos, Dibër, a town in eastern Albania ** Harketari Klos KF, a defunct football club based in Klos, Dibër * Klos, Elbasan, a village in central Albania * Klos, Mallakastër, a village in south-central ...
in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
was one of the most notable freeform DJs. Tom Petty wrote a song about Jim Ladd called "
The Last DJ ''The Last DJ'' is the 11th studio album by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The title track, "Money Becomes King", "Joe" and "Can't Stop the Sun" are all critical of greed in the music industry. A "limited edition" digipack ...
". The only time Jim Ladd didn't have complete control over what music is being played is when he turned control over to his faithful listeners commonly referred to as "The Tribe"."A Brief History of Freeform Radio"
Lowest Common Denominator, Issue #21 (c. 1998) On October 26, 2011, Ladd was among various staffers let go from KLOS following the acquisition of station owner Citadel Broadcasting by
Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...
. As of 2012 Ladd is hosting a daily freeform show on Sirius XM's Deep Tracks. The free-form
ethos Ethos ( or ) is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution, and passion. The Greeks also used this word to refer to ...
tends to disdain playlists confined to a single
music genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from '' musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are som ...
. However, DJs may opt to play selections according to an arbitrary theme (e.g.,
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
's " Subterranean Homesick Blues" followed by
Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass ...
's "Subterranean Homesick Alien"). Freeform-ish stations that played only or almost only rock music were known as
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...
stations, while those that play mostly folk and/or
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...
-leaning cuts are known as Americana stations. Commercial free-form radio stations were common in the late 1960s and early '70s, particularly on the FM band, but are rare today. An exceptional case was Indie 103.1 FM of
Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...
and
Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws v ...
. Indie 103.1 broadcast radio programs in which famous musicians from the world of
popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...
host radio programs and choose the playlist. Indie 103.1 recently left the FM airwaves, but currently continues on the internet. Another commercial free-form radio station is KHUM, "radio without the rules", at 104.3 and 104.7 FM in Ferndale, California. KHUM has transmitted since 1996 and is the most popular station in
Humboldt County, California Humboldt County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 136,463. The county seat is Eureka. Humboldt County comprises the Eureka–Arcata– Fortuna, California Micropolitan Statist ...
.
Internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...
and, to a lesser extent,
college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...
are sanctuaries of the free-form format (although even the latter has lost much of its independence as stations begin modeling corporate stations in their presentation). On
Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...
satellite radio Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a '' broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than t ...
, the weekly
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
-hosted '' Theme Time Radio Hour'' featured a freeform format, as do several specialty programs on The Loft. The nationally syndicated ''Undercurrents'', distributed by
Native Voice One Koahnic Broadcast Corporation (KBC) is a nonprofit media center that provides Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native radio programming through Alaska Native governance and operation.Koahnic Broadcast Corporation (2010). Retrieved from http://ww ...
, follows a freeform format. Many terrestrial freeform stations are small and lack corporate backing, and therefore have relatively weak radio
transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...
s (especially around
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...
s where corporate radio signals dominate, but at the same time have enough of a population density to cover enough people to support such a station), a problem that has caused numerous broadcasters to transition to
Internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...
,
pirate radio Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially ...
or both. The
full service Full service or Full Service may refer to: * Full-service radio, a wide range of programming * Full Service Network, a communications company Entertainment * "Full Service", a song by the New Kids on the Block from their album ''The Block'' * Ful ...
format can be seen as a variant of the free-form format, though since most full-service stations are located in rural areas,
country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
, adult standards,
classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 198 ...
(
oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as w ...
or
classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...
), and occasionally
adult contemporary music Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, qu ...
tend to form the bulk of the music on a full-service station, and the vast majority of full-service stations focus primarily on mainstream, popular music (whereas freeform stations often put the emphasis on less widely known or more exotic selections).


Adult hits/Jack FM

The adult hits brand can be considered a "sequel" of sorts to the freeform format. Many of these stations play a wide variety of music ranging from many formats that includes, but is not limited to:
Oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as w ...
/
classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 198 ...
,
classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...
,
adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
,
Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the U ...
/
Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...
, etc. Most of the music played on these stations are from the years 1970–2020, although a few 1960s tracks may be sprinkled in. Unlike true freeform radio, there are no disc jockeys. The most notable adult hits station brand is Jack FM, which has many affiliates across the world. Several imitators of the Jack brand and its associated slogan "Playing What We Want" have also emerged. These imitators often use the name of a person, place or a historical site and can include: Mac (E.G. Mac 94.7 Clinton, Iowa) historical figures (E.G. The Chief 92.5
Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metrop ...
), etc.


Freeform stations


United States

* KALX (
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...
) * KAOS (
Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. Europea ...
) *
KBGA KBGA (89.9 FM), licensed to Missoula, Montana, is a college radio station on the campus of the University of Montana. It was formerly known as Revolution Radio. Elizabeth Wipperman is the current general manager of the station. KBGA was establish ...
(
Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ; fla, label= Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County. It is located along the Clark Fork ...
) *
KBOO KBOO is a non-profit organization, listener-funded FM Community radio station broadcasting from Portland, Oregon. The station's mission is to serve groups in its listening area who are underrepresented on other local radio stations and to provi ...
(
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...
) * KBUT (
Crested Butte, Colorado Crested Butte is a home rule municipality located in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 1,639 at the 2020 United States Census. The former coal mining town is now called "the last great Colorado ski town". Creste ...
) *
KBVR KBVR (88.7 FM) is a student-run non-commercial radio station broadcasting a variety format. Licensed to Corvallis, Oregon, United States, the station is currently owned by Oregon State University. KBVR is part of Orange Media Network, the stud ...
(
Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering ...
,
Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city and the county seat of Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2020 United ...
) *
KCOU KCOU (88.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting the College radio format. Licensed to Columbia, Missouri, United States, the station is currently owned by the Missouri Students Association at the University of Missouri. History Originally know ...
(
University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...
,
Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourt ...
) * KCR (
San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
,
San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...
) *
KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to program ...
(
Santa Monica College Santa Monica College (SMC) is a public, community college in Santa Monica, California. Founded as a junior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. Although initially serving primarily pre-college high sc ...
,
Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
) * KCSB-FM (
University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...
, Goleta, California) *
KDHX KDHX (88.1 FM) is an independent, non-commercial, listener-supported community radio station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States offering a full spectrum of music along with cultural and public affairs programming since 1987. KDHX broadcas ...
( St. Louis, Missouri) *
KDVS KDVS (90.3 FM) is an American student and community radio station based in Davis, California. Featuring a freeform programming format, the station is owned by Regents of the University of California. Broadcasting at 13,000 watts, it is one of ...
(
University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...
, Davis, California) * KDEO (Radio Free Hawaii, Waipahu, Oahu, Hawaii) * KFAT (defunct), (
Gilroy, California Gilroy is a city in Northern California's Santa Clara County, south of Morgan Hill and north of San Benito County. Gilroy is the southernmost city in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a population of 56,766 as of the 2019 U.S. Census Projection ...
) * KFFP-LP (
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...
Freeform Portland) *
KFJC KFJC (89.7 FM) is a non-commercial college radio station in Los Altos Hills, California, at Foothill College, using a variety radio format that features a broad spectrum of music styles and public affairs programming. KFJC's over-the-air broadca ...
(
Foothill College Foothill College is a public community college in Los Altos Hills, California. It is part of the Foothill–De Anza Community College District. It was founded on January 15, 1957, and offers 79 Associate degree programs, 1 Bachelor's degree ...
, Los Altos Hills, California) * KHUM (
Ferndale, California Ferndale is a city in Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 1,371 at the 2010 census, down from 1,382 at the 2000 census. The city contains dozens of well-preserved Victorian storefronts and homes. Ferndale is the no ...
) *
KJHK KJHK 90.7 FM is a campus radio station, located in Lawrence, Kansas at the University of Kansas. On December 3, 1994, the station became one of the first radio stations in the world to broadcast a live and continuous stream over internet radio. I ...
(
University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...
,
Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...
) * KKCR ( Hanalei, Hawaii) * KMMT ( Mammoth Lakes, California) * KMNO (
Wailuku, Hawaii Wailuku is a census-designated place (CDP) in and county seat of Maui County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 17,697 at the 2020 census. Wailuku is located just west of Kahului, at the mouth of the Iao Valley. In the early 20th cent ...
) * KMNR (
Missouri University of Science and Technology Missouri University of Science and Technology, or Missouri S&T, is a public research university in Rolla, Missouri. It is a member institution of the University of Missouri System. Most of its 7,645 students (fall 2020) study engineering, busi ...
,
Rolla, Missouri Rolla () is a city in, and the county seat of, Phelps County, Missouri, United States. The population in the 2020 United States Census was 19,943. Rolla is located approximately midway between St. Louis and Springfield along I-44. The Rolla ...
) * KMRD ( Madrid, New Mexico) * KMUD ( Garberville, California) * KNON (
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
) * KOPN (
Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourt ...
) *KPSU (
Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two dec ...
,
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...
) * KRBX (
Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...
) * KRHV (
Big Pine, California Big Pine (formerly, Bigpine) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Inyo County, California, United States. Big Pine is located approximately south-southeast of Bishop, at an elevation of . The population was 1,756 at the 2010 census, up from 1,3 ...
) * KRLX (
Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, it had 2,105 undergraduate students and 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowlin ...
,
Northfield, Minnesota Northfield is a city in Dakota and Rice counties in the State of Minnesota. It is mostly in Rice County, with a small portion in Dakota County. The population was 20,790 at the 2020 census. History Northfield was platted in 1856 by John W ...
) * KRUI (
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 co ...
,
Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the tim ...
) *
KSPC KSPC is a non-commercial college and community radio station based in Claremont, California, broadcasting at 88.7 MHz on the FM band and streaming online. It was founded in 1956 as a Pomona College student organization and later expanded ...
(
Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became t ...
, Claremont, California) * KTEC ( Oregon Institute of Technology,
Klamath Falls, Oregon Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city w ...
) * KTEQ-FM (
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (South Dakota Mines, SD Mines, or SDSM&T) is a public university in Rapid City, South Dakota. It is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents and was founded in 1885. South Dakota Mines offers ...
,
Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western S ...
) * KTRM (
Truman State University Truman State University (TSU or Truman) is a public university in Kirksville, Missouri. It had 4,225 enrolled students in the fall of 2021 pursuing degrees in 52 undergraduate and 11 graduate programs. The university is named for U.S. Presid ...
,
Kirksville, Missouri Kirksville is the county seat and most populous city in Adair County, Missouri. Located in Benton Township, Adair County, Missouri, Benton Township, its population was 17,530 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Kirksville is home to ...
) *
K-UTE K-UTE Radio is a college radio station broadcasting via the internet to the campus of the University of Utah and around the world. The station primarily plays music from independent artists and several student produced shows, which range from talk ...
(
University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
,
Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, t ...
) *
KUCI KUCI (88.9 FM) is a college radio station broadcasting a variety format. Licensed to Irvine, California, United States, the station serves the Orange County area. The station is currently owned by Regents of the University of California and i ...
(
University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...
,
Irvine, California Irvine () is a master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 197 ...
) *
KUOI KUOI-FM (89.3 FM) is a freeform, college radio station in the western United States at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. It broadcasts in Moscow, the neighboring city Pullman, Washington, and in other townships on the Palouse. KU ...
(
University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The Universit ...
,
Moscow, Idaho Moscow ( ) is a city in North Central Idaho, United States. Located along the state border with Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 census. The county seat and largest city of Latah County, Moscow is the home of the Universit ...
) * KURE (
Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of th ...
.
Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary me ...
) * KVRX (
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
,
Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
) * KVSC (
St. Cloud State University St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Its enrollment in 2020 was approximatel ...
, St. Cloud, Minnesota) *KWCW-FM (
Whitman College Whitman College is a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. The school offers 53 majors and 33 minors in the liberal arts and sciences, and it has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. Whitman was the first college in the Pacific ...
, Walla Walla, WA) * KWUR ( Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri) * KWVA (
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc Nike, Inc. ( or ) is a ...
,
Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, ...
) * KXLU (
Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...
,
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
) * KXRY (
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...
) * KZSU (
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...
,
Stanford, California Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University. The population was 21,150 at the 2020 census. Stanford is an unincorporated area of ...
) * Radio Free Brooklyn (
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
) * Radio Paradise (
Paradise, California Paradise is a town in Butte County, California, United States in the Sierra Nevada foothills above the northeastern Sacramento Valley. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 4,764. On November 8, 2018, a major wildfire, the Camp Fi ...
) * WARC (
Allegheny College he, תגל ערבה ותפרח כחבצלת , mottoeng = "Add to your faith, virtue and to your faith, knowledge" (2 Peter 1:5)"The desert shall rejoice and the blossom as the rose" (Isaiah 35:1) , faculty = 193 ...
,
Meadville, Pennsylvania Meadville is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The city is within of Erie and within of Pittsburgh. It was the first permanent settlement in Northwestern Pennsylvania. The population was 13,388 at the 2010 ce ...
) * WBAR (
Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...
,
New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
) * WBGU (
Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...
,
Bowling Green, Ohio Bowling Green is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, Ohio, United States, located southwest of Toledo. The population was 30,028 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Toledo Metropolitan Area and a member of the Toledo Metropolitan Ar ...
) * WCAL (California University of Pennsylvania, California, Pennsylvania) *WCBN-FM (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan) *WCNI (Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut) *Grand Valley State University, WCKS (Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan) *WESS (East Stroudsburg University, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) *WESU (Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut) *WETX-LP (Tri-Cities, Tennessee) *WEVL (Memphis, Tennessee) *WERA-LP (Arlington, Virginia) *WEXP (La Salle University), WEXP (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) *WFCF (St Augustine, Florida) (Flagler College Radio) *
WFMU WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey. Since 1998 its studios and operating facilities have been headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. It broadcasts locally at 91.1 Mhz FM, i ...
(Jersey City, New Jersey) *WGDR (Plainfield, Vermont) *WHCM (William Rainey Harper College, Palatine, Illinois) *WHRW (Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York) *WIIT (Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois) *WIKD-LP (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida) *WJVS, WJVS-FM (Great Oaks Institute of Technology and Career Development, Sharonville, Ohio) *WKCO (Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio) *WKDU (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) *WLHI (Lehigh Carbon Community College, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania) *WLRA (Lewis University, Romeoville, Illinois) *WLSO (Lake Superior State University, Sault Sainte Marie, MI) *WMBR (MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts) *WMFO (Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts) *WMMT (FM) (Appalshop, Whitesburg, Kentucky) *WMSC (FM), WMSC (Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, New Jersey) *WMSR - Redhawk Radio, WMSR (Miami University, Oxford, Ohio) *WMSE (Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) *WMTU (Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan) *WMUA (University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts) *WMUC (University of Maryland, College Park, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland) *WMUH (Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania) *WOWD-LP (Takoma Park, Maryland) *WNJR (FM), WNJR (Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania) *WOBC-FM, WOBC (Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio) *WOWI (Norfolk, VA) *WPCR-FM, WPCR (Plymouth State University, Plymouth, New Hampshire) *WPKN (Bridgeport, Connecticut) *WPRK (Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida) *WRCT (Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) *WRCU-FM, WRCU (Colgate University, Hamilton, New York) *WREK (Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia) *WRFL (University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky) *WRFW (University of Wisconsin–River Falls) *WRMC-FM, WRMC (Middlebury College, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont) *WRNC-LP (defunct) (Northland College (Wisconsin), Ashland, Wisconsin) *WRPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York) *WRUR (University of Rochester, Rochester, New York) *WRUV (University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont) *WRVU (Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee)
WSBF (Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina)
*WSPN (Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York) *WSFX (FM), WSFX (Luzerne County Community College, Nanticoke, Pennsylvania) *WSUM (University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin) *WTJU (University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia) *WTTU (Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, Tennessee) *WTUL (Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana) *WUMD (University of Michigan–Dearborn, Dearborn, Michigan) *WUPX (FM), WUPX - RadioX (Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan) *WUSB-FM, WUSB (Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York) *WUSC (University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina) *WUVT-FM, WUVT (Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia) *WVBR (Ithaca, New York) *WVKR (Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York) *WVPH "The Core" (Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, Piscataway) *WVYC (York College of Pennsylvania, York, Pennsylvania) *WWFD (Frederick, Maryland) *WWPT (Staples High School (Connecticut), Staples High School, Westport, Connecticut) *WXBC (AM), WXBC (Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York) *WXDU (Duke University, Durham, North Carolina) *WXYC (UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina) *WUAG (UNC-Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina) *WXZY-LP, WXZY (Kane, Pennsylvania) *WZBT (Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) *WZRD (FM), WZRD (Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, Illinois) *WDCE (University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia)


Canada

*CFCR-FM (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) *CKCU-FM (Ottawa, Ontario) *CJAM-FM (Windsor, Ontario) *CKIA-FM (Quebec, Quebec) *CKUA Radio Network (Edmonton, Alberta) *CKUT-FM (Montreal, Quebec) *CKRL-FM (Quebec, Quebec) is the longest-running French-speaking community radio station *CJTR-FM (Regina, Saskatchewan)


Europe


KilRock
's-Gravendeel, ('s Gravendeel, Netherlands, The Netherlands) *Radio Centraal (Antwerp, Belgium) *Subcity Radio (Glasgow, Scotland) *Rádio Universidade de Coimbra, RUC (Coimbra, Portugal)


Australia

*PBS 106.7FM (Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria) *3RRR (Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria) *4zzz (Brisbane, Queensland) *Radio Adelaide (Adelaide, South Australia) *North West FM (Melbourne), North West FM (Hadfield, Victoria, Hadfield, Victoria (Australia), Victoria)


Freeform radio vs. eclectic radio

Eclectic radio describes radio programming encompassing diverse music genres. Unlike freeform radio, the eclectic radio format involves prescribed playlists. While freeform radio stands in contrast to commercial radio formats, a number of commercial radio stations offer programs showcasing an eclectic variety of music. Some eclectic radio stations in the United States are: *
KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to program ...
(
Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
) *KEOS (College Station, Texas) *KEXP (Seattle, Washington) *KFAI (Minneapolis, Minnesota) *KGLT (Bozeman, Montana) *KNYE (Pahrump, Nevada) *KGSR (
Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
) *KPIG (Freedom, California) *KUOM (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota) *KXUA (Fayetteville, Arkansas) *WERS (Boston, Massachusetts) *WHPK (University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois) *WJCU (University Heights, Ohio) *WMLB (Avondale Estates, Georgia) *WUSM-FM, WUSM (Hattiesburg, Mississippi) *WXPN (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) *WNCW (Spindale, North Carolina) *The Loft (Sirius XM)


See also

*Progressive rock (radio format) *Jack FM/Adult hits (A radio format very similar to the freeform format) *Album-oriented rock *Adult album alternative *Public broadcasting *Independent radio *
Jim Ladd Jim Ladd (born January 17, 1948), an American disc jockey, radio producer and writer, is one of the few notable remaining freeform rock DJs in United States commercial radio. Ladd first gained national prominence as host of the hour long, natio ...
*''Anything Anything with Rich Russo'' *Tom Donahue (DJ), Tom Donahue *Payola


References


External links


History of Freeform Radio from WFMU
Introduction to the concepts for young listeners. {{DEFAULTSORT:Freeform Radio formats Freeform (radio format),