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 personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

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 some ...

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 D ...

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 sever ...

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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, 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 jurisdiction ...

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 sign ...

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 Emer ...

, D.J.'d by John Leonard. Probably the best-remembered in the Midwest is

Beaker Street ''Beaker Street with Clyde Clifford'' was the first underground music program broadcast regularly on a commercial AM radio station in the central US. The station's signal carried far and wide. In early 1967 Beaker Street was a staple for adherents ...

, 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 is currently the longest-running freeform radio station in the

. 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 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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. 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

. 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. Init ...

stations, while those that play mostly

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

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, while the ...

-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 KDLD is a commercial FM radio station in Santa Monica, California, broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area on 103.1 MHz. KDLE is a commercial FM radio station in Newport Beach, California, broadcasting to the Orange County area on 103.1&nb ...

FM of Santa Monica 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, Newport ...

. 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). ''Fun ...

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 Statistica ...

. Internet radio 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 ter ...

, the weekly

-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 Native radio programming through Alaska Native governance and operation.Koahnic Broadcast Corporation (2010). Retrieved from http://www.koahnicbroadcast.org/ KBC’s rad ...

, 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 (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

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 com ...

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, pirate radio 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'' * F ...

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 1980s ...

(

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 we ...

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, primar ...

), 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, quiet ...

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 we ...

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/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

/ Adult Top 40, 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 metropo ...

), etc.

Freeform stations

United States

* KALX (

) *

KAOS KaOS is a desktop Linux distribution that features the latest version of the KDE desktop environment, the LibreOffice office suite, and other popular software applications that use the Qt toolkit. History The first version of KaOS was released ...

(

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. European ...

) *

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) *

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 co ...

) *

KBUT KBUT (90.3 FM), is a National Public Radio-member station in Crested Butte, Colorado. It features an eclectic mix of locally produced music shows (46 each week). The shows range from classical to jazz to rock to hip-hop. KBUT has been on air sin ...

(

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". Crested ...

) *

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 stude ...

(

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 co ...

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 university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

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 fourth ...

) * KCR ( San Diego State University,

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 States ...

) *

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 programm ...

( Santa Monica College,

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

) * KCSB-FM (

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

, 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 St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

) *

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 institut ...

, Davis, California) * KDEO (Radio Free Hawaii, Waipahu, Oahu, Hawaii) *

KFAT (defunct) KBAY (94.5 FM broadcasting, FM, "Bay Country 94.5") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Gilroy, California, serving San Jose, California, San Jose and the San Francisco Bay Area, broadcasting a Country Mu ...

, (

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 KFFP-LP (90.3 FM, "Freeform Portland") is a low-power listener supported community radio station in Portland, Oregon. It broadcasts live programming at 90.3 FM 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It first began broadcasting live in April 2016. ...

(

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 broadc ...

(

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 pr ...

Los Altos Hills, California Los Altos Hills (; ''Los Altos'', Spanish for "The Heights") is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 8,489 at the 2020 census. The town is known for its affluence and expensive residential rea ...

) * 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 nort ...

) *

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. Tw ...

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 KKCR-FM Kauai Community Radio (90.9 FM) is a community radio station broadcasting a variety format including Hawaiian, jazz, blues, R&B, rock, reggae, classical and world artists as well as locally produced talk programs. Licensed to the Kekahu ...

(

Hanalei, Hawaii Hanalei is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. The population was estimated at 299 as of 2019. ''Hanalei'' means " lei making" in Hawaiian. Alternatively, the name ''Hanalei'' also means "crescent bay" and may ...

) * KMMT (

Mammoth Lakes, California Mammoth Lakes is a town in Mono County, California, and is the county's only incorporated community. It is located immediately to the east of Mammoth Mountain, at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,191, r ...

) * 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 centur ...

) *

KMNR KMNR is an American non-commercial, educational, FM radio station licensed to the Board of Curators of the University of Missouri. However, KMNR is fully funded and operated by students at Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly k ...

( Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri) * 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 w ...

) *

KOPN KOPN (89.5 FM) is a non-profit community radio station in Columbia, Missouri, United States, which from its start was modeled on the progressive format of KPFA in Berkeley, California. The station relies heavily on volunteers for programming ...

(

) *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 decades ...

) *

KRBX KRBX, branded as Radio Boise, is a listener-supported, independent community radio station headquartered in Boise, Idaho, United States, broadcasting at 89.9 FM and 93.5 FM (on translator K228EK), presenting a freeform radio format. The station i ...

( Boise, Idaho) * 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 1,35 ...

) *

KRLX KRLX is a student-run, freeform radio format, non-commercial FM campus radio station broadcasting from Northfield, Minnesota. The station is affiliated with Carleton College. The station's call sign was chosen to read "KaRL-ten," since X is the R ...

(

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 Cowling ...

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. N ...

) * KRUI (

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, 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 org ...

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 time ...

) *

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 to ...

( Pomona College, 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 was ...

) *

KTEQ-FM KTEQ-FM (91.3 FM, "K-Tech") is the campus radio station of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T) in Rapid City, South Dakota. The station broadcasts a variety of music formats according to the tastes of the volunteer DJs doi ...

(

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 ba ...

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 So ...

) *

KTRM KTRM (88.7 FM) is an FM non-commercial/educational radio station operated by students at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. The station features alternative music, with specialty shows hosted in the evenings and on weekends. 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. Presiden ...

Kirksville, Missouri Kirksville is the county seat and most populous city in Adair County, Missouri. Located in Benton Township, its population was 17,530 at the 2020 census. Kirksville is home to two colleges: Truman State University and A.T. Still University. ...

) *

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 (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

) *

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 pr ...

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, 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 ...

) *

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. KUO ...

(

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 University ...

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 the n ...

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 medici ...

) *

KVRX KVRX (91.7 FM) is the student radio station at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, with an effective radiated power of 3,000 watts. Licensed to The University of Texas, KVRX shares the 91.7 frequency with KOOP, broadcasting from 7 p.m. to 9 ...

(

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 county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

) * 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 approximately ...

St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stear ...

) *KWCW-FM ( Whitman College,

Walla Walla, WA Walla Walla is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington, where it is the largest city and county seat. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,927 as of 2021. The population of the city and its two s ...

) *

KWUR KWUR is a college radio station in St. Louis, Missouri located at 90.3 MHz FM. KWUR was founded on July 4, 1976 at Washington University in St. Louis, and represents one of the last remaining independent and fully student-managed radio st ...

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Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

) *

KWVA KWVA (88.1 FM) is a college radio station broadcasting from the EMU building on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Licensed to the University of Oregon, it serves the Eugene/Springfield metropolitan area and has a ...

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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, and its co-founder, billion ...

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, Eu ...

) * KXLU ( Loyola Marymount University,

) * KXRY (

) *

KZSU KZSU is a freeform FM radio station broadcasting from the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, United States. KZSU broadcasts in stereo at 90.1 MHz FM with an effective radiated power of 500 watts. The station is owned b ...

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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 consider ...

, Stanford, California) *

Radio Free Brooklyn Radio Free Brooklyn (RFB) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that operates a freeform internet radio station headquartered at 199 Cook Street in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. The station currently offers 78 original radio prog ...

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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 Fire ...

) * WARC ( Allegheny College,

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 censu ...

) * 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 most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

) * WBGU ( Bowling Green State University,

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 Are ...

) *

WCAL WCAL 91.9 FM is a student-run college radio station serving PennWest California (formerly known as California University of Pennsylvania) and the surrounding area, including Washington, Fayette, Westmoreland, Greene, and Allegheny counties.It a ...

(

California University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Western University, California (commonly known as PennWest California) is a public university campus in California, Pennsylvania and one of three campuses of Pennsylvania Western University, part of the Pennsylvania State System o ...

California, Pennsylvania California is a borough on the Monongahela River in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, and part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area since 1950. The population was 5,479 as of the 2020 census and was estimated at 5,453 in 2021. Cali ...

) *

WCBN-FM WCBN-FM is the student-run radio station of the University of Michigan. Its format is primarily freeform. It broadcasts at 88.3 MHz FM in Ann Arbor, Michigan. History

(

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

) * WCNI ( Connecticut College,

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

) *

WCKS WCKS (102.7 FM, "Kiss 102.7") is a radio station licensed to the community of Fruithurst, Alabama, United States, and serving Carrollton, Georgia, as well as West Georgia and East Alabama. The station is owned by Gradick Communications and the bro ...

(

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale, Michigan. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on approximately west of Grand Rapids. The universit ...

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

) * WESS (

East Stroudsburg University East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania (ESU) is a public university in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. It is one of ten state universities that compose the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). History What today is East S ...

, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) *

WESU WESU is a college/community non-commercial FM radio station owned by Wesleyan University and licensed to Middletown, Connecticut. History It was founded in 1939 as an unofficial AM carrier current campus radio station in the basement of Clar ...

(

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

) *WETX-LP (

Tri-Cities, Tennessee The Tri-Cities is the region comprising the cities of Kingsport, Johnson City, and Bristol and the surrounding smaller towns and communities in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. All three cities are located in Northeast Tennessee, ...

) *

WEVL WEVL (89.9 FM) is a Memphis, Tennessee, radio station with a freeform format. It airs live in Memphis and online. Awards * WEVL voted "Best FM Station" in Memphis Flyer's "Best of Memphis" 2007 poll. * WEVL takes second place for Best FM Statio ...

(

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

) *

WERA-LP WERA-LP is a Variety formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Arlington, Virginia, serving Arlington and Alexandria in Virginia and Washington, D.C. WERA-LP is owned and operated by Arlington Independent Media, the nonprofit that created ...

(

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

) * WEXP (

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

) *

WFCF WFCF (88.5 FM) is a radio station broadcasting an eclectic college radio format. Licensed to St. Augustine, Florida, United States. The station is owned by Flagler College. The Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications ...

(

St Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; es, San Agustín ) is a city in the Southeastern United States and the county seat of St. Johns County on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabi ...

) (Flagler College Radio) * WFMU (

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.WGDR WGDR (91.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a noncommercial American radio station licensed to Plainfield, Vermont, serving central Vermont. WGDR, owned by Central Vermont Community Radio Corporation, is a hybrid community/public radio station, broadcastin ...

( Plainfield, Vermont) *WHCM (William Rainey Harper College, Palatine, Illinois) *

WHRW WHRW (90.5 FM) is Binghamton University's non-profit, student-run, free-format radio station. The station is licensed and owned by Binghamton University, serving the New York college area. The station has operational facilities in and on top ...

(

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

) *

WIIT Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has pro ...

( Illinois Institute of Technology,

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) * WIKD-LP ( Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University,

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal Resort town, resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County near the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coastline, its population ...

) * WJVS-FM ( Great Oaks Institute of Technology and Career Development,

Sharonville, Ohio Sharonville is a city largely in Hamilton County, Ohio, Hamilton county in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 13,560 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Of this, 11,197 lived in Hamilton County and 2,363 lived in the southeast co ...

) * WKCO (

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...

Gambier, Ohio Gambier is a village in Knox County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,391 at the 2010 census. Gambier is the home of Kenyon College. A major feature is a gravel path running the length of the village, referred to as "Middle Path". This ...

) *

WKDU WKDU (91.7 FM) is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is owned by Drexel University and operated by Drexel students, with several alumni among its on-air staff. It is the only free-format no ...

(

) *

WLHI WLHI (90.3 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a contemporary Christian music format. Licensed to Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, the station serves the Allentown/Bethlehem area of the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The station is c ...

( Lehigh Carbon Community College,

Schnecksville, Pennsylvania Schnecksville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in North Whitehall Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The population of Schnecksville was 2,935 at the 2010 census. Schnecksville is a suburb of Allentown in ...

) *

WLRA WLRA (88.1 FM) or sometimes called WLRA Radio, or WLRA-FM, is a college radio station broadcasting a Variety format. Licensed to Lockport, Illinois, USA, the station serves the Chicago/greater Joliet region. The station is licensed to and owne ...

(

Lewis University Lewis University is a private Roman Catholic and Lasallian university in Romeoville, Illinois, United States. The enrollment is currently around 6,800 students. Lewis offers more than 80 undergraduate majors and programs of study, 22 graduate pro ...

, Romeoville, Illinois) * WLSO (

Lake Superior State University Lake Superior State University (colloquially Lake State, Lake Superior State, Soo Tech, and LSSU) is a public college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. It is enrolls approximately 2,000 students. Due to its proximity to the Canadian border, and the ...

Sault Sainte Marie, MI Sault Ste. Marie ( ') is the only city in, and county seat of, Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. With a population of 13,337 at the 2020 census, it is the second-most populated city in the Upper Peninsula after Marquette. It i ...

) *

WMBR WMBR is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's student-run college radio station, licensed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and broadcasting on 88.1 FM. It is all-volunteer and funded by listener donations and MIT funds. Both students and commun ...

( MIT,

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

) *

WMFO WMFO (91.5 FM) is a freeform radio station licensed to Medford, Massachusetts. The station is owned by Tufts University and is run by students and community members. WMFO is funded by the Tufts Student Activities Fee as allocated by the TCU Sena ...

(

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

Medford, Massachusetts Medford is a city northwest of downtown Boston on the Mystic River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus alo ...

) * WMMT (FM) (

Appalshop Appalshop is a media, arts, and education center located in Whitesburg, Kentucky, in the heart of the southern Appalachian region of the United States. History Appalshop was founded in 1969 as the Appalachian Film Workshop, a project of the Un ...

, Whitesburg, Kentucky) * WMSC ( Montclair State University,

Upper Montclair, New Jersey Upper Montclair is a census-designated place (CDP), unincorporated community and neighborhood within Montclair in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population for the CDP was 11,565.

) * WMSR (

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

) *

WMSE WMSE (91.7 FM) is a non-commercial radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, playing a wide-ranging eclectic music format run by volunteer DJs. The station is part of the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). History Early history of MSOE statio ...

( Milwaukee School of Engineering,

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

) *

WMTU WMTU-FM 91.9 is a campus radio station run by the students at Michigan Technological University. It is found in the basement of Wadsworth Hall. It works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Staff is constituted of a volunteer general staff featuring ...

(

Michigan Technological University Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ...

Houghton, Michigan Houghton (; ) is the largest city and seat of government of Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, Houghton is the largest city in the Copper Country region. It is the fifth-largest city in the Uppe ...

) * WMUA (

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (althoug ...

) * WMUC (

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

, College Park, Maryland) * WMUH ( Muhlenberg College,

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

) * WOWD-LP (

Takoma Park, Maryland Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, D.C., Washington, and part of the Washington metropolitan area. Founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1890, Takoma Park, informally called "Azalea C ...

) * WNJR (

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...

, Washington, Pennsylvania) * WOBC (

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, 31 miles southwest of Cleveland. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students. The town is the birthplace of the ...

) * WOWI ( Norfolk, VA) * WPCR (

Plymouth State University Plymouth State University (PSU), formerly Plymouth State College, is a public university in the towns of Plymouth and Holderness, New Hampshire. As of fall 2020, Plymouth State University enrolls 4,491 students (3,739 undergraduate students an ...

Plymouth, New Hampshire Plymouth is a rural New England town, town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States, in the White Mountains Region. It has a unique role as the economic, medical, commercial, and cultural center for the predom ...

) *

WPKN WPKN (89.5 FM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to Bridgeport, Connecticut. WPKN is a freeform radio station, staffed by volunteer programmers presenting a wide variety of music and publi ...

(

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the List of cities by population in New England, fifth-most populous ...

) *

WPRK WPRK 91.5 FM is a non-commercial college radio station located in Winter Park, Florida, United States. It is owned and operated by Rollins College. Its signal is audible in most of the Orlando metropolitan area. WPRK features programming from n ...

(

Rollins College Rollins College is a private college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several graduate programs. It is Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institution. History Rollins Colle ...

Winter Park, Florida Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 30,183 according to the 2022 census population estimate. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winter Park was fo ...

) * WRCT (

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

) *

WRCU WRCU-FM (90.1 FM) is Colgate University's student-run radio station. It is located in Hamilton, New York, and broadcasts a wide variety of music to the central New York region. Format Like many college radio stations, WRCU's main format is freef ...

(

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

Hamilton, New York Hamilton is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 6,690 at the 2010 census. The town is named after American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. The Town of Hamilton contains a village also named Hamilton, the s ...

) *

WREK WREK (91.1 FM "Wreck", from the Ramblin' Wreck) is the radio station staffed by the students of the Georgia Institute of Technology. It is also located on channel 17 on the Georgia Tech cable TV network, GTCN. Starting as a 10-watt class D, ...

(

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

) *

WRFL WRFL, Lexington (Radio Free Lexington) is a 7900-watt college radio station that broadcasts live, 24 hours a day, from the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington, Kentucky. The station has broadcast continuously at 88.1 MHz on the FM ra ...

(

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

) * WRFW ( University of Wisconsin–River Falls) *

WRMC WRMC-FM (91.1 FM) is the full power, student-volunteer-run radio station of Middlebury College. WRMC broadcasts a variety of content types, including talk, news, and radio drama, although the vast majority of the schedule is music of all genres ...

( Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont) *

WRNC-LP WRNC-LP was a student-owned, freeform radio station on 97.7 MHz, and served the Chequamegon Bay area from the campus of Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. WRNC began in 1995 as a student initiative initially began broadcasting in 1998 at ...

(defunct) (

Northland College (Wisconsin) Northland College is a private college in Ashland, Wisconsin. Founded as the North Wisconsin Academy in 1892, the college was established in 1906. Originally affiliated with the Congregational Church, the college remains loosely tied to the Cong ...

Ashland, Wisconsin Ashland is a city in Ashland and Bayfield counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the county seat of Ashland County. The city is a port on Lake Superior, near the head of Chequamegon Bay. The population was 7,908 at the 2020 census, al ...

) *

WRPI WRPI (91.5 FM) is a non-commercial free-format college radio station run entirely by students attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and staffed by community members and students. WRPI broadcasts 365 days a year with an effective radiated pow ...

(

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

) * WRUR (

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

) *

WRUV WRUV (90.1 FM) is a free format radio station. Licensed to Burlington, Vermont, United States, the station is owned by The University of Vermont. History WRUV is the radio voice of the University of Vermont. It is a non-profit, non-commercial, ...

(

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...

) * WRVU (

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

)
WSBF (Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina)
* WSPN (

Skidmore College Skidmore College is a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,650 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in one of more than 60 areas of study. History Sk ...

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...

) * WSFX (

Luzerne County Community College Luzerne County Community College (LCCC) is a public community college in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania. LCCC offers over 100 academic, technical, and career programs. The institution uses an open admissions policy for most programs, and has over 35,000 ...

, Nanticoke, Pennsylvania) *

WSUM WSUM (91.7 MHz FM) is a student radio station in Madison, Wisconsin, affiliated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The station schedule consists of a wide range of music and talk programming serving the campus and Madison community. ...

(

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

) *

WTJU WTJU is a Variety formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, serving Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia. WTJU is owned and operated by University of Virginia. History WTJU was founded in 1955 when ...

(

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

) *

WTTU WTTU (88.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station broadcasting an alternative rock format and licensed to Cookeville, Tennessee, US. The station is currently owned by Tennessee Technological University. The station broadcasts with 2,000 watts o ...

(

Tennessee Technological University Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie ...

, Cookeville, Tennessee) *

WTUL WTUL is a progressive/alternative FM radio outlet in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, operating at 91.5 MHz with an ERP of 1,500 watts. The transmitter is located on the campus of Tulane University. The station, which is owned ...

(

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

) *WUMD ( University of Michigan–Dearborn,

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States pe ...

) * WUPX - RadioX ( Northern Michigan University,

Marquette, Michigan Marquette ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 20,629 at the 2020 United States Census, which makes it the largest city in the Upper Peninsula. Marquette serves as the seat of government of Marquett ...

) * WUSB (

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

Stony Brook, New York Stony Brook is a political subdivisions of New York#Hamlet, hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, Town of Brookhaven, New York, Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the No ...

) *

WUSC WUSC-FM is a student-run college radio station operating at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. Purpose The purpose of WUSC-FM is to "educate and inform the listener and the DJ by providing musical diversity, infor ...

( University of South Carolina,

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

) *

WUVT WUVT-FM (90.7 FM) is a freeform broadcast radio station located in Blacksburg, Virginia, serving Blacksburg and Montgomery County, Virginia. WUVT-FM is licensed to Virginia Tech and is operated by The Educational Media Company at Virginia T ...

(

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

, Blacksburg, Virginia) * WVBR (

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

) *

WVKR WVKR-FM ''(Independent Radio)'' is a college radio station owned by and primarily staffed by students of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Poughkeepsie, New York. The station broadcasts on 91.3 MHz at 3,700 watts effective radi ...

(

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

) * WVPH "The Core" (

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

, Piscataway) *

WVYC WVYC is a campus radio, college radio station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to serve the community of York, Pennsylvania, United States. The station broadcasts from the Robert V. Iosue Student Union Building on the campu ...

(

York College of Pennsylvania York College of Pennsylvania is a private college in Spring Garden Township, Pennsylvania. It offers more than 70 baccalaureate majors in professional programs, the sciences, and humanities to 3,500 full-time undergraduate students. It also off ...

, 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 (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) *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: *

(

) *KEOS (College Station, Texas) *KEXP (Seattle, Washington) *KFAI (Minneapolis, Minnesota) *KGLT (Bozeman, Montana) *KNYE (Pahrump, Nevada) *KGSR (

) *KPIG (Freedom, California) *KUOM (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota) *KXUA (Fayetteville, Arkansas) *WERS (Boston, Massachusetts) *WHPK (University of Chicago,

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) *WJCU (University Heights, Ohio) *WMLB (Avondale Estates, Georgia) *WUSM-FM, WUSM (Hattiesburg, Mississippi) *WXPN (

) *WNCW (Spindale, North Carolina) *The Loft (Sirius XM)

References

External links

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

History in the United States

Adult hits/Jack FM

Freeform stations

United States

Canada

Europe

Australia

Freeform radio vs. eclectic radio

See also

References

External links