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 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, in ...

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 ...

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 Alb ...

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 Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media ...

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 87 ...

. As of 2012 Ladd is hosting a daily freeform show on Sirius XM's

Deep Tracks Deep Tracks is a Sirius XM Radio channel featuring lesser-known classic rock music selections such as album tracks, one-hit wonders, concert recordings, "forgotten 45s" and "B-side" tracks. Brian Beddow is Deep Tracks' current programming dire ...

. 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 "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on January 14, 1965, and released as a single by Columbia Records, catalogue number 43242, on March 8. It was the lead track on the album ''Bringing It All Back Home'', released some ...

" 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 Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

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 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 ...

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 Administrative divisions of Cambodia have several levels. Cambodia is divided into 24 provinces (''Khaet''; km, ខេត្ត, ) and the special administrative unit Phnom Penh. Though a different administrative unit, Phnom Penh is at provin ...

, "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 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 ter ...

, the weekly

-hosted ''

Theme Time Radio Hour ''Theme Time Radio Hour'' (''TTRH'') was a weekly one-hour satellite radio show hosted by Bob Dylan that originally aired from May 2006 to April 2009. Each episode had a freeform mix of music, centered on a theme (such as "Weather", "Money" or "F ...

'' featured a freeform format, as do several specialty programs on

The Loft The Loft may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * The Loft (British band), a British indie band * The Loft (Danish band), a Danish band * ''The Loft'' (film) (2014) an American film * The Loft (Sirius XM), a music channel on satellite rad ...

. 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

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 w ...

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 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 Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 24,469 as of 2020. Clinton, along with DeWitt (also located in Clinton County), was named in honor of the sixth governor of New York, DeWitt Cl ...

) 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 KALX (90.7 FM) is an FM radio station that broadcasts from the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, California, United States. KALX, a community and student-run radio station licensed to the university, broadcasts in stereo with 500 ...

(

) *

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 Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, 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, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

) *KBOO (Portland, Oregon) *KBUT (Crested Butte, Colorado) *KBVR (Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon) *KCOU (University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri) *KCR (SDSU), KCR (San Diego State University, San Diego, California) *KCRW (Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, California) *KCSB-FM (University of California, Santa Barbara, Goleta, California) *KDHX (St. Louis, Missouri) *KDVS (University of California, Davis, Davis, California) *KDDB, KDEO (Radio Free Hawaii, Waipahu, Oahu, Hawaii) *KFAT (defunct), (Gilroy, California) *KFFP-LP (Portland, Oregon Freeform Portland) *KFJC (Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California) *

(Ferndale, California) *KJHK (University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas) *KKCR (Hanalei, Hawaii) *KMMT (Mammoth Lakes, California) *KMNO (Wailuku, Hawaii) *KMNR (Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri) *KMRD (Madrid, New Mexico) *KMUD (Garberville, California) *KNON (Dallas, Texas) *KOPN (Columbia, Missouri) *KPSU (Portland State University, Portland, Oregon) *KRBX (Boise, Idaho) *KRHV (Big Pine, California) *KRLX (Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota) *KRUI-FM, KRUI (University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa) *KSPC (Pomona College, Claremont, California) *KTEC (Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls, Oregon) *KTEQ-FM (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, South Dakota) *KTRM (Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri) *K-UTE (University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah) *KUCI (University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California) *KUOI (University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho) *KURE (Iowa State University. Ames, Iowa) *KVRX (University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas) *KVSC (St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota) *KWCW-FM (Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA) *KWUR (Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri) *KWVA (University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon) *KXLU (Loyola Marymount University,

) *KXRY (Portland, Oregon) *KZSU (Stanford University, Stanford, California) *Radio Free Brooklyn (Brooklyn, New York) *Radio Paradise (Paradise, California) *WARC (FM), WARC (Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania) *WBAR (college radio), WBAR (Barnard College, New York, New York) *WBGU (FM), WBGU (Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio) *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) *

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

References

External links

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