Ken Freedman (born February 18, 1959) is general manager of

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 ...

, a freeform and

independent radio Independent radio indicates a radio station that is run in a manner different from usual for the country it broadcasts in. In countries where there exist government-run radio stations that served as the primary or only the variety of licensed broa ...

station. He co-hosts the comedy program

Seven Second Delay ''Seven Second Delay'' is a comedy radio show broadcast on radio station WFMU. It has been hosted by Ken Freedman and Andy Breckman since the early 1990s. The show is self described as "on air radio stunts." In March 2022, as part of a radio sta ...

with

Andy Breckman Andrew Ross Breckman (born March 3, 1955) is an American television and film writer and a radio personality on WFMU. He is the creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning television series ''Monk'' on the USA Network, and is co-hos ...

, as well as hosting his own freeform radio program. Freedman is a resident of

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...

History

In 1976 he hosted his first radio program as a DJ at Highland Park High School station WVHP. He served as station manager of WCBN-FM, the

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), ...

's freeform outlet, where he marked the 1980 election of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

by playing

Lesley Gore Lesley Sue Goldstein (May 2, 1946 – February 16, 2015), known professionally as Lesley Gore, was an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. At the age of 16, she recorded the pop music, pop hit "It's My Party (Lesley Gore song), I ...

's "It's My Party (And I'll Cry If I Want To)" for eighteen consecutive hours. In December 1983, he joined WFMU as a DJ and succeeded Bruce Longstreet as general manager in August 1985. At the time, WFMU was licensed to and owned by

Upsala College Upsala College (UC) was a private college affiliated with the Swedish-American Augustana Synod (later the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church) and located in East Orange in Essex County, New Jersey in the United States. Upsala was founded in ...

, and based in

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was List of municipalities in ...

. In February 1986, he launched a program guide/

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...

called LCD (Lowest Common Denominator). A compilation book entitled ''The Best of LCD: The Art and Writing of WFMU'', was published by

Princeton Architectural Press Princeton Architectural Press is a small press publisher, specializing in books on architecture, design, photography, landscape, and visual culture, with over 1,000 titles on its backlist. In 2013, it added a line of stationery products, including ...

was compiled and edited by longtime WFMU radio host Dave "The Spazz" Abramson and was published in November 2007. In 1989, he successfully fended off a challenge to the station's license from four rival broadcasters, who claimed that WFMU was broadcasting above its legal power limit. In 1992, he founded the non-profit organization Auricle Communications, which purchased WFMU's license from Upsala in 1994 one year prior to the college's bankruptcy in 1995. In 1993 the station launched its website, and in 1997 it began streaming its broadcasts full-time. Freedman pioneered the use of direct licensing for broadcasters, obtaining alternative copyrights and waivers to address restrictions placed on broadcasters by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. In 2007, Freedman built on these direct licensing activities and founded WFMU's

Free Music Archive The Free Music Archive or FMA is an online repository of royalty-free music. Established in 2009 by the East Orange, New Jersey community radio station WFMU and in cooperation with fellow stations KBOO and KEXP, it aims to provide music under Cre ...

, an open source library of copyright-cleared music and audio which launched in April 2009. In 2013, Freedman initiated the creation of a suite of software for broadcasters, journalists and online publishers known as

the Audience Engine The Audience Engine is announced open-source, customizable suite of fundraising tools for public radio being developed by the Congera Corporation, a subsidiary of WFMU Radio. It was conceived by and is being developed under the supervision ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freedman, Ken American radio executives Copyright activists Open content activists 1959 births Living people American radio DJs People from Highland Park, New Jersey People from Hoboken, New Jersey University of Michigan staff