Freeform (radio format)

Freeform (radio format)

Freeform, or freeform radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercial radio stations, in which DJs have little or no influence over programming structure or playlists. In the United States, freeform DJs are still bound by Federal Communications Commission regulations.

Many shows lay claim to be the first freeform radio program; the earliest is " [http://www.pacifica.org/program-guide/op,program-page/station_id,3/program_id,347/day,Saturday/ Nightsounds] " on KPFA-FM in Berkeley, California, DJ'd by John Leonard. WFMU is currently the longest running freeform radio station in the United States. [ [http://www.wfmu.org/LCD/21/freeform.html "A Brief History of Freeform Radio"] , Lowest Common Denominator, Issue #21 (c. 1998)]

The freeform ethos tends to disdain playlists confined to a single music genre. However, DJs may opt to play selections according to an arbitrary theme (e.g., Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" followed by Radiohead's "Subterranean Homesick Alien"). Freeform-ish stations that played only or almost only rock music were known as progressive rock stations.

Commercial freeform radio was common in the late '60s and early '70s but is very rare today. An exceptional case is Indie 103.1 FM of Santa Monica and Newport Beach, California. Indie 103.1 broadcasts radio programs in which famous musicians from the world of popular music host radio programs and choose the playlist.

Another commercial freeform 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

College radio and Internet radio are sanctuaries of the freeform format.
NeverEndingWonder Radio, Radio Paradise, Radio Free Phoenix, and Hollow Earth Radio are four examples of freeform Internet radio streams.

FreeFall on KUSF is an example of a freeform radio program. Many freeform stations are small and lack corporate backing, and therefore have relatively weak radio transmitters (especially around metropolitan areas where corporate radio signals dominate), a problem that has caused numerous broadcasters to transition to Internet radio, pirate radio or both such as FRSC (Free Radio Santa Cruz).

Freeform stations

Freeform radio stations in the United States:

*KAOS (Olympia, Washington)
*KBOO (Portland, Oregon)
*KCMP (St. Paul, Minnesota)
* [http://www.kcrlive.com KCR] (San Diego State University/College Radio, San Diego, California)
*KDVS (UC Davis/College Radio, Davis, California)
*KFJC (Foothill College/College Radio, Los Altos Hills, California)
*KHUM (Garberville/Ferndale California)
*KMNR (Missouri S&T/Rolla, Missouri)
*KPSU (Portland State University, Portland, Oregon)
*KRFH (Humboldt State University, Arcata, California)
*KRUI-FM (University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa)
*KTEC (Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls, Oregon)
*KTRU (Rice University, Houston, Texas)
*K-UTE (University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah)
*KUGS (Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington)
*KUOI (University of Idaho/Moscow, Idaho)
*KVRX (University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas)
*KVSC (St. Cloud State University/St. Cloud, Minnesota)
*KWRP (Pecos, New Mexico)
*KWUR (St. Louis, Missouri)
*WARC (Allegheny College Meadville, Pennsylvania)
*WBGU (88.1 FM Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio)
*WCBN (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan)
*WCRW (Santa Monica College)/Santa Monica, California)
*WESU (Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut)
*WETX-LP (Tri-Cities, TN)
*WEVL (Memphis, TN)
*WEXP (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
*WFMU (Jersey City, New Jersey)
*WGDR (Plainfield, Vermont)
*WHRW (Binghamton University, New York)
*WIKD-LP (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida)
*WKDU (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
*WLRA (Lewis University Romeoville, Illinois)
*WMBR (MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts)
*WMFO (Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts)
*WMSC (Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, New Jersey)
*WMSR (Miami University, Oxford, Ohio)
*WMUC (University of Maryland/College Radio, College Park, Maryland)
*WOBC-FM (Oberlin College/College Radio, Oberlin, Ohio)
*WPKN (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
*WPRK (Rollins College/College Radio, Winter Park, Florida)
*WRCT (Carnegie Mellon University/College Radio, Pittsburgh, Pa)
*WRFL (University of Kentucky/College Radio, Lexington, Ky)
*WRNC-FM (Northland College (Wisconsin), Ashland, WI)
*WRUR (University of Rochester/College Radio, Rochester, NY)
*WRVU (Vanderbilt University/College Radio, Nashville, TN)
*WSUM (University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI)
*WUMD (University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI)
*WUSB-FM (Stony Brook University SUNY, Stony Brook NY)
*WVBR (Ithaca, NY)
*WXBC (Bard College/College Radio, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York)
*WXDU (Duke University/College Radio, Durham, North Carolina)
*WXYC (UNC Chapel Hill/College Radio, Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
*WZRD (Northeastern Illinois University/Chicago, Illinois)

Freeform radio stations in Canada:

*CKUT (Montreal, Quebec)

Freeform radio stations in Europe:

*Radio Centraal (Antwerp, Belgium)

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:
*KALX (Berkeley, California)
*KCRW (Santa Monica, California)
*KEOS (Bryan/College Station, Texas)
*KEXP (Seattle, Washington)
*KFAI (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
*KGLT (Bozeman, Montana)
*KNYE (Pahrump, Nevada)
*KUOM (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota)
*KUSF (San Francisco, California)
*KUT (Austin, Texas)
*KXUA (Fayetteville, Arkansas)
*WERS (Boston, Massachusetts)
*WHPK (University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois)
*WJCU (University Heights, Ohio)
*WUSM (Hattiesburg, Mississippi)
*WXPN (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

References

ee also

*Progressive rock (radio format)
*Album-oriented rock
*Adult album alternative
*Deep cut
*Public broadcasting
*Independent Radio
*Jim Ladd
*Tom Donahue

External links

* [http://www.wfmu.org/freeform.html Definition of Freeform Radio from the Dictionary of Radio]
* [http://www.wfmu.org/LCD/21/freeform.html History of Freeform Radio from WFMU]
* [http://www.legendarysurfers.com/ffr/ Freeform Radio - The Legendary FM Radio Programming Non-Format]
* [http://www.khum.com KHUM - commercial freeform radio from Humboldt County California]
* [http://www.neverendingwonder.com/ NeverEndingWonder Radio - Freeform Internet radio station with extreme variety.]
* [http://www.icebergradio.com/vinylfm Vinyl FM] Audio tribute to the days of freeform progressive FM radio
* [http://blast-radio.tripod.com Blast Radio] The Big Variety Station
* [http://www.channel501.com/kmpx/index.html Brief History of the Broadcast Music Revolution] Introduction to the concepts for young listeners.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Progressive rock (radio format) — Progressive rock is a radio station programming format that prospered in the late 1960s and 1970s,Thomas Staudter, [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DE7D81138F937A15750C0A9649C8B63 partner=rssnyt emc=rss On the Radio With a Mix… …   Wikipedia

  • Freeform — The word freeform may refer to:* Freeform (musician), an alias used by experimental/IDM producer Simon Pyke * Freeform Five, UK electro house band * Freeform jazz (or Free Jazz), subgenre where artists improvise music together without any preset… …   Wikipedia

  • Radio programming — is the content that is broadcast by radio stations. The original inventors of radio, such as Nikola Tesla and Guglielmo Marconi, expected it to be used for one on one communication tasks where telephones and telegraphs could not be used because… …   Wikipedia

  • Radio comedy — Radio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve sitcom elements, sketches and various types of comedy found on other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be conveyed on a… …   Wikipedia

  • Radio in the United States — Articleissues|article=y citations missing = March 2008 cleanup = November 2007 expert = Radio sections = March 2008Radio is one of the major major mass media of the United States. The beginning of regular commercially licensed sound broadcasting… …   Wikipedia

  • Radio Centraal — Infobox Radio station name = Radio Centraal city = Antwerp area = flagcountry|Belgium branding = slogan = airdate = frequency = 106.7 MHz format = Freeform power = erp = haat = class = facility id = coordinates = callsign meaning = former… …   Wikipedia

  • Music radio — is a radio format in which music is the main broadcast content. After television replaced old time radio s dramatic content, music formats became dominant in many countries. Radio drama and comedy continue, often on public radio. Music drives… …   Wikipedia

  • Crescent City Radio — Broadcast area New Orleans, LA Branding Crescent City Radio Slogan Music for your mind. Frequency Internet rad …   Wikipedia

  • Campus radio — This article is about the term of the college radio station. For an Internet radio station, see Campus Radio Online. Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the… …   Wikipedia

  • Progressive talk radio — Progressive talk (or liberal talk) is a talk radio format in the United States devoted to expressing progressive/liberal viewpoints of issues. The format has become more widely implemented since the 2004 launch of Air America Radio, and now… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”