Free FM
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Free FM was a short-lived, mostly-talk-radio format and brand name for eleven
Free FM stations targeted a largely
One Canadian radio station, CFRI-FM in Grande Prairie, Alberta, used to use the Free FM brand name before flipping to '2DayFM', although its ownership and format are unrelated to the American stations.
History
Initial launch
On October 25, 2005, Infinity Broadcasting (now CBS Radio) officially announced that it would be replacing
In addition to the morning shows, Free FM also announced at this time the creation of
On March 2, 2007,
Demise and replacement of Roth
In April 2006 rumors were reported that Roth's show would be dumped due to low
The move was confirmed by Opie and Anthony on their show and web site on Friday, April 21. As of that date, David Lee Roth's web site, david.freefm.com, had disappeared along with any mention of him on the Free FM local affiliates. On Monday, April 24, a Flash presentation presented on the Free FM local affiliates alluded to a debut time of 9 a.m. that day for the announcement of the return of the Opie and Anthony show. The show debuted on the former David Lee Roth affiliates on April 26.
Demise of Rover
In addition to the departure of Roth, Rover's Morning Glory was removed from the Free FM stations - including what was his newly assigned flagship
Most of Rover's affiliates were on stations spun off by CBS Radio to different companies including WMFS/Memphis, WAQZ/Cincinnati and WZNE/Rochester, which went to Entercom; and WAZU/Columbus, which went to Wilks Broadcast Group. WAZU became country-formatted WNNK in January 2007, while WAQZ flipped to alternative rock as WSWD on a different frequency in November 2006; WMFS became an ESPN Radio affiliate in 2009. Rover's Morning Glory moved to rival station WMMS in 2008, thereby ending the CBS radio relationship altogether.
Now owned by
Demise
With the lack of success that Free FM produced, CBS slowly phased out the homogenized Free FM brand. No new "Free FM" branded stations were launched since the network was created (although
In addition, all of the original Free FM stations eventually removed their "Free FM" branding, and have since changed formats altogether.
- WHFS in Baltimore — became Baltimore's FM Talk: A Free FM Station, later dropping A Free FM Station, and later flipped to sports radio 105.7 The Fan on November 3, 2008.
- KRLD-FM in Dallas (formerly KLLI) — reverted to Live 105.3, then also flipped to sports radio as 105.3 The Fan on December 8, 2008.
- WCKG in Chicago — became Chicago's FM Talk Station, followed shortly by The PaCKaGe. Changed to WJMK as morning host. In 2011, the station switched to an FM simulcast of all-news radio station WBBM (AM).
- WJFK in Washington — went from the standard 106.7 Free FM to Free FM 106.7 WJFK to Washington's Talk Superstation, 106.7 WJFK. On July 20, 2009, the station changed to sports radio 106.7 The Fan.
- WYSP in Philadelphia — dropped "Free FM" to become 94-1 WYSP, later reverting fully to their pre-Free moniker 94 WYSP as 94 WYSP Talks. Changed back to a Rock format on September 13, 2007 at 5:00 pm.
- WTZN in Pittsburgh — flipped back to a previous top 40 format known as B94, WBZW. Hosts Scott Paulsen, John Steigerwald and Dennis Miller moved to KDKA. Became SportsRadio 93.7 The Fan, KDKA-FM, on February 15, 2010.
- news radio station KCBS(740) while retaining the KFRC call letters.
- WFNY in New York City — dropped Free FM altogether, and reverted to its previous modern rock format as WXRK "K-Rock". The station later operated with Top 40 formats under the 92.3 Now and 92.3 Amp Radio brands, before switching to alternative Alt 92.3 in November 2017. The station would switch again in October 2022 as an FM simulcast of sister all-news station WINS (AM), similar to the format switch in from KNOU in Los Angeles becoming KNX-FM the year prior, continuing the Alternative format on WINS-FM HD2. WINS was previously simulcasted during Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 during the "Now" era when WINS-AM's transmitter was damaged. The dropping of Free FM on WFNY was generally recognized as the moment marking the death of the network.
- KSCF in San Diego — dropped Free FM altogether, changed to modern AC Sophie @ 103.7 on June 22, 2007, top 40 Energy in 2012, and country as 103.7 KSON in 2017.
- KZON in Phoenix — dropped Free FM altogether, changed to rhythmic contemporary "101.5 Jamz" on June 22, 2007
- WKRK-FM in Detroit — dropped Free FM altogether, took over sister station WXYT's sports radio format, changing to WXYT-FM "Detroit's Sports Powerhouse"; currently "97.1 The Ticket"
- News talk) simulcasting KNX (AM). This is the first time since KNX was simulcasted on FM radio since the late 1960s. The KNX-FM calls previously existed on sister station KCBS-FM on 93.1 (Now a Jack FM station) from 1948 to 1983 and again from 1986 to 1989. during this time, KNX began simulcasting on KRTHHD2.
As of June 2007, CBS Radio has all but completely dropped the title of "Free FM" as a format and has instead replaced it with the more generic "FM Talk." New domain names without the "Free FM" are now in use for several of the "Free FM" stations.[4] By October 1, 2007, only one Free FM station remained: KLSX. In 2008, KLSX dropped the "Free FM" moniker and was simply referred to as "The FM Talk Station".
When KLSX switched
CBS Radio's corporate successor
Former Free FM stations
- New York — WFNY-FM 92.3, now WINS-FM
- San Francisco — KIFR 106.9, now KFRC-FM
- Philadelphia — WYSP 94.1, now WIP-FM
- San Diego — KSCF 103.7, now KSON
- Phoenix — KZON 101.5, now KALV-FM
- Pittsburgh — WTZN-FM 93.7, now KDKA-FM
- Detroit — WKRK-FM 97.1, now WXYT-FM
- Chicago — WCKG 105.9, now WCFS-FM
- Baltimore — WHFS 105.7, now WJZ-FM
- Los Angeles — KLSX 97.1, now KNX-FM
- Dallas, Texas — KLLI 105.3, now KRLD-FM
References
- ^ CBS Radio (2006-01-03). "> Press Release (10/25/05)". CBS Radio. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
- ^ Venta, Lance (March 10, 2014). "Rover Expands To Dayton & Louisville". RadioInsight.com. Radio Insight. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
- ^ Venta, Lance (November 17, 2020). "94.1 The Zone Rochester Revamp Continues As Kobe Rises To PD". RadioInsight.com. Radio Insight. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
- ^ CBS Radio station listing by format
- ^ "97.3 The Machine San Diego Debuts". RadioInsight. 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
- ^ "KEGY (Energy 97.3)/San Diego Turns Off The Top 40, Rocks Out In Prep For New Format". All Access. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
- ^ Kenney, Kirk. "Padres flagship radio station goes all-sports and rebrands as 97.3 The Fan". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
- ^ "KEGY San Diego Confirms Flip To Sports 97.3 The Fan". RadioInsight. 2018-04-12. Retrieved 2018-04-12.