Free FM

For other uses, seeFree FM (disambiguation).

Primary Free FM logo

Free FMwas a short-lived, mostly-talk-radio format and brand name for elevenFMCBS Radiostations in theUnited States,and was created because ofHoward Stern's departure toSirius Satellite Radioin January 2006. Free FM was given its name to highlight that its stations broadcastfree-to-air,instead of requiring asubscriptionfee like satellite radio services. Launched on October 25, 2005, Free FM was phased out over the course of 2007, with the final station using it,KLSX,dropping the brand in November 2008.

Free FM stations targeted a largelymaledemographic ranking from 18 to 49, attracting those who normally listen to FMrockandalternativestations, instead of existingAMtalk radiolisteners. Programs were moreribaldthan AM talk stations and include more discussion of dating, personal relationships, more comedy, and more discussion of celebrities and entertainment. Some Free FM stations also included music programs.Most Free FM programs were generally of thehot talkformat.

OneCanadianradio station,CFRI-FMinGrande 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 replacingHoward Sternon many of its radio stations withDavid Lee RothinNew York Cityand several other eastern markets,Rover's Morning Glorywith Shane "Rover" French in the midwest, andAdam CarollainLos Angelesand several other western markets, along with already established DC-based morning showThe JunkiesonWJFK-FMin D.C. andWHFS-FMin Baltimore. On the same day, several of these Infinity/CBS radio stations became known as "Free FM"; some of the stations already had an all-talk format, while others switched from a music format, andWXRKNew Yorkannounced that it would become "Free FM" starting January 3, 2006.

In addition to the morning shows, Free FM also announced at this time the creation ofPenn Radio,an hourlong radio show hosted from Las Vegas by illusionistPenn Jilletteand co-hosted byMichael Goudeau,juggler at the Lance Burton Show. Other programming syndicated to a large number of Free FM stations included programming already in syndication at the time:TheDon and Mike Show,The Tom Leykis Show,andLoveline.All three programs were being aired onWestwood One,at the time a corporate sister to CBS Radio.

On March 2, 2007,Penn Radio,hosted byPenn Jillette,aired its last show.

Demise and replacement of Roth

In April 2006 rumors were reported that Roth's show would be dumped due to lowratings(The ratings for Roth's show inmorning drivewent down eighty percent compared to Howard Stern's ratings in the same slot a year prior) and would be replaced byXM'sOpie and Anthony.The move markedOpieandAnthony's return to the New Yorkterrestrial radioscene and to CBS Radio; their show was canceled by CBS/Infinity in 2002 when they were syndicated through sister stationWNEW-FMdue to a broadcast of theSex For Sam IIIskit fromSt. Patrick's Cathedral, New Yorkthat generated much controversy.

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, had disappeared along with any mention of him on the Free FM local affiliates. On Monday, April 24, aFlashpresentation 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 Glorywas removed from the Free FM stations - including what was his newly assigned flagshipWCKG/Chicago, andWKRK/Detroit; both instances due to very low ratings. Following the WCKG cancellation, Rover returned toCleveland, Ohioon his previous flagship, WXRK - which becameWKRK-FM- and a handful of remaining affiliates.

Most of Rover's affiliates were on stations spun off by CBS Radio to different companies includingWMFS/Memphis,WAQZ/CincinnatiandWZNE/Rochester,which went to Entercom; andWAZU/Columbus,which went to Wilks Broadcast Group. WAZU becamecountry-formattedWNNKin January 2007, while WAQZ flipped to alternative rock asWSWDon a different frequency in November 2006; WMFS became anESPN Radioaffiliate in 2009.Rover's Morning Glorymoved to rival stationWMMSin 2008, thereby ending the CBS radio relationship altogether.

Now owned byStephens Media Group,WZNE continued to air the showuntil November 2020.

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 (althoughKCKCin Kansas City and KDJM (nowKKSE-FM) in Denver were reportedly close to flipping to it before Free FM's demise), and newhot talkstations were branded in other ways: for instance, WTZN (nowKDKA-FM) inPittsburgh, Pennsylvaniawas launched as a hot talk station in April 2007 as "The Zone" instead of Free FM, and even that station has since changed formats twice, first toTop 40/CHRand then tosports radio.

In addition, all of the original Free FM stations eventually removed their "Free FM" branding, and have since changed formats altogether.

• WHFSin Baltimore — becameBaltimore's FM Talk: A Free FM Station,later droppingA Free FM Station,and later flipped tosports radio105.7 The Fanon November 3, 2008.
• KRLD-FMin Dallas (formerly KLLI) — reverted toLive 105.3,then also flipped to sports radio as105.3 The Fanon December 8, 2008.
• WCKG in Chicago — becameChicago's FM Talk Station,followed shortly byThe PaCKaGe.Changed toadult contemporaryFresh 105.9on November 5, 2007, and given the new call lettersWCFS-FM.Afternoon hostSteve Dahlmoved to sister stationWJMKas morning host. In 2011, the station switched to an FM simulcast ofall-news radiostationWBBM (AM).
• WJFKin Washington — went from the standard106.7 Free FMtoFree FM 106.7 WJFKtoWashington's Talk Superstation, 106.7 WJFK.On July 20, 2009, the station changed tosports radio106.7 The Fan.
• WYSPin Philadelphia — dropped "Free FM" to become94-1 WYSP,later reverting fully to their pre-Free moniker94 WYSPas94 WYSP Talks.Changed back to a Rock format on September 13, 2007 at 5:00 pm.
• WTZNin Pittsburgh — flipped back to a previoustop 40format known asB94,WBZW.HostsScott Paulsen,John Steigerwald andDennis Millermoved toKDKA.BecameSportsRadio 93.7 The Fan,KDKA-FM,on February 15, 2010.
• KIFRin San Francisco — was the first to drop Free FM, going to a classic hits format asKFRC(Adam Carolla,Opie and Anthony,andTom Leykismoved toKYCY). In late October 2008, became an FMsimulcastofnews radiostationKCBS(740) while retaining the KFRC call letters.
• WFNYin 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 the92.3 Nowand92.3 Amp Radiobrands, before switching toalternativeAlt 92.3in November 2017. The station would switch again in October 2022 as an FM simulcast of sister all-news stationWINS (AM),similar to the format switch in from KNOU in Los Angeles becomingKNX-FMthe year prior, continuing the Alternative format on WINS-FM HD2. WINS was previously simulcasted duringHurricane Sandyin 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.
• KSCFin San Diego — dropped Free FM altogether, changed to modern ACSophie @ 103.7on June 22, 2007, top 40Energyin 2012, and country as103.7 KSONin 2017.
• KZONin Phoenix — dropped Free FM altogether, changed to rhythmic contemporary "101.5 Jamz" on June 22, 2007
• WKRK-FMin Detroit — dropped Free FM altogether, took over sister station WXYT'ssports radioformat, changing to WXYT-FM "Detroit's Sports Powerhouse"; currently "97.1 The Ticket"
• KLSXin Los Angeles — reverted to "97.1: The FM Talk Station" in 2008, then changed format altogether to contemporary hit "AMP Radio" on February 20, 2009, the "AMP" format would later be dropped and rebranded to "97.1 Now!" with the slogan "LA's Party Station" in April 2021 but would later drop the Top 40 format and revert to talk in December that year (this timeNews talk) simulcastingKNX (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 stationKCBS-FMon 93.1 (Now aJack FMstation) from 1948 to 1983 and again from 1986 to 1989. during this time, KNX began simulcasting onKRTHHD2.

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.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 switchedformatcompletely away from talk in February 2009, nearly all currently running shows were canceled, includingThe Adam Carolla Showwhich was the last program specifically created for Free FM to be discontinued, due to KLSX being itsflagship station.The cancellation was a result of KLSX's shift tocontemporary hit radio"AMP Radio" at that time. Two weeks later,Opie and Anthonywere axed from terrestrial radio after WXRK changed formats, again to contemporary hit radio. The last hot-talk station in CBS's portfolio, WJFK-FM, abandoned the format forsports radioin July 2009, resulting in the cancellation of theMike O'Meara Show,which was syndicated to many hot talk and Free FM stations.

CBS Radio's corporate successorEntercomintroduced a hot talk-oriented format onKEGYSan Diego (which, upon the completion of the merger in November 2017, had moved its long-time country format asKSONto the former KSCF in exchange for then-currentEnergyformat), branded asThe Machine,in March 2018. The station featured hot talk programming during its weekday lineup, but broadcastclassic rockinterspersed with comedy bits at all other times, along withSan Diego Padresbaseball.The format, however, was short-lived; a promotional campaign for KEGY's Kevin Klein morning show (which invited listeners to "Jump... to a new morning show" ) attracted criticism for glorifyingsuicide by bridge jumping,while Padres executiveRon Fowlerexpressed concerns over being associated with the station's content. KEGY transitioned to a conventional sports talk format asThe Fanon April 12, 2018.

Former Free FM stations

• New York— WFNY-FM 92.3, nowWINS-FM
• San Francisco— KIFR 106.9, nowKFRC-FM
• Philadelphia— WYSP 94.1, nowWIP-FM
• San Diego— KSCF 103.7, nowKSON
• Phoenix— KZON 101.5, nowKALV-FM
• Pittsburgh— WTZN-FM 93.7, nowKDKA-FM
• Detroit— WKRK-FM 97.1, nowWXYT-FM
• Chicago— WCKG 105.9, nowWCFS-FM
• Baltimore— WHFS 105.7, nowWJZ-FM
• Los Angeles— KLSX 97.1, nowKNX-FM
• Dallas, Texas— KLLI 105.3, nowKRLD-FM

References

• Opie and Anthony announce return to CBS Radio