Free FM
"Free FM" is the moniker and on-air brand of one (originally eleven) FM talk radio station in the United States owned by CBS Radio, created because of Howard Stern's departure to Sirius Satellite Radio in January 2006. Free FM was given its name to highlight that satellite radio costs money.
Free FM stations target a largely male demographic ranking from 18 to 49, attracting those who normally listen to FM rock and alternative stations, instead of existing AM talk radio listeners. Programs are more ribald than AM talk stations and include more discussion of dating, personal relationships, and pop culture, more comedy, and more discussion of celebrities and entertainment. Some Free FM stations also include music programs.[1] Most Free FM programs are generally classified under the hot talk format.
History
Initial launch
On October 25, 2005, Infinity Broadcasting (now CBS Radio) officially announced that it would be replacing Howard Stern on many of its radio stations with David Lee Roth in New York City and several other eastern markets, Shane "Rover" French in the midwest and Adam Carolla in Los Angeles and several other western markets, along with already established DC-based morning show "The Junkies" on WJFK-FM in D.C. and WHFS-FM in Baltimore. On the same day, several of these Infinity/CBS radio stations became known as "Free FM", some of which already had an all-talk format, while others switched from a music format, and WXRK New York announced that it would become "Free FM" starting January 3, 2006. Jimmy Kimmel is to serve as creative consultant for the format.
In addition to the morning shows, Free FM also announced at this time the creation of Penn Radio, an hourlong radio show hosted from Las Vegas by illusionist Penn Jillette.
Demise and replacement of Roth
In April 2006 rumors were reported that Roth's show would be dumped due to low ratings (The ratings for Roth's show in morning drive went down eighty percent compared to Howard Stern's ratings in the same slot a year prior) and would be replaced by XM's Opie and Anthony. The move marked Opie and Anthony's return to the New York terrestrial radio scene and to CBS Radio; their show was cancelled by CBS/Infinity in 2002 when they were syndicated through sister station WNEW due to a broadcast of the Sex For Sam III skit from St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York that 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 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.
In addition to the departure of Roth, Rover's Morning Glory has also been removed from the Free FM stations and now only airs in Cleveland, on WKRI, and a handful of Modern rock music stations.
On March 2, 2007, Penn Radio, the show hosted by Penn Jillette, aired its last show.
Demise
With the lack of success the Free FM brand is producing, CBS appears to be slowly phasing out the homogenized Free FM brand. No new Free FM branded stations have been launched since the network was created, and new hot talk stations are branded in other ways now (for instance, WTZN in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was launched as a hot talk station in April 2007 as "The Zone" instead of Free FM, and even that station changed formats).
In addition, all of the original Free FM stations have de-emphasized or removed their "Free FM" branding, or dropped Free FM altogether.
- WHFS in Baltimore - became Baltimore's FM Talk: A Free FM Station
- KLLI in Dallas - became Live 105.3
- WCKG in Chicago - became Chicago's FM Talk Station, followed shortly by The Package
- WJFK in Washington - went from the standard 106.7 Free FM to Free FM 106.7 WJFK It is now Washington's Talk Superstation, 106.7 WJFK.
- 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 at B94.
- KIFR in San Francisco was the first to drop Free FM, now classic hits KFRC (Adam Carolla, Opie and Anthony, and Tom Leykis moved to KYCY)
- WFNY in New York City - dropped Free FM altogether, became modern rock WXRK K-Rock
- KSCF in San Diego - dropped Free FM altogether, changed to adult alternative "Sophie" on June 22, 2007
- KZON in Phoenix - dropped Free FM altogether, changed to rhythmic contemporary "Jamz" on June 22, 2007
- WKRK-FM in Detroit - dropped Free FM altogether, now simulcasting sister station WXYT, a sports radio station
- KLSX in Los Angeles - now known as 97.1: The FM Talk Station, with a much smaller "Free FM" logo.
As of June 2007, CBS Radio has 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.[2] By October 1, 2007, only one Free FM station remained, KLSX.
Free FM stations
- Los Angeles – KLSX 97.1 [1]
FM talk stations
- Baltimore – WHFS 105.7 [2]
- Chicago – WCKG 105.9 [3]
- Dallas – KLLI 105.3 [4]
- Washington, D.C. – WJFK-FM 106.7 [5]
Former Free FM stations
- New York - WFNY 92.3
- San Francisco - KIFR 106.9 [6]
- Philadelphia – WYSP 94.1 [7]
- San Diego – KSCF 103.7 [8]
- Phoenix - KZON 101.5 [9]
- Pittsburgh - WTZN-FM 93.7 [10]
- Detroit – WKRK 97.1 [11]
See also
- KSFN, a similarly formatted radio station in Las Vegas, Nevada, branded as Spike 1140
References
- ^ CBS Radio > Press Release (10/25/05)
- ^ CBS Radio station listing by format
- ^ CBS Radio > Press Release (10/25/05)
- ^ CBS Radio station listing by format
External links
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