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Free FM
"Free FM" is the moniker and on-air brand of several FM talk radio stations
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 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.
Ratings
The first Arbitron ratings returns indicated that Opie and Anthony had begun
to slightly turn around the ratings drop brought on by the departure of
Stern and the hiring of Roth, leading CBS to syndicate the show to over 20
markets by August 2006. The overall station ratings only went down 2.0 from
Winter 2005 to Winter 2006, to a 1.1. This leaves Free FM ranked #23 in the
NY market, and is currently the lowest rated FM Station in the NYC Market.
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).
In addition, several 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
* WKRK in Detroit - Currently known as Live 97.1
* WJFK in Washington - went from the standard 106.7 Free FM to Free FM 106.7
WJFK
* WYSP in Philadelphia - became "94-1 WYSP"
* KIFR in San Francisco was the first to drop Free FM, now classic hits KFRC
(Free FM programs slated to move 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
* KLSX in Los Angeles - thus far, KLSX is the only station that has yet to
change its branding or format
There is some speculation that within the next month, all stations will drop
Free FM based on poor ratings across the country coupled with backlash from
the recent antics of talk radio hosts in various areas.[1] WFNY's departure
from the FreeFM format back to its rock roots as "K-Rock" (and switching
back to the WXRK call letters) is expected to hasten the demise of the
format.[2] Indeed, the Free FM branding is currently only being used on a
handful of the original stations, most of them being hot talk stations prior
to the adoption of the Free FM moniker. 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.[3]
Free FM stations
* Baltimore – WHFS 105.7 [2]
* Chicago – WCKG 105.9 [3]
* Dallas – KLLI 105.3 [4]
* Detroit – WKRK 97.1 [5]
* Los Angeles – KLSX 97.1 [6]
* Philadelphia – WYSP 94.1 [7]
* Washington, D.C. – WJFK-FM 106.7 [8]
* Pittsburgh – WTZN 93.7 [9]
Former Free FM Stations
* New York - WFNY 92.3
* San Francisco - KIFR 106.9 [10]
* San Diego – KSCF 103.7 [11]
* Phoenix - KZON 101.5
See also
* KSFN, a similarly formatted radio station in Las Vegas, Nevada, branded as
Spike 1140
Reference
* Opie and Anthony announce return to CBS Radio
1. ^ http://www.formatchange.com/923-free-fm-returns-to-k-rock/
2. ^ FOXNews.com - Farewell to Free FM - Celebrity Gossip. Retrieved on
2007-05-27.
3. ^ CBS Radio station listing by format
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