Free FM

:"This article describes the network and branding. For the lone station remaining that uses it, see KLSX. For the unrelated Canadian radio station, see CFRI-FM."

"Free FM" was the moniker and on-air brand of 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 its stations broadcast free-to-air, funded by commercials, whereas satellite radio requires a subscription fee. The brand was phased out over the course of 2007, and only one station still uses it.

Free FM stations targeted 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 included music programs. [ [http://www.cbsradio.com/press_center/releases/pressrelease142006-10-25-2005.html CBS Radio > Press Release (10/25/05)] ] Most Free FM programs are generally classified under the hot talk format.

One Canadian radio station, CFRI-FM in Grande Prairie, Alberta, also uses the Free FM brand name, 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 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 served 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 [http://david.freefm.com/ 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" was removed from the Free FM stations but continued to air in Cleveland, on WKRK-FM, and a handful of affiliates (in at least one case, as "filler" to protect more popular local shows on sister stations). "Rover's Morning Glory" eventually moved to rival station WMMS, thus ending the CBS radio relationship altogether.

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

Demise

With the lack of success the "Free FM" brand produced, CBS slowly phased out the homogenized "Free FM" brand. No new "Free FM" branded stations were launched since the network was created, and new hot talk stations were branded in other ways (for instance, WTZN, now WBZW in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was launched as a hot talk station in April 2007 as "The Zone" instead of Free FM, and even that station has since changed formats, to Top 40/CHR).

In addition, all of the original Free FM stations have de-emphasized or removed their "Free FM" branding, or changed formats altogether.

*WHFS in Baltimore - became "Baltimore's FM Talk: A Free FM Station", later dropping "A Free FM Station"
*KLLI in Dallas - reverted back to "Live 105.3"
* WCKG in Chicago - became "Chicago's FM Talk Station", followed shortly by "The PaCKaGe". Changed to adult contemporary "Fresh 105.9" on November 5, 2007, and given the new call letters WCFS-FM. (Afternoon host Steve Dahl moved to sister station WJMK as morning host.)
*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 known as B94, calls are now WBZW. Hosts Scott Paulsen, John Steigerwald and Dennis Miller moved to KDKA.
*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, and reverted to its previous modern rock format as WXRK "K-Rock". 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 adult alternative "Sophie" on June 22, 2007
*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" and later "The Ticket"
*KLSX in Los Angeles - is now known as "97.1 Free FM: The FM Talk Station", with a now smaller "Free FM" logo.

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. [ [http://www.cbsradio.com/stations/index.html?sort=stat_format CBS Radio] station listing by format] By October 1, 2007, only one Free FM station remained, KLSX; one year later, KLSX retains the "Free FM" name.

Free FM stations

* Los Angeles – KLSX 97.1 [http://www.971freefm.com/]

FM talk stations

* Baltimore – WHFS 105.7 [http://www.1057freefm.com/]
* Dallas – KLLI 105.3 [http://www.1053freefm.com/]
* Washington, D.C. – WJFK-FM 106.7 [http://www.1067freefm.com/]

Former Free FM stations

* New York - WFNY 92.3
* San Francisco - KIFR 106.9 [http://www.1069freefm.com/]
* Philadelphia – WYSP 94.1 [http://www.94wysp.com/]
* San Diego – KSCF 103.7 [http://www.1037freefm.com/]
* Phoenix - KZON 101.5 [http://www.1015freefm.com/]
* Pittsburgh - WTZN-FM 93.7 [http://www.937thezone.com/]
* Detroit – WKRK 97.1 [http://www.freefm971.com/]
* Chicago – WCKG, now WCFS-FM 105.9

References

* [http://www.foundrymusic.com/opieanthony/displayheadline.cfm/id/9490/div/opieanthony/headline/FRIDAY_LINKS__O_A_RETURN_TO_CBS__PATRICE_IN_STUDIO__OXY_POWDER__HENRY_ROLLINS_VIDEO__NEW_BIG_BOOBS_VIDEOS.html Opie and Anthony announce return to CBS Radio]

External links

* [http://www.infinitybroadcasting.com/freefm/index.php Welcome to Free FM]
* [http://www.infinitybroadcasting.com/freefm/station_map.php List of Free FM stations]