Independent radio

Black talk and news for Milwaukee. The trust behind it was set up in 2026 so the station can't be sold off or folded into a bigger group.

Black talk and news. Owner: Milwaukee Black Media LLC, under the Milwaukee Black Media Trust. Held in a community trust.

Note: Run under an LMA with a purchase option. Good Karma still holds the license.

Privately owned and run from New England, with stations across New Hampshire and Maine since 2012. Home of the Pulse of NH news-talk network and Frank FM.

News and talk, greatest hits, rock, country. Owner: Bill Binnie.

Built by Pete Nininger starting in the 1950s and still owned by his family. About 29 stations in Bristol, southwest Virginia, Paducah and Charleston, West Virginia.

Country, rock, hits, news and talk. Owner: The Nininger family. Family-owned for 50+ years.

Five stations bought back from Connoisseur Media by their longtime manager and her family. Locally owned again since July 1, 2026, with plans for more live, local hosts.

Adult contemporary, country, classic rock, classic hits. Owner: Cami and Derrick Powers and Chad Hogie.

Locally owned by Bill Hicks and Ben Downs, with about a dozen stations around Bryan and College Station. WTAW is the Texas A&M flagship.

News and talk, sports, hits, country. Owner: Bill Hicks and Ben Downs.

Founded in 2022 to buy small Wisconsin AMs and FMs and put local news, farm reports and Wisconsin talk back on them. About 30 stations in Wisconsin, Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Ely, Minnesota, which makes it the largest AM owner in Wisconsin.

Local news and talk, farm, music. Owner: Sage Weil (CEO).

Note: Took four AMs and three translators silent in June 2026 for financial reasons. In October 2026 it agreed to buy the Pritchard family's Galesburg, Illinois stations.

Steve Newberry's company, run from the public square in downtown Glasgow. A 2024 swap traded its Bowling Green stations away so it could focus on Glasgow.

Classic country, adult contemporary, sports. Owner: Steve Newberry.

Note: The 2024 swap with Seven Mountains Media runs under local marketing agreements until it closes.

Owned by Randy and Debra McKone, and the only locally owned group in rural Eastern Oregon. KCMB was named Oregon Radio Station of the Year.

Country and local news. Owner: Randy and Debra McKone.

100% employee-owned since 2022. Stations in Boise and Twin Falls, and since a 2025 merger, Helena's Montana Radio Company too.

Variety hits, country, rhythmic. Owner: Employees, through an ESOP. Employee-owned.

On the air since 1925. The May family owned it for 94 years, and when they sold in 2019 they chose local buyers over a big chain.

News, sports, farm and local talk. Owner: KMAland Broadcasting (local investors).

Four stations in the northeast Iowa Driftless, owned by the man who runs them. General manager Les Askelson took a majority stake in 2021 when the previous owner sold out.

Classic hits, country, hot AC, adult contemporary. Owner: Les Askelson (general manager, majority owner since 2021).

Started with one station in 1963 and now runs stations in seven Minnesota and North Dakota towns. The company describes itself as family-owned and employee-owned.

Hits, country, news and talk. Owner: Leighton Enterprises.

Family-owned since 1958 and now on its third generation. Stations in Madison, Eau Claire and La Crosse, plus St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, South Bend, Springfield, Missouri and Rockford.

News and talk, hits, rock, country. Owner: The founding family, now in its third generation. Family-owned for 50+ years.

Family-owned since 1988 and led by Thom Mandel. Four Akron stations, including WAKR, which has been on the air since 1940.

Country, classic rock, full service, alternative. Owner: Thom Mandel and family.

A third-generation family company on the Lake Michigan shore. Its flagship WOMT turns 100 in November 2026 and still runs local news and sports with a local staff.

Full service, classic rock, sports. Owner: Seehafer family (president Mark Seehafer).

Cresco's own station, built by the late Jim Hebel for his Super C network and the one he kept when he sold the rest. Oldies, Crestwood Cadets sports and a Saturday morning polka show.

Oldies, local sports, Saturday polka. Owner: Mega Media, Ltd., the company the late Jim Hebel built.

Note: No live stream. It's on the air in northeast Iowa only.

Founded by Ralph Tyler in 1965 and still family-owned, with radio in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Country, classic hits, sports, news and talk, regional Mexican. Owner: The Tyler family. Family-owned for 50+ years.

Owned by the people who work there. Runs stations in Appleton and Green Bay, plus Springfield, Illinois.

News and talk, classic rock, hits, country. Owner: Employees, through an ESOP. Employee-owned.

Portland's community station since 1968. Volunteers make most of the shows, from music to public affairs to programs in other languages.

Eclectic music, public affairs, programs in many languages. Owner: KBOO Foundation. Volunteer-powered.

DJs pick the music, not a corporate playlist. Home of the Live on KEXP sessions, and also on 92.7 KEXC in the Bay Area.

DJ-curated music discovery. Owner: A nonprofit arts organization.

Independent community radio for Boulder and Denver since 1978, with volunteer DJs and local news and public affairs.

Eclectic music and community news. Owner: Boulder Community Broadcast Association. Volunteer-powered.

Austin's member-owned, volunteer-run community station since 1994. It shares 91.7 with KVRX, UT's student station.

Eclectic music and community public affairs. Owner: Texas Educational Broadcasting Co-operative (member-owned). Volunteer-powered.

Houston's listener-sponsored Pacifica station since 1970. The Klan bombed its transmitter twice that first year, and it came back on the air both times.

News, public affairs and eclectic music. Owner: Pacifica Foundation. Volunteer-powered.

Salt Lake City's community station since 1979. Eclectic music and community public affairs shows.

Eclectic music and community public affairs. Owner: Listeners' Community Radio of Utah.

Tucson's community station since 1983. Local hosts, a lot of Southwest music, and no corporate playlist.

Eclectic music. Owner: Foundation for Creative Broadcasting.

Started in 1997 broadcasting out of a camper. Now home of the daily Blue Plate Special, a free live show in downtown Knoxville.

Americana, bluegrass and roots. Owner: Cumberland Communities Communications.

Memphis community radio since 1976, programmed by volunteers who know the city's music history from the inside.

Blues, soul, country, rockabilly and more. Owner: Southern Communication Volunteers. Volunteer-powered.

The longest-running freeform station in the U.S., on 91.1 and on 90.1 WMFU. DJs play what they want.

Freeform. Owner: Auricle Communications. Volunteer-powered.

Florida's first community station, on the air since 1979. Eclectic music plus independent news and public affairs.

Eclectic music, independent news and public affairs. Owner: Nathan B. Stubblefield Foundation. Volunteer-powered.

An independent, listener-supported music station that reaches much of Virginia through a chain of repeaters.

Adult album alternative. Owner: An independent nonprofit.

Broadcasting from the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation near Hayward since 1982. Ojibwe and Anishinaabe culture plus eclectic music, at 100,000 watts.

Ojibwe and Anishinaabe culture, eclectic music. Owner: Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Public Broadcasting Corp.

Madison's community station since 1975. Volunteers program the music and the local public affairs shows.

Volunteer-programmed music and local public affairs. Owner: Back Porch Radio Broadcasting. Volunteer-powered.

Radio Free Georgia, Atlanta's volunteer-powered community station since 1973.

Progressive news and hand-picked music. Owner: Radio Free Georgia Broadcasting Foundation. Volunteer-powered.

New Orleans music since 1980: jazz, blues, R&B, Cajun, zydeco and brass band. Owned by the foundation that puts on Jazz Fest.

New Orleans jazz, blues, R&B, Cajun, zydeco, brass band. Owner: New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. Volunteer-powered.

On the air from UC Berkeley since 1962. Freeform, run by students and community volunteers, and no commercials.

Freeform. Owner: University of California, Berkeley. Volunteer-powered.

Foothill College's station, run by volunteer DJs who dig deep. If you've never heard it, it's probably on KFJC.

Freeform and underground. Owner: Foothill College. Volunteer-powered.

MIT's station, run by students and community volunteers. Freeform music plus a few long-running public affairs shows.

Freeform. Owner: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Volunteer-powered.

Licensed to the Milwaukee School of Eng and paid for by listeners since 1981. Freeform, with a long record of backing local music.

Freeform. Owner: Milwaukee School of Eng.

Tulane's student-run station, with volunteer DJs from campus and around the city.

Freeform. Owner: Tulane University. Volunteer-powered.

The University of Pennsylvania's station and the home of World Cafe and Free at Noon.

Adult album alternative. Owner: University of Pennsylvania.

UNC's student station, and in 1994 the first radio station to simulcast its signal live on the internet.

Freeform. Owner: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Volunteer-powered.

Milwaukee music first. Licensed to the city's school board and run by the nonprofit Radio Milwaukee.

Eclectic AAA. Owner: Radio Milwaukee (licensed to the Milwaukee Board of School Directors).

Licensed to Santa Monica College and largely listener-supported. Home of Morning Becomes Eclectic.

Music discovery, news and culture. Owner: Santa Monica College.

The University of Texas station built around Austin's own music scene, with local artists in rotation and in the studio.

Austin music. Owner: University of Texas at Austin.

Music discovery for Dallas-Fort Worth, from the same nonprofit that runs KERA.

Music discovery. Owner: North Texas Public Broadcasting.

Statewide public radio run by a state agency and UW–Madison, with roots in UW's radio experiments of 1914. Its flagship WHA is one of the oldest stations still on the air. Since 2024 it runs two networks, WPR News and WPR Music.

News, talk and classical music. Owner: Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin.

Middle Tennessee State's station, playing Americana and roots music for Nashville and the region.

Americana and roots. Owner: Middle Tennessee State University.

A community college station in the Carolina foothills that plays Americana, bluegrass and roots next to rock and blues.

Americana, bluegrass, roots and rock. Owner: Isothermal Community College.

Listener-supported music for Pittsburgh since 1974, with a steady focus on local artists.

Adult album alternative. Owner: Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corp.