Radio

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With a very few exceptions, there are some general criteria for a radio station to be linked on this page. Most importantly, each one needs to have a good quality stream — one that does not sound tinny or stops to buffer too often (on the latter, your results may vary depending on the speed of your connection to the Internet, your distance from the server, how many other people are using the server at the same time, the buffering settings in the media player being used, and general overall Internet traffic). As I have readers from all over the world, I also consider it to be very important that a station broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week…which reminds me…for those of you outside of the Western Hemisphere that want to figure out when a particular program is on where you live, TimeAndDate.com is a good site to use for that purpose (do know that the site will not give specific results for smaller towns but will instead list the closest major city in the same time zone).

It is also important to me that the stream is easy to access. When clicked upon, it should automatically come up in a pop-up player (usually based upon Flash, Silverlight, or Java) or be able to play in any computer’s standard media player whether one is running Windows, Mac OS, or Linux.  There are some stations that might require the installation of a browser plug-in especially if one is a smart Web surfer that uses Mozilla Firefox…these plug-ins are all very safe and usually take mere seconds to install.

One of the other main factors I first look at is to see if the station is independently owned and operated or if it is part of one of the huge media conglomerates that are mostly ruining North American radio. This is especially true of commercial stations (those in the United States of America normally located between 92.1 MHz and 107.9 MHz and across the whole AM spectrum). Again, with a few exceptions made for good on-air talent or a location that is special to me for one reason or another, I see no reason to waste my readers’ time with repetitive, cookie-cutter stations that sound the same from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon.

As for content, I look for stations that dedicate at least a good portion of their broadcast day to music that I find appealing. This is normally guitar-based rock of some sort leaning heavily toward things that sound like what is now called “classic rock” or “adult alternative” (a.k.a. adult album alternative, AAA, or Triple-A). However, depending on my mood, I also gravitate toward Americana, blues, jazz, bluegrass, folk, reggae, world music, classical, and even ambient. With many of those genres not having a radio station dedicated to that type of music throughout its broadcasting day, this is one reason that I like to have a lot of options.  For example, if I am in the mood for American folk music and the show I am listening to ends, there is a good chance I can find more of it playing for another two hours somewhere else.

I also like to have so many stations available because I enjoy the local flavor. Both the United States of America and Canada are filled with many unique places and outlooks even if they look similar from a distance. Try as they might, the big radio conglomerates have not yet fully killed off the local spirit of every station. In a sense, streaming radio allows one to travel when time and expense will not otherwise allow it.

For those of you not familiar with radio in North America, almost all stations in the United States other than those fitting under “Part 15” and our very few “pirate radio” stations plus almost all of Canada are ultimately identified by call letters even if they have a nickname like Rock 108, The Beagle, F69, and so on. With some exceptions left over from when radio was just getting started in the USA, stations beginning with the letter W are mostly east of the Mississippi River and those beginning with K are west of it. Canada’s system is more simplified as all but four of its standard radio stations begin with the letter C.

Please do not assume that all of the stations listed under the same format play the exact same type of music. This is especially true for the ones listed as “college/variety,” “community/variety,” and “pirate/variety.” As an example, a station such as WMMT focuses more on bluegrass, folk, and Americana music while another like KAFM plays much more jazz and blues, yet both will still have programs focusing on other genres.

Be aware that, due to American union rules regarding the retransmission of work performed by voice actors in advertisements, many commercial stations will air cheesy instrumental music, extremely repetitive public service announcements, or even just dead air online until they return to programming. In addition, stations that broadcast certain sports events or other nationally syndicated programming are sometimes required to turn off their stream during that portion of their broadcast.  I have attempted to avoid linking to stations that “black out” any programming but it is impossible for me to be 100% certain especially as broadcasting contracts change over time.

Please leave a comment on this page if any of the station information is incorrect especially for dead links, major format changes, and new call signs. I also welcome suggestions for new additions but ask that nobody get their feelings hurt if I decide that they do not belong on this chart.