Freeform Radio: The Movie
Tim K. Smith's documentary Sex and Broadcasting isn't actually about sex—it borrowed its name from Lorenzo Milam's book on the art of creative radio. The film's topic is WFMU, a legendarily freewheeling station in New Jersey. WFMU offers some of the most strange and eclectic programming available anywhere in the country, and it sustains itself without any commercials, underwriting, or government subsidies. It isn't even attached to a university that might help pay the bills. (It used to be owned by Upsala College, but the school went bankrupt nearly two decades ago. Improbably, the station survived.)
The engrossing movie shifts back and forth between WFMU's wild programs and the more grounded nuts-and-bolts work required to keep such a relentlessly uncommercial operation on the air. The station underwent a major financial crisis while Smith was filming, which provides much of the picture's narrative spine. In the meantime, a host of daily mini-crises come and go.
This article originally appeared in print under the headline "Freeform Radio: The Movie."
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?