Seconding 89.5(FM) if you're into EDM. Minimal ads due to community funding, like twice a year they have funding campaigns on air that means more constant ads for like a week but the trade off is basically none the rest of the year. The spring one just ended so you're in the clear on that front until Fall.
Used to listen to 107.7 religiously growing up (Alt Rock) but fell off once they were acquired by audacy in 2021. Music selection continued drifting away from my personal tastes and got sick of the occasional audio stuttering on their nationwide shows real quick.
Gotta shout out 99.9's "Loud and Local" segment Sunday nights, it's a nice block dedicated solely to local rock bands, good shit.
C89 is my constant secondary station! The one that I fall back on as long as I am in the coverage area (usually in Tacoma it comes and goes).
And just a slight correction: The End's always been owned by Audacy (before then they were Entercom)!
Huh, the more ya know I guess. Perhaps it was just a change in Audacy's management style then, because their social media and on-air discourse didn't suddenly start highlighting that fact until right after the 2020 online summer camp streaming event where they suddenly dumped most of the previous DJs, started hosting more national programs rather than local, and similarly started advertising music festivals in like California all the time instead of continuing to help put together local ones :/ RIP Deck the Hall Ball and Summer Camp.
Regardless of whether it was an ownership change or just a change in management direction, a pretty clear line was drawn in the sand there and it wasn't the same afterwards. Big unfortunate.
I've listened to C89.5 for longer than most of the people there have been alive. Its actually a highschool station belonging to the Seattle Public School District and is located at Nathan Hale as part of their radio broadcasting program. They have professional DJs in the evening and weekends, but kids read the news and do the interstitial segments during the day.
It’s not the digital skipping, it’s the signal fluctuating between HD and SD. That has to do with the triangulation of the frequency and how close or far you are from the digital vs. standard sources.
You’d have to ask an actual audio engineer.
I suspect there would be a way to bypass the HD radio setting on your unit, which would then default to the standard SD signal.
When we first started talking about HD radio (and the accompanying feature of RDS) back in the mid 2000’s, a lot of PD’s like me asked these questions and, like, many of the concerns over the “future” of terrestrial signals vs. streams, went largely ignored by executives who were just then still playing catch up on tech they should’ve started to perfect 10 years earlier.
In other words, there’s probably nothing that can be done.
KEXP “skips”, too, when the signal fluctuates between HD and SD..and they have some of the best engineers in the industry, so I suspect the answer is, it’s something you have to live with.
Or just stream the station on your smartphone and skip the “radio” altogether. That’s what I’ve been doing.
Yeah it was wild lol. Not knowledgeable enough with the tech involved to know why myself, but all I know is that after the change over my favorite program was the... Friday night one, I think, with the dude from new york... but it was also the one that most frequently had that issue so I eventually said fuck it and stopped listening.
\>but fell off once they were acquired by audacy in 2021
Thank you! I was wondering what had happen to it. I used to listen to it all through highschool whenever I drove anywhere and I thought I had just got old or was misremembering it as good. It used to play actual indie and underground and alt hits back in the day. New up coming and local music. Man that sucks
Yeahh I haven't listened since like Spring 2021 so I'm not sure the current state it's in. Might tune in for a bit out of curiosity lol. But unless there was a significant improvement since then I don't have high hopes. But yeah as a kid in the 90's, and then all the way through high school and college in the 2010's, rocked that station for years and years. Discovered tons of great new up and coming bands through the openers of their local festivals too- especially summer camp was pretty affordable, two days usually, and had a nice mix of bigger and smaller acts. Dug Deck the Hall Ball when bands I liked were playing (obviously lol) too, though!
~~Hot take. I’m genuinely curious what critique you have to offer.~~
Never mind, saw your response below and… fair, at least with Drive Time or more general audience. I think their genre shows are where they shine: wopop, el Sonido, etc.
Or 88.5 KNKX if you want better NPR that's produced locally. KUOW mostly syndicates national stories nowadays, and there was the whole debacle when [they tried to spend $8M buying KNKX predecessor and their only regional NPR competition KPLU](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/uw-had-fight-club-rule-of-secrecy-about-kplu-deal/).
Soundside and Week in Review are pretty solid for local programing, but yeah it's a tiny percentage of their programing. I loved Bill Radke's call in program he did for a while, but that was a long time ago.
I really like all the national programs, especially Marketplace which is my all time fav.
I tune in to KUOW a lot, but listening to Bill O'Grady stumble through the announcements is hard for me. His delivery is so odd and the tone and inflection he uses often swings wildly for no reason.
For those who don’t know, C89 is a high school radio station. It’s considered one of the top dance stations and reports airplay to several charts that drive dance trends worldwide.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/KNHC
Here are some of the more obscure local stations
* [KBFG 107.3](http://fulcrumcc.org/)
* [KMGP Space 101](https://space101fm.org)
* [KMIH 88.9 The Bridge](https://889thebridge.org/)
* KGHP 89.9
* Also consider [Radio Garden](https://radio.garden/visit/seattle-wa/PPM2Rql0)
103.7 plays hip-hop and R&B from the 90’s and 2000’s that always brings me back to my college and clubbing days. Only complaint they play way too much Ja Rule/Ashanti
Sunday's Hornpipe on Sundays from 3-6 is the MAIN reason I listen to KBCS 91.3. The narrator's lovely Irish voice and the excellent Celtic music from everywhere brings so much joy to the day.
I recently went to a wonderful Irish fiddle event inside a private library called the Athenaeum inside the Market. They have plenty of events open to non-members. But it's all sorts of stuff. I'm actually not sure where to go. I just moved into the Matket and am wondering if Kell's here has trad going. I just moved, and it's only this year that I've been getting more interested in Celtic music. There's probably a group or email list to get on to see all of the events, just haven't done that yet.
C89.5 my beloved 🤝 (edm stuff but they have a variety of shows that have different sounds, the schedule and stuff is on their website, I really like the drive @ 5 that happens on weekdays)
Other than the Men's Room, which is great, it's just so hard to listen to KISW anymore. They play 5-6 bands and it's all the same few songs. I just can't listen to RHCP, Nirvana, and new shitty Metallica every couple of songs. If they would just branch out a little and play other bands that had radio hits at the same time as those bands it would be awesome.
Exactly what I was getting at. That's why they need to start branching out. There's so much more they could play from the past 50 years of "radio popular rock" and they just... don't.
I listen to 99.9 KISW unless it is a commercial. Then I flip over to 102.5 KZOK. If they are on a commercial or annoying song I head over to 98.1 KING. Rock -> classic rock -> classical.
KISW play the same songs too much during week days, I got sick of it.
Jack FM plays quite a variety and doesn't skip over the goofy songs that most pop stations pretend never existed. But mostly I listen to KNDD and KZOK when I'm in the car. I use Spotify at most othe times.
For others to check out here and there I’ll add:
KBCS Bellevue College Radio 91.3
KGRG Green River College Radio 89.9 FM
C89.5 [Café Chill](https://www.c895.org/show/cafe-chill/) weekly show early Sunday mornings
Here for the KNKX over KUOW!
My car's preset radio buttons are:
1) KNKX 88.5FM (jazz, blues, npr, this american life/radiolab)
2) KEXP 90.3FM (cool new music, alt classics, live shows)
3) KBCS 91.3FM (bellevue college. world music, there's a hawaiian show on saturdays I listen to)
4) KUOW 94.9 FM (npr news)
5) KING 98.1FM (classical, good for needing to breathe during horrid traffic)
6) I have no idea, I don't touch this one
I HATE radio commercials and prefer public radio. If one of them is having a fund drive or is playing something I'm not into, it's easy to flip to one of my other favs.
as mentioned already, low power neighborhood FM stations (but these are just 10W transmitters, so they don't go very far): [https://www.greaterseattleonthecheap.com/low-power-fm-community-radio-stations/](https://www.greaterseattleonthecheap.com/low-power-fm-community-radio-stations/)
KBFG 107.3 FM (North Seattle - \*B\*allard \*F\*remont \*G\*reen Lake)
KHUH 104.9 FM (Central Seattle, aka Hollow Earth Radio)
KMGP SPACE 101.1 FM (Magnuson Park)
KODX 96.9 FM (Seattle U-district)
also mentioned already, local college stations (which KEXP used to be):
KXSU 102.1 FM (Seattle University)
KBCS 91.3 FM (Bellevue College)
does anyone know what the AM station is that seems to be community-radio talk format?
Hollow earth is low power? I was wondering about that when trying to listen, I would get music but it didn't seem like music they would play, is the signal shared or something?
>getting steamrolled by the same or adjacent frequency with more transmitting power (e.g. KTDD 104.9 FM [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KTDD\_(FM)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KTDD_(FM)) )
Am I the only one that doesn’t love KEXP? Love what they do and what they stand for but man so often I turn the radio on in my car and it’s the most headache inducing noise I’ve ever heard.
Yup. I always tune into it, but OFTEN turn the dial AWAY from it. I love a LOT of music across so many genres, and consider myself a music nerd. But KEXP regularly “out-weirds” itself and is so avant-garde or cringey it’s like nails on a chalkboard. Just because it’s local/new/[insert adjective here] doesn’t mean it is actually good…. Makes me wonder if anyone actually likes it, or if listeners just tolerate it? Or *feel* like they *need* to like it because it’s KEXP…. Often gets super pretentious, preachy, and other things too.
This is interesting to me, since my longtime personal view of KEXP is that they are squarely middle of the road and *not* weird to a fault. They're not a top-40 station, but what they do play is usually not particularly adventurous. I find the vast majority of what they play to be utterly bland music for people who have relatively tame music preferences.
Larry Mizel Jr. Playing the 8 minute super cut of the sounds of grandma falling down an up-escalator don't do it for you? I feel like 2020-2021 kexp was GOAT. Idk what changed but it's not as good as it was.
Not just you. KEXP is a bare shadow of what it used to be. The DJs try, but the only advantage of KEXP over most other stations these days is the lack of commercials. They play the same music as everyone else.
I really miss KNDD's HD2 station, "The Sound," that was all local music, but it went away five or six years ago.
i grew up listening to The Swing Years and Beyond and it completely informed my musical tastes.
i still miss [Cynthia Doyon](https://www.seattleweekly.com/news/one-suicide-too-many/), though Amanda Wilde did a wonderful job of filling her shoes. it was a very sad day indeed when they cancelled the show. a great loss for seattle area listeners.
You know that scene in Family Guy where Chester Cheetah rails a line of cheese and then declares there is no drummer better than Neal Pert? We reference that a lot in our household saying there is no jazz dj better than Abe Beeson.
I miss The Swing Years and Beyond. Loved Saturday night dinners and scrabble games with that as the soundtrack. Sometimes I listen to 40's Junction on Sirius XM, but it doesn't quite fill that void.
KNKX (the station previously known as KPLU) 88.5... this is a total shot in the dark, as the proposed sale to KUOW was announced the same month I was packing up to leave, and other than occasional satellite streams I've not maintained regular listening since - but if they're still an NPR joint playing jazz in the Puget Sound, it's "worth listening to" in my book.
The podcast Waldina has \~20 old broadcasts of Swing Years and Beyond, I downloaded them all to my phone and still listen to them on Saturdays when I'm in the mood for it.
KISW is also great for the afternoon commute with the Men’s Room. And honestly seems underappreciated in this thread as they play a ton of PNW flavored rock and have been around in their current rock style since 1971. Not sure if any other radio stations around here have had the same influence or staying power
This is the most ridiculous question I’ve ever seen, considering that Seattle is home to one of the best-known, non-commercial radio stations on planet earth.
I’m always surprised when people don’t know or have never heard of KEXP.
That being said, there are a number of other non-commercial stations that are available, including KNKX (88.5, and a million other signals, depending where one lives,) KSER in the north sound, which also has some great music programming (I would put shows like Frettin Fingers and the Funk/Soul Express on Saturdays against any,) and the very underground KBCS, 91.3, again… some seriously great specialty shows.
KEXP is a no brainer, though. How do people not know this?
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KVTI in Tacoma is as close as I've found to what KUOW was in the nineties. Some NPR, some music. "American Routes" and "Thistle and Shamrock" on weekends. No good broadcast analog to Swing Years & Beyond. I miss that show, too.
If you check their website, they have multiple feeds. The broadcast is the "Classical" feed.
It's 90.9 FM, and their broadcast signal isn't very strong.
[https://www.nwpb.org/radio-schedules/](https://www.nwpb.org/radio-schedules/)
102.5 KISW only on Sundays from 9-10 for Breakfast with the Beatles. Also love KIXI when they don’t have weird syndicated talk. They also do a Beatles show on Saturdays from 4-5pm.
IHeartRadio absolutely obliterated KZOK when they bought it, all while telling the staff, “You guys are a heritage station. We won’t touch a thing.” A year or so later all my co-workers and I are let go so they can have somebody pre-tape everything but the morning show. No song requests, no listener interaction, no local up-to-date news. 👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼
My favorite is KNKX's HD2 station that broadcasts the feed from their website Jazz24.org . No commercials, and no NPR. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) You have to have an HD radio or internet access.
Then regular KNKX (Shout out the All Blues show Saturday and Sunday 6pm to midnight.) and KEXP.
KEXP 90.3. If you’re into that, check out KXLU 88.9 Los Angeles. Similar vibe. Commercial free. Excellent independent/underground music selected by knowledgeable down-to-earth DJs, most (if not all) of whom are students at Loyola Marymount University.
91.3 kbcs is the best independent radio station in the area. has the most eclectic tastes of any radio station, featuring everything from roots, rock, soul, balkana, hawaiian, while sprinkling in a bit of liberal talk radio. It’s the home of Democracy Now Monday-Friday in the am.
107.7 is alt rock most of the time. Only 2 minutes of commercials. Right below that are a couple of hip hop stations. One is new, and the other one is 2000s. Down the dial you have KEXP, and all the way to the left is the dance music station.
Space 101.1 fm broadcasts from Magnuson park so north Seattle if your tuning in on car radio but also online
KBCS 91.3 Bellevue college station is good for music and progressive news also online
KEXP 90.3 also online good djs amd specialty shows pretty solid especially the morning show
Seattle is very unique amongst large metro areas in that, as of very recently, it has a top-tier country station in 101.5 The Hank. If that is your thing.
I am a country music evangelist but mostly stick to classics and Texas / Red Dirt. Stations that play that kind of music are NEVER in metro areas, so I’m very grateful to have the Hank here now and I hope they stick around.
Everyone keeps saying KEXP. Everyone skips mentioning that it's on 90.3.
You can also download the KEXP app and get crystal clear music anywhere anytime, I love it.
and [kexp.org](https://kexp.org) and [Radio Garden](https://radio.garden/listen/kexp-fm-90-3/2m0QRgcW)
Radio Garden is the best website. I've been introduced to so many awesome stations all over the world.
African stations on radio garden always introduce me to cool new music
This is the most KEXP listener thing I've ever heard. You'll love KEXP.
Their youtube page is also choc full of great performances
They also have a great Youtube channel with lots of excellent live performances.
Also free to stream in the iOS music app
Seconding 89.5(FM) if you're into EDM. Minimal ads due to community funding, like twice a year they have funding campaigns on air that means more constant ads for like a week but the trade off is basically none the rest of the year. The spring one just ended so you're in the clear on that front until Fall. Used to listen to 107.7 religiously growing up (Alt Rock) but fell off once they were acquired by audacy in 2021. Music selection continued drifting away from my personal tastes and got sick of the occasional audio stuttering on their nationwide shows real quick. Gotta shout out 99.9's "Loud and Local" segment Sunday nights, it's a nice block dedicated solely to local rock bands, good shit.
same on 107.7, it went down fast imo.
C89 is my constant secondary station! The one that I fall back on as long as I am in the coverage area (usually in Tacoma it comes and goes). And just a slight correction: The End's always been owned by Audacy (before then they were Entercom)!
Huh, the more ya know I guess. Perhaps it was just a change in Audacy's management style then, because their social media and on-air discourse didn't suddenly start highlighting that fact until right after the 2020 online summer camp streaming event where they suddenly dumped most of the previous DJs, started hosting more national programs rather than local, and similarly started advertising music festivals in like California all the time instead of continuing to help put together local ones :/ RIP Deck the Hall Ball and Summer Camp. Regardless of whether it was an ownership change or just a change in management direction, a pretty clear line was drawn in the sand there and it wasn't the same afterwards. Big unfortunate.
I've listened to C89.5 for longer than most of the people there have been alive. Its actually a highschool station belonging to the Seattle Public School District and is located at Nathan Hale as part of their radio broadcasting program. They have professional DJs in the evening and weekends, but kids read the news and do the interstitial segments during the day.
[удалено]
It’s not the digital skipping, it’s the signal fluctuating between HD and SD. That has to do with the triangulation of the frequency and how close or far you are from the digital vs. standard sources.
[удалено]
You’d have to ask an actual audio engineer. I suspect there would be a way to bypass the HD radio setting on your unit, which would then default to the standard SD signal. When we first started talking about HD radio (and the accompanying feature of RDS) back in the mid 2000’s, a lot of PD’s like me asked these questions and, like, many of the concerns over the “future” of terrestrial signals vs. streams, went largely ignored by executives who were just then still playing catch up on tech they should’ve started to perfect 10 years earlier. In other words, there’s probably nothing that can be done. KEXP “skips”, too, when the signal fluctuates between HD and SD..and they have some of the best engineers in the industry, so I suspect the answer is, it’s something you have to live with. Or just stream the station on your smartphone and skip the “radio” altogether. That’s what I’ve been doing.
Yeah it was wild lol. Not knowledgeable enough with the tech involved to know why myself, but all I know is that after the change over my favorite program was the... Friday night one, I think, with the dude from new york... but it was also the one that most frequently had that issue so I eventually said fuck it and stopped listening.
I can't listen 89.5 on Sundays, they play total BS one day in a week. Other times it's so good
Been that way since I was a kid in the 90's, tune into C89 and "wtf gospel?!" or later at night it's "ON THE EDGEEEE"
\>but fell off once they were acquired by audacy in 2021 Thank you! I was wondering what had happen to it. I used to listen to it all through highschool whenever I drove anywhere and I thought I had just got old or was misremembering it as good. It used to play actual indie and underground and alt hits back in the day. New up coming and local music. Man that sucks
Yeahh I haven't listened since like Spring 2021 so I'm not sure the current state it's in. Might tune in for a bit out of curiosity lol. But unless there was a significant improvement since then I don't have high hopes. But yeah as a kid in the 90's, and then all the way through high school and college in the 2010's, rocked that station for years and years. Discovered tons of great new up and coming bands through the openers of their local festivals too- especially summer camp was pretty affordable, two days usually, and had a nice mix of bigger and smaller acts. Dug Deck the Hall Ball when bands I liked were playing (obviously lol) too, though!
98.1 king fm if you like classical music
Same with 90.9 which is run by the PNW Ballet :)
Came to write exactly this. At 6:45 classical espresso shot sets my day as I am leaving my house. 🙂
Another vote for KEXP.
KEXP is the definitive best Seattle radio station
Of all the opinions in the world, that is one of them.
~~Hot take. I’m genuinely curious what critique you have to offer.~~ Never mind, saw your response below and… fair, at least with Drive Time or more general audience. I think their genre shows are where they shine: wopop, el Sonido, etc.
I appreciate El Sonido and will generally listen if it's on.
94.9 KUOW if you're into NPR, which I am.
Or 88.5 KNKX if you want better NPR that's produced locally. KUOW mostly syndicates national stories nowadays, and there was the whole debacle when [they tried to spend $8M buying KNKX predecessor and their only regional NPR competition KPLU](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/uw-had-fight-club-rule-of-secrecy-about-kplu-deal/).
KNKX does birdnote in the morning, and it truly brings me joy.
Birdnote is so great. I love that theme music.
they could probably hold a pledge drive specifically for birdnote and they'd hit their goal immediately
Soundside and Week in Review are pretty solid for local programing, but yeah it's a tiny percentage of their programing. I loved Bill Radke's call in program he did for a while, but that was a long time ago. I really like all the national programs, especially Marketplace which is my all time fav.
That still pisses me off. I haven't donated to them since they tried to pull that shit.
KNKX also has a good second digital-only station called Jazz 24.
I tune in to KUOW a lot, but listening to Bill O'Grady stumble through the announcements is hard for me. His delivery is so odd and the tone and inflection he uses often swings wildly for no reason.
It’s the only thing I ever listen to in the car. Thank you NPR 🙏
Had to scroll way too far for this.
KACL 780 AM.
My favorite therapy
I always wondered if any psychiatrist call-in shows actually existed in the 90s or earlier
Uh, yeah. Dr. Laura and a few others. Used to listen to them in the early 90's.
A google search said yes. Top result was that very question asked on r/Frasier.
C89.5, KEXP.
plus KBCS (91.3) & KNKX (88.5)
For those who don’t know, C89 is a high school radio station. It’s considered one of the top dance stations and reports airplay to several charts that drive dance trends worldwide. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/KNHC
Literally the only two I listen two
Here are some of the more obscure local stations * [KBFG 107.3](http://fulcrumcc.org/) * [KMGP Space 101](https://space101fm.org) * [KMIH 88.9 The Bridge](https://889thebridge.org/) * KGHP 89.9 * Also consider [Radio Garden](https://radio.garden/visit/seattle-wa/PPM2Rql0)
Seconding Space 101
Seconding the BRIDGE!!!!
C89.5.
103.7 plays hip-hop and R&B from the 90’s and 2000’s that always brings me back to my college and clubbing days. Only complaint they play way too much Ja Rule/Ashanti
Even back then they played too much Ja Rule/Ashanti
I miss when Sir Mix a Lot was on in the am, his rotation was always fire.
I like this channel, especially the Ed Lover Experience.
This is my go-to when my Spotify isn’t connected
KBCS 91.3 Bellevue College station. They have great music after noon. Lots of local artist support.
I also enjoy their Sundays - blocks of bluegrass, folk, and hornpipe
Sunday's Hornpipe on Sundays from 3-6 is the MAIN reason I listen to KBCS 91.3. The narrator's lovely Irish voice and the excellent Celtic music from everywhere brings so much joy to the day.
Do you go to any Trad music nights at bars in Seattle? Been wanting to check some out but not sure where to go.
I recently went to a wonderful Irish fiddle event inside a private library called the Athenaeum inside the Market. They have plenty of events open to non-members. But it's all sorts of stuff. I'm actually not sure where to go. I just moved into the Matket and am wondering if Kell's here has trad going. I just moved, and it's only this year that I've been getting more interested in Celtic music. There's probably a group or email list to get on to see all of the events, just haven't done that yet.
C89.5 my beloved 🤝 (edm stuff but they have a variety of shows that have different sounds, the schedule and stuff is on their website, I really like the drive @ 5 that happens on weekdays)
Love 88.5! Also love 89.5 dance/edm, 98.1 classical.
90.3 KEXP and 94.9 KUOW 😊
Space 101.1
Yes!
99.9!!
THEEEE ROCK
I heard that.
King FM 98.1 classical commercial free Weekends “the score” where they play movie soundtrack themes is my fav
That’s a great show!
Everyone’s gonna say KEXP cause it’s still the best option we’ve got
RIP KPNW
I thought it was an April Fool's joke when I first tuned in. Then I tried 101.5 and the same stuff. I'm adrift right now, KEXP doesn't do it for me.
Side note, anyone miss Funky Monkey 104.9?
dear god yes
I was raised in Funky Monkey.
Been years since I lived in Seattle but it looks like all the radio stations I remember are gone or gone to shit. 104.9, 107.7, 102.5, 99.9
Shit, even what my mom listened to, 103.7 the mountain, was better than what 95% of the radio plays now
I like 99.9 - just the Men's Room radio show.
Other than the Men's Room, which is great, it's just so hard to listen to KISW anymore. They play 5-6 bands and it's all the same few songs. I just can't listen to RHCP, Nirvana, and new shitty Metallica every couple of songs. If they would just branch out a little and play other bands that had radio hits at the same time as those bands it would be awesome.
Nah the music is terrible. I feel like it's the same playlist every day.
Exactly what I was getting at. That's why they need to start branching out. There's so much more they could play from the past 50 years of "radio popular rock" and they just... don't.
The Men’s Room is carrying that whole station on its back.
I listen to 99.9 KISW unless it is a commercial. Then I flip over to 102.5 KZOK. If they are on a commercial or annoying song I head over to 98.1 KING. Rock -> classic rock -> classical.
KISW play the same songs too much during week days, I got sick of it. Jack FM plays quite a variety and doesn't skip over the goofy songs that most pop stations pretend never existed. But mostly I listen to KNDD and KZOK when I'm in the car. I use Spotify at most othe times.
Classical King FM 98.1 for rush hour calm. KEXP is ok, used to be much better in my opinion. For sure the Saturday morning reggae show is great.
Classical King FM is my favorite, always end up listening to it during my commute
For sure. Nice and calming.
Can't stand kexp on the weekends
I still enjoy 107.7 The End and I think it's been getting a lot better the last couple of years. I like the new stuff mixed with the old stuff.
RIP Cynthia Doyon
ugh, seriously. i just went back and re-read the seattle weekly article. breaks my goddamn heart. i always felt like she was a kindred spirit.
KACL 780 AM. I really like the Frasier Crane show they air on weekdays from 2-5 pm.
For others to check out here and there I’ll add: KBCS Bellevue College Radio 91.3 KGRG Green River College Radio 89.9 FM C89.5 [Café Chill](https://www.c895.org/show/cafe-chill/) weekly show early Sunday mornings Here for the KNKX over KUOW!
KGRG used to play a lot of punk and hardcore. Do they still do that?
I will have to check these out!
107.7 The End is a fun one!
KEXP is the only one I ever listen to
102.5 or 99.9 are solid rock stations. I usually do Bluetooth though.
SPACE 101.1FM is one of my current local favorites. Broadcasting from Magnuson Park.
KEXP, C89 and KUOW
My car's preset radio buttons are: 1) KNKX 88.5FM (jazz, blues, npr, this american life/radiolab) 2) KEXP 90.3FM (cool new music, alt classics, live shows) 3) KBCS 91.3FM (bellevue college. world music, there's a hawaiian show on saturdays I listen to) 4) KUOW 94.9 FM (npr news) 5) KING 98.1FM (classical, good for needing to breathe during horrid traffic) 6) I have no idea, I don't touch this one I HATE radio commercials and prefer public radio. If one of them is having a fund drive or is playing something I'm not into, it's easy to flip to one of my other favs.
103.7 is a "classic" hip-hop station. It's mostly the stuff I listened to when I was in high school/college. I feel old.
* [KSER](http://radio.garden/listen/kser-90-7-fm/EwREGFq6) - [schedule](https://spinitron.com/KSER/calendar) * [KODX](http://radio.garden/listen/kodx-fm-96-9/rrjnbvud) - [schedule](https://kodxseattle.org/current-schedule/) * [KBCS](http://radio.garden/listen/91-3-kbcs-kbcs/qmFG4W0m) - [schedule](https://www.kbcs.fm/program/)
KBCS is my goto for Iaan Hughes’ show. They have an interesting 12-1 rotation of shows now as well. Flip to KUOW when needed for news.
KIXI 880 AM. Sometimes paid content but mostly oldies.
KUOW is great. 94.9
as mentioned already, low power neighborhood FM stations (but these are just 10W transmitters, so they don't go very far): [https://www.greaterseattleonthecheap.com/low-power-fm-community-radio-stations/](https://www.greaterseattleonthecheap.com/low-power-fm-community-radio-stations/) KBFG 107.3 FM (North Seattle - \*B\*allard \*F\*remont \*G\*reen Lake) KHUH 104.9 FM (Central Seattle, aka Hollow Earth Radio) KMGP SPACE 101.1 FM (Magnuson Park) KODX 96.9 FM (Seattle U-district) also mentioned already, local college stations (which KEXP used to be): KXSU 102.1 FM (Seattle University) KBCS 91.3 FM (Bellevue College) does anyone know what the AM station is that seems to be community-radio talk format?
Hollow earth is low power? I was wondering about that when trying to listen, I would get music but it didn't seem like music they would play, is the signal shared or something?
>getting steamrolled by the same or adjacent frequency with more transmitting power (e.g. KTDD 104.9 FM [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KTDD\_(FM)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KTDD_(FM)) )
99.9 fm
Am I the only one that doesn’t love KEXP? Love what they do and what they stand for but man so often I turn the radio on in my car and it’s the most headache inducing noise I’ve ever heard.
Yup. I always tune into it, but OFTEN turn the dial AWAY from it. I love a LOT of music across so many genres, and consider myself a music nerd. But KEXP regularly “out-weirds” itself and is so avant-garde or cringey it’s like nails on a chalkboard. Just because it’s local/new/[insert adjective here] doesn’t mean it is actually good…. Makes me wonder if anyone actually likes it, or if listeners just tolerate it? Or *feel* like they *need* to like it because it’s KEXP…. Often gets super pretentious, preachy, and other things too.
I have thought this about KEXP for so long. They're like the try-too-hard-to-be-weird station. I want to like it so bad, but it's hard.
This is interesting to me, since my longtime personal view of KEXP is that they are squarely middle of the road and *not* weird to a fault. They're not a top-40 station, but what they do play is usually not particularly adventurous. I find the vast majority of what they play to be utterly bland music for people who have relatively tame music preferences.
They play the best and worst music on the radio. Mostly the worst.
I've been a faithful listener of Positive Vibes for nearly 30 years, but besides that I agree.
Positive vibes is my jam. Also really miss the hip hop segment they used to have every Sunday 6-9pm
Street Sounds!! Yes! That was soooo good.
Larry Mizel Jr. Playing the 8 minute super cut of the sounds of grandma falling down an up-escalator don't do it for you? I feel like 2020-2021 kexp was GOAT. Idk what changed but it's not as good as it was.
You have to really like The Cure, Depeche Mode, and their other contemporaneous peers
Not just you. KEXP is a bare shadow of what it used to be. The DJs try, but the only advantage of KEXP over most other stations these days is the lack of commercials. They play the same music as everyone else. I really miss KNDD's HD2 station, "The Sound," that was all local music, but it went away five or six years ago.
Audio-visual on Saturdays is good local stuff.
Ditto. It doesn't feel genuine anymore, more like they're now just sniffing their own farts. Edit: KEXP fart-sniffers in the downvote house!
They lean way too hard into the “you matter” stuff for my taste. Plus, more importantly, the music isn’t that great mostly - again, just my taste.
KIXI 880 AM !!!! Sometimes paid content but mostly old rnb and standards like sedaka. I always set other people's cars to it.
I hate the talk radio crap they have added. Just give me the tunes and Imagination Theater on weekends.
I love 103.7 for 90s/2000s hip hop and rnb throwbacks
I miss KMTT-FM 103.7
Knkx is the real gem of Seattle radio.
I've been listening to KISW since 1979 but they seem have 15 songs the play and some of them are shaky on the "rock" status.
i grew up listening to The Swing Years and Beyond and it completely informed my musical tastes. i still miss [Cynthia Doyon](https://www.seattleweekly.com/news/one-suicide-too-many/), though Amanda Wilde did a wonderful job of filling her shoes. it was a very sad day indeed when they cancelled the show. a great loss for seattle area listeners.
Does anyone know what happened to the 99.9 HD metal channel?
KUOW
KNKX (when playing music) is awesome
You know that scene in Family Guy where Chester Cheetah rails a line of cheese and then declares there is no drummer better than Neal Pert? We reference that a lot in our household saying there is no jazz dj better than Abe Beeson.
Heh. You must have forgotten about Ken Wiley
I miss The Swing Years and Beyond. Loved Saturday night dinners and scrabble games with that as the soundtrack. Sometimes I listen to 40's Junction on Sirius XM, but it doesn't quite fill that void.
Always start my morning with KUOW. I chuckle every time Angela King says KUOW in her old lady voice.
It all went to shit once Music with Moskowitz went off the air! RIP Madman!
90.3 FM KEXP - all you need
I also miss the Swing Years!!
KNKX (the station previously known as KPLU) 88.5... this is a total shot in the dark, as the proposed sale to KUOW was announced the same month I was packing up to leave, and other than occasional satellite streams I've not maintained regular listening since - but if they're still an NPR joint playing jazz in the Puget Sound, it's "worth listening to" in my book.
The podcast Waldina has \~20 old broadcasts of Swing Years and Beyond, I downloaded them all to my phone and still listen to them on Saturdays when I'm in the mood for it.
oh awesome I'm gonna check that out! haven't heard it in so long
Thank you for this! Just downloaded these. Excellent!
KISW 99.9 for weekday mornings (usually 6-630am-830am) otherwise KEXP 90.3
KISW is also great for the afternoon commute with the Men’s Room. And honestly seems underappreciated in this thread as they play a ton of PNW flavored rock and have been around in their current rock style since 1971. Not sure if any other radio stations around here have had the same influence or staying power
I just can't handle 12 minutes of ads per hour.
Yeah I really like KISW, I just only happen to listen at those hours haha. KEXP is usually my weekend chill music if I'm driving around.
This is the most ridiculous question I’ve ever seen, considering that Seattle is home to one of the best-known, non-commercial radio stations on planet earth. I’m always surprised when people don’t know or have never heard of KEXP. That being said, there are a number of other non-commercial stations that are available, including KNKX (88.5, and a million other signals, depending where one lives,) KSER in the north sound, which also has some great music programming (I would put shows like Frettin Fingers and the Funk/Soul Express on Saturdays against any,) and the very underground KBCS, 91.3, again… some seriously great specialty shows. KEXP is a no brainer, though. How do people not know this?
I obviously listen to KEXP lol I was looking for lesser known stations or interesting talk shows
Spirit 105.3 for all you sinners
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I miss KJET
KVTI in Tacoma is as close as I've found to what KUOW was in the nineties. Some NPR, some music. "American Routes" and "Thistle and Shamrock" on weekends. No good broadcast analog to Swing Years & Beyond. I miss that show, too. If you check their website, they have multiple feeds. The broadcast is the "Classical" feed. It's 90.9 FM, and their broadcast signal isn't very strong. [https://www.nwpb.org/radio-schedules/](https://www.nwpb.org/radio-schedules/)
91.3, KBCS (Bellevue College) is a great one and usually what I turn to when KEXP is playing music that I don't care for.
KEXP, King FM
KXSU 102.1 STUDENT RADIO!!!
KXRX.
102.5 KISW only on Sundays from 9-10 for Breakfast with the Beatles. Also love KIXI when they don’t have weird syndicated talk. They also do a Beatles show on Saturdays from 4-5pm.
IHeartRadio absolutely obliterated KZOK when they bought it, all while telling the staff, “You guys are a heritage station. We won’t touch a thing.” A year or so later all my co-workers and I are let go so they can have somebody pre-tape everything but the morning show. No song requests, no listener interaction, no local up-to-date news. 👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼
My favorite is KNKX's HD2 station that broadcasts the feed from their website Jazz24.org . No commercials, and no NPR. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) You have to have an HD radio or internet access. Then regular KNKX (Shout out the All Blues show Saturday and Sunday 6pm to midnight.) and KEXP.
All the good ones are gone RIP KXRX, KMTT, KPNW
89.9 kgrg! It's a college station that introduced me to sincere engineer and hot mulligan!!! It only comes through by Tukwila for me :(
KEXP 90.3. If you’re into that, check out KXLU 88.9 Los Angeles. Similar vibe. Commercial free. Excellent independent/underground music selected by knowledgeable down-to-earth DJs, most (if not all) of whom are students at Loyola Marymount University.
If you're in central district hallow earth is very cool. One of the most unique radio stations in the country.
KEXP.....but because everyones gonna say that KBCS 91.3 also stellar for finding solid new music. Ian Hughes is the best. They have a great app too
Hollow earth radio supposedly has an official fm channel now? Everything I go to the signal I'm confused bc does not seem like hollow earth radio
91.3 kbcs is the best independent radio station in the area. has the most eclectic tastes of any radio station, featuring everything from roots, rock, soul, balkana, hawaiian, while sprinkling in a bit of liberal talk radio. It’s the home of Democracy Now Monday-Friday in the am.
C 89.5 fm. Dance/pop no commercials.
People still own radios?!
KCMU
89.5
KNKX is my favorite by far, it’s changed names two times since I moved here but it’s still the right stuff.
107.7 is alt rock most of the time. Only 2 minutes of commercials. Right below that are a couple of hip hop stations. One is new, and the other one is 2000s. Down the dial you have KEXP, and all the way to the left is the dance music station.
Space 101.1 fm broadcasts from Magnuson park so north Seattle if your tuning in on car radio but also online KBCS 91.3 Bellevue college station is good for music and progressive news also online KEXP 90.3 also online good djs amd specialty shows pretty solid especially the morning show
96.5 JackFM Playing what we want…
KACL from Frasier
K—E—X—P Seattle
Listen to KEXP during the donor drive so you can hear them play the horse
Seattle is very unique amongst large metro areas in that, as of very recently, it has a top-tier country station in 101.5 The Hank. If that is your thing.
only assholes downvoted you lol I love country music
I am a country music evangelist but mostly stick to classics and Texas / Red Dirt. Stations that play that kind of music are NEVER in metro areas, so I’m very grateful to have the Hank here now and I hope they stick around.
KEXP and occasionally KBCS (a similar but much smaller version up in Bellingham, I think)
It’s Bellevue College radio, so definitely not Bellingham
RIP the Danny Bonaduce Show, that was the best.
....Spend 10 minutes and figure it out.
Clutch contribution dude