About Radio freeFM

Radio freeFM

Radio freeFM is a free, non-commercial radio station in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, broadcasting on FM 102.6 MHz since 1995. Founded on 17 June 1995, it is one of three radio stations based in Ulm — alongside the commercial broadcasters Radio 7 and Donau 3 FM — and the city's only non-commercial station. The programme is volunteer-produced and organised through an unusual democratic structure: two non-profit associations (an editorial association and a support association) jointly own the non-profit Radio free FM GmbH, which holds the broadcast licence, while an elected programme council called the "G7" decides programme guidelines and structure. Radio freeFM is a member of the Bundesverband Freier Radios (BFR) and of Baden-Württemberg's Assoziation Freier Gesellschaftsfunk (AFF).

Overview

Radio freeFM's on-air identity centres on musical discovery: the station describes its daytime programme as presenting the musical variety of free radio, with a stated desire to continually rediscover music and put listeners ahead of the curve. The wish to explore new musical horizons connects the station with its audience — a philosophy that has made freeFM a fixture of Ulm's alternative cultural life for three decades.

The station's address is Platzgasse 18, 89073 Ulm, in the heart of the old town. It broadcasts on FM 102.6 MHz in Ulm and surroundings, on cable, and via internet livestream at freefm.de.

Organisation

The legal structure of Radio freeFM is more elaborate than that of most German free radios. The framework comprises the editorial association and the support association — two registered non-profit associations — which are the shareholders of the non-profit Radio free FM GmbH; the GmbH is the holder of the radio licence. An elected programme council, called the G7, is chosen by all editors and decides the programme's guidelines and structure, allocating slots to the various shows. Within each show, the presenters agree on their content and thus shape the programme collectively.

Day-to-day organisational work is carried out by editors, presenters, and members working in teams, with decisions taken at the "Jour fixe" — a regular meeting composed of representatives of the music and culture shows, the working teams, the boards of the two associations, and the managing director of the non-profit GmbH. This layered democratic structure is designed to balance editorial freedom for individual shows with collective responsibility for the station as a whole.

History

Radio freeFM was founded on 17 June 1995, in the wave of free-radio foundings that followed the liberalisation of German broadcasting in the early 1990s. It went on air on 102.6 FM as Ulm's non-commercial alternative to the commercial stations Radio 7 (on air since 1988) and the local broadcaster Donau 3 FM. The station established itself quickly as the city's platform for music outside the commercial mainstream and for political and cultural programming from the free-radio perspective.

Over three decades, freeFM has maintained its volunteer-based, advertising-free model through changing media landscapes — from the analogue FM era through the rise of internet streaming to the present podcast age. The station is one of the nine free radios of Baden-Württemberg organised in the AFF, and its programme exchange with other free radios takes place through the BFR's audio portal.

Programming

The programme is produced entirely by volunteers. Daytime programming emphasises musical variety and discovery, while evenings and weekends carry special-interest shows on politics, culture, and community affairs. One long-running strand is "Weltfunk" (World Radio), produced by the Ulm group of Zugvögel — an organisation working on migration and development issues — with programmes on topics such as visa policy and asylum, racism in the media and in charity advertising, and development aid, featuring expert guests including specialists on right-wing extremism prevention. The Weltfunk broadcasts, on air since at least 2015, illustrate the station's role as a platform for civil-society organisations.

Training new programme-makers is a structured process at freeFM. The "Radiobaukasten" (radio construction kit) is a series of five mandatory workshops that every newcomer must complete before going on air — alongside becoming a member of the association. The modules cover research skills (how to translate topics into radio language, information networks, the limits of journalism), moderation (using music, jingles, and sound beds, presenting news, conducting interviews, microphone technique), the station's legal structures and house rules (how to get your own show, available infrastructure such as editing suites), the history and legal foundations of free radio (from pirate radio beginnings through frequencies, market analysis, and advertising law), and studio technology (mixing desk, jingle player, CD player, turntable, tape deck, studio microphones, phone interviews). Complementary workshops address press freedom — what happens when it comes under attack and how secure it is in Germany — and the power of language, exploring framing, wording, and conscious reflection on journalistic language.

Beyond the airwaves, freeFM is an event organiser embedded in Ulm's music scene. The "Sperrstunde" series, run with popbastion.ulm, turns unusual venues — such as the Tiefgarage am Bahnhof parking garage as a techno bunker — into free-entry club nights with acts spanning melodic techno, post-punk, and live techno. "Open Decks" evenings at the Studentencafe give beginners, hobby DJs, and experienced DJs a stage to try new tracks. The station also promotes concerts across the city's venues, from the Gold in Neu-Ulm to the Cabaret Eden and Club Schilli, documenting a music culture far broader than commercial radio formats allow.

Coverage and Audience

Radio freeFM broadcasts terrestrially on FM 102.6 MHz in Ulm and the surrounding area, on cable, and worldwide via internet livestream. The station publishes no audience ratings, as is standard for German free radio. Its audience is Ulm's alternative cultural public: listeners seeking music beyond commercial formats and programming that treats them as potential participants rather than consumers. In a city whose media landscape is otherwise dominated by the Südwest Presse newspaper group — read by 92 percent of the region's newspaper subscribers — and the commercial broadcasters, freeFM is the only radio station answerable to its volunteers and members rather than to advertisers or shareholders. Ulm also hosts a studio of the public broadcaster SWR, which produces the "Schwaben Radio" regional programme for SWR4 Baden-Württemberg there, and the regional television station Regio TV Schwaben, on air since 22 September 2006. Notably, the American Forces Network (AFN) was present in Ulm until the 1990s, operating a medium-wave transmitter until the 1980s and an FM service into the early 1990s — a reminder of the city's Cold War garrison history and of how completely the local dial has changed since freeFM's founding.

Ownership and Funding

The station's legal framework — two non-profit associations owning a non-profit GmbH that holds the licence — is designed to lock in the station's non-commercial character permanently. Radio freeFM is a member of the Bundesverband Freier Radios and of the Assoziation Freier Gesellschaftsfunk. Like other German free radios, it is financed without commercial advertising: through membership contributions, donations, and public support, including funding from the state media authority.

Digital Presence

Radio freeFM's online home is freefm.de, carrying the livestream of the 102.6 MHz programme, the programme schedule, and information for prospective volunteers. Individual shows maintain podcast archives, and the station is listed on radio directories and streaming platforms that carry its stream to listeners beyond the FM coverage area. Contact with the station runs through radio@freefm.de. After thirty years on air, freeFM remains Ulm's independent voice: a volunteer-run, advertising-free station whose G7 programme council and Jour fixe meetings keep the programme in the hands of those who make it.