Beat Radio

Beat Radio originally was an unlicensed radio station in Minneapolis, Minnesota that played dance music. Founded by local radio DJ and programmer, Alan Freed, in 1996, the station served downtown Minneapolis and surrounding neighborhoods and reached into the western, northwestern and southwestern suburbs. The original station at 97.7 FM operated for 103 days until it was shut down by the Federal Communications Commission. Beat Radio subsequently moved to licensed stations and eventually became a nationwide radio network.

Freed, who had worked on-air at local stations WWTC, KTCJ, KMOJ, KBEM-FM, the now-defunct KMAP and at WUSL Philadelphia ("Power99"), launched Beat Radio on July 21, 1996 on 97.7 FM with a 20 watt transmitter at 110 feet in downtown Minneapolis. For the next three months, the unauthorized station played non-stop house, and other forms of club music on a signal that covered most of the city and into the north, west and southwest suburbs. The station was not licensed and on November 1, 1996, Beat Radio was silenced by FCC agents accompanied by U.S. Marshals. The FCC had to defend its action in U.S. District Court as Freed challenged the agency in a legal case that lasted for four years and reached the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. No fines or penalties were levied against Freed or anyone related to the station.

However, this was not the end of Beat Radio. A year later, in November 1997, Beat Radio returned to the air for three hours a week on local community station KFAI on Sunday nights from 2 to 5AM. Beat Radio also hosted events at local nightclubs, including First Avenue in Minneapolis.

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