A method and apparatus are provided for generating a personalized radio channel playlist by time division multiplexing songs from multiple received channels from one or more broadcast source streams in a queue. Users specify favorite channels for building personal playlists, or multiple default playlist channels are provided by genre. Thumbs up/down buttons on the radio receiver enter a song or artist being played back into a favorites list used to search all channels for matches or a banned list used to block songs from future playlists. A matched channel carrying the favorite is added to the playlist. Segments on the playlist are dynamically truncated to reduce the average time each segment is played and facilitate preview. Preview times can vary depending on the size of the playlist or number of channels used. Connectivity options and web interfaces facilitate transfer and sharing of customization parameters for personalized radio configuration.