A method and apparatus 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 can specify favorite channels for building their personal playlists, or multiple default playlist channels can be provided by genre. If matches are found, the channel carrying the favorite is extracted and added to the playlist. Channel searching for matches involves monitoring real-time song and artist labels for all channels carried in a separate data channel. Preview times can vary depending on the size of the playlist or number of channels used. During a preview of a segment, users can, opt to listen to the full song or back up in the playlist to listen to a previous song. Connectivity options and web interfaces are provided to facilitate transfer and sharing of customization parameters for personalized radio configuration.