Broadcast area | Southern California |
---|---|
Frequency | 91.5 MHz (HD Radio) |
Branding | Classical California KUSC |
Programming | |
Format | Classical music |
Ownership | |
Owner | University of Southern California |
History | |
First air date | October 24, 1946 |
Call sign meaning | University of Southern California |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 69318 |
Class | B |
ERP | 39,000 watts (directional antenna) |
HAAT | 891 meters (2,923 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 34°12′48″N118°03′41″W / 34.21333°N 118.06139°W |
Repeater(s) | See § Transmitter network |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen live |
Website | kusc.org |
KUSC (91.5 FM; "Classical California KUSC") is a listener-supported classical music radio station broadcasting from downtown Los Angeles, California, United States. [1] KUSC is owned and operated by the University of Southern California, which also operates student-run Internet station KXSC (AM) and San Francisco's classical station KDFC. It is the largest non-profit classical music station in the country and one of the two classical music stations in the Greater Los Angeles Area, KUSC and KMZT.
The station was one of the first radio stations to operate on the FM band when it officially signed on using the frequency of 91.7 on December 5, 1946. [2] Its primary benefactor was George Allan Hancock. It operated out the Hancock Foundation building on the USC campus and broadcast from a 250 foot tower above the building. [3]
In the 1970s the station adopted a general public radio format. On April 2, 1973 new station manager Wally Smith oversaw the return to the all classical station. In 1976 the station's transmitter was placed on Lookout Mountain ( 34°06′34″N118°23′26″W / 34.109444°N 118.390556°W ) [4] in Laurel Canyon, above Hollywood. In 1993 a tower was erected on Mount Harvard near Mount Wilson. [5] In 1996 Smith left the station after changing the format to talk, classical, jazz, folk and world music (he would go on to develop WPBB).
In 2010 it moved its broadcast studio to the USC Building in downtown Los Angeles. [3]
In February 2014, public radio station KCRW of Santa Monica announced that it would buy the Santa Barbara Foundation's classical station KDB (FM) 93.7 in Santa Barbara for $1 million. [6] The transaction will allow KCRW to begin using KQSC, USC's current repeater station in Santa Barbara, as a repeater for KCRW's programming, while transferring KUSC's classical programming from KQSC to KDB, thus perpetuating KDB's role as Santa Barbara's classical station. The legacy KDB call letters have been retained. As of 2022, the radio station rebranded; therefore the new name for the channel is Classical California KUSC.
Notable local programming includes: [7]
Management helped establish the nationwide Classical 24 network and also supervised Virginia's WMRA network before taking up leadership at KUSC.
The station holds three membership drives annually to help support operational costs. These drives usually last less than ten days. Corporate sponsors include Lexus, Miramax Films, University of Redlands, Universal Music Group, City of Hope National Medical Center and Providence Health & Services.
KUSC is not related to WUSC, the student-run radio station at the University of South Carolina; the two institutions happen to share initials.
Call sign | Frequency | City of license | Facility ID | ERP (W) |
---|---|---|---|---|
KUSC | 91.5 FM | Los Angeles, California | 69318 | 39,000 |
KESC | 99.7 FM | Morro Bay, California | 58653 | 285 |
KPSC | 88.5 FM | Palm Springs, California | 69394 | 1,600 |
KDB | 93.7 FM | Santa Barbara, California | 51169 | 12,500 |
KDSC [lower-alpha 1] | 91.1 FM | Thousand Oaks, California | 69116 | 4,800 |
Notes:
KPCC – branded LAist89.3 – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, primarily serving Greater Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. KPCC also reaches much of Santa Barbara, Ventura County, Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley, and extends throughout Southern California with five low-power broadcast relay stations and three full-power repeaters. Owned by Pasadena City College and operated by the American Public Media Group via Southern California Public Radio, KPCC broadcasts a mix of public radio and news, and is an owned-and-operated station for American Public Media; in addition to serving as an affiliate for NPR and Public Radio Exchange; and is the radio home for Sandra Tsing Loh and Larry Mantle. Besides a standard analog transmission, KPCC broadcasts over two HD Radio channels, and is available online. The studios are located in Pasadena, while the station transmitter is on Mount Wilson. It is one of two full NPR members in the Los Angeles area; Santa Monica-based KCRW is the other.
KCRW is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming from NPR and other affiliates. A network of repeaters and broadcast translators, as well as internet radio, allows the station to serve the Greater Los Angeles area and other communities in Southern California. The station's main transmitter is located in Los Angeles's Laurel Canyon district and broadcasts in the HD radio format. It is one of two full NPR members in the Los Angeles area; Pasadena-based KPCC is the other.
KRRL – branded Real 92.3 – is a commercial urban contemporary radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, serving much of the Greater Los Angeles area. Owned by iHeartMedia, KRRL serves as the flagship for Big Boy's Neighborhood. The KRRL studios are located in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank, while the station transmitter resides on Mount Wilson. Besides a standard analog transmission, KRRL broadcasts over two HD Radio channels, and is available online via iHeartRadio.
KOSC is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Angwin, California, United States, and serving the Santa Rosa area. The station broadcasts a classical music format as a full-time simulcast of KDFC in San Francisco. It is owned by the University of Southern California. KDFC is the radio home of the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Opera.
KXSC is a radio station based in Sunnyvale, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by the University of Southern California and airs a classical music format as a full-time simulcast of KDFC in San Francisco. The station broadcasts in HD.
WBHM is a non-commercial public FM radio station in Birmingham, Alabama. The station is licensed to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where it maintains its radio studios on 11th Street South. WBHM features programming from National Public Radio, American Public Media and Public Radio Exchange. On weekdays, it carries news and information programming, with classical music heard late nights, seven days a week. Weekend programming includes public radio shows such as Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, On The Media, The Moth Radio Hour and Travel with Rick Steves, as well as Bluegrass music and New Age music.
XHGLX-FM is a commercial radio station in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Broadcasting on 91.7 FM, XHGLX owned by MVS Radio and carries the Exa FM national format.
KCLU-FM is a non-commercial radio station that is licensed to Thousand Oaks, California and serves Ventura County. The station, owned by California Lutheran University, is a member of NPR and airs local news, weather forecasts, and traffic conditions as well as a wide variety of public radio programming for California's South Coast of California and Central Coast of California, through additional signals listed below.
The Classical Public Radio Network was a national, 24-hour classical music service in the United States. Its mission was to preserve, enhance and expand experience of classical music for radio listeners. With this vision, CPRN was established in 1998 as a limited-liability non-profit company – a joint venture of KUSC and Colorado Public Radio – with startup funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In 2003, CPRN and National Public Radio (NPR) joined in a collaborative marketing arrangement to further expand the network, but ceased national broadcast operations on June 30, 2008.
WLIW-FM is a radio station licensed to Southampton, New York, and serving eastern Long Island and coastal Connecticut. Owned by The WNET Group, it is a sister station to PBS member television station WLIW, and features programming from American Public Media, NPR and Public Radio Exchange. The station also broadcasts in HD.
KDB is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Santa Barbara, California, and serving Santa Barbara County and Ventura County. It is owned by the University of Southern California and broadcasts a classical music radio format, simulcasting KUSC in Los Angeles. KUSC and KDB air periodic fundraisers on the air, seeking donations and members.
KDFG is a non-commercial classical music radio station in Seaside, California, broadcasting to the Santa Cruz-Carmel-Salinas, California, area on 103.9 FM. Owned by the University of Southern California, the station broadcasts a classical music format as a full-time simulcast of KDFC in San Francisco.
KCBX is a non-commercial radio station that is licensed to San Luis Obispo, California. The public radio station is a member station of NPR and airs a wide variety of programming, including All Things Considered, Democracy Now!, and jazz and classical music.
KESC is a non-commercial radio station that is licensed to Morro Bay, California, and broadcasts to the San Luis Obispo area. The station is owned by the University of Southern California (USC) and rebroadcasts the classical music format of KUSC in Los Angeles.
KDSC is a radio station licensed to serve Thousand Oaks, California. The station is owned by the University of Southern California, and is a repeater of KUSC and their classical music format. The KDSC signal previously competed with that of translator K216FM for the 91.1 FM frequency on the Los Angeles Westside. That translator rebroadcast KKLQ, the Los Angeles affiliate of the contemporary Christian music network K-Love, until the translator's license was cancelled on May 8, 2020.
KDRW is a non-commercial FM radio station that is licensed to Santa Barbara, California. The station is owned by Santa Monica College and mostly simulcasts KCRW and its public radio format, a mix of news, talk and specialty music programs, some produced by KCRW and some from NPR. However, KDRW also originates some programming locally from its studios on the campus of Antioch University Santa Barbara.
KPSC is a radio station licensed to serve Palm Springs, California. The station is owned by the University of Southern California, and is a repeater of KUSC and their classical music format.
KDFC is a non-commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, that broadcasts classical music 24 hours daily. It is owned by the University of Southern California. KDFC is the radio home of the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Opera. The station's live stream is available on the Internet and through the station's mobile app.
KDFH was a radio station licensed to Big Sur, California. The station served the Monterey and Santa Cruz areas.
KFI-FM was a short-lived FM broadcasting station, licensed to Los Angeles, California. It was the first station with a transmitter located on Mount Wilson. The station began test programs in 1946 and only lasted until 1951, when the owner, Earle C. Anthony, decided to shut down operations and return the license to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This was due to the fact that relatively few persons had FM receivers, and owners saw a limited future for FM operations.