In the retail industry, Christmas has been going on for months in some stores. On radio, the season typically begins around the second week of November when KOST (103.5 FM) starts playing all the holiday tunes. Sometimes others join in on the fun.
This year, it’s already happening. K Mozart (105.1 HD2, 98.3 FM in the San Fernando Valley, online at kmozart.com and via the app) is crushing all others with 24/7 holiday music as of Friday, October 25th.
Yes, before Halloween.
It’s a mix of both modern and traditional. While writing this, I listened to David Foster’s performance of “Carol of the Bells” followed by Burl Ives’ version of “The Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
You may be wondering why so fast. Owner Saul Levine explains: “We want to be competitive.” Unstated but probably true, this will draw attention to his station's streams. It also helps that holiday music puts people in a good mood no matter when it’s played. I’m curious to know when stations will air this format throughout the year.
Levine told me his format will continue until December 31st.
station birthday
One of the oldest FM stations in town, KUSC (91.5 FM) has quite a history and celebrated its birth just a few weeks ago.
The idea to feature this column came from the following email I received from reader Michael Morse: During part of my time as a telecommunications major at USC (1958-1962), I was news director for KUSC, and actually received a small salary. The station was run by students and broadcast four hours a day using a 3900-watt transmitter built for the 1939 World’s Fair. The tower was on top of the John Hancock Building on campus, so the range wasn’t very far, but it had listeners.
“Unfortunately, while still a great station today, it has lost its way, no longer fulfilling its original purpose as part of the university’s educational experience. Any thoughts?
yes. But first a little history.
A license was approved and the first transmitter was purchased for the station by the University of Southern California in 1941. But World War II got in the way, and the government wanted the transmitter and requisitioned it away from the station. So Captain George Alan Hancock, an oil tycoon, University of Southern California trustee, and university alumnus (and a former cellist with the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra), purchased another instrument.
A 250-foot tower was erected atop the Hancock Foundation building on campus, and the station began broadcasting on October 24, 1946. To highlight the new band and recognize its potential sound quality, the station dubbed itself “Frequency Modulation KUSC.” wireless. “
According to station archives, the transmitter was mono, stereo was still years away, and clear reception was possible within a 10-mile radius of campus. Although we do not know the original format, it is thought that popular music of the time was performed along with information and entertainment specific to the university. Stan Chambers was an early announcer on KUSC, later moving to KTLA Channel 5.
In early 1972, graduate student Wally Smith became the station’s general manager. He convinced the powers that be to switch to a classical music format, which debuted on April 2nd. This move was somewhat controversial internally, with many students opposing the change. Notice the word “student”… In 1972, KUSC was still a student-run radio station. Notably, the station’s power at this point was 30,000 watts, greatly increasing its reach.
Depending on how you look at it, 1976 was a turning point year. According to the station’s website KUSC.org, “The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has awarded KUSC a major market expansion grant of $750,000 over five years, the first of its kind in the nation. It helped attract a major audience to radio and establish a space for full-time professional announcers, producers, and engineers in downtown Los Angeles.
“KUSC also connects in stereo from a new transmitter on Lookout Mountain above Hollywood, expanding its audience potential to 12 million people.”
Did you understand that? “…for full-time professional announcers, producers, and engineers.” This ended the student’s involvement with the station and, in my opinion, should have triggered revocation of the teaching license. They are professional stations. In my opinion, universities that do not operate their broadcasts for the benefit of their students should not hold an educational radio broadcast license. But I digress.
By 1978, KUSC had become the most popular classical music station in the country. Since then, it has improved technologically using satellite transmission and distribution. For example, in 1984 they broadcast the Olympic Festival of Arts nationally, and in 1985 they began linking stations to simulcast the format, first in Santa Barbara and later in areas such as Palm Springs, Morrow Bay, and San Francisco. It was done. -Station Classical Music Network.
Currently, the station isn’t even on the USC campus, instead broadcasting from a 32-story skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles. However, there is a student-run station on campus, KXSC, which, like KXSC.org, broadcasts using a low-power AM transmitter. I’ll discuss that in a future column.
Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist who covers radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com
First published: October 25, 2024 at 4:39 p.m.
