Harcourt exits to “build some equity for myself”

Nic Harcourt, KCRW’s eclectic music tastemaker for 10 years, will leave the Santa Monica, Calif., station later this month. “It’s not the politician’s thing, like, ‘Oh, I’m spending more time with my kids’,” Harcourt told the Los Angeles Times [scroll down]. “The bottom line is I’ve been in public radio for 10 years, and regardless of how great my job is, I make public radio money, and I have two 5 year-olds. I have to think about their future … I’m going to busy. I’m looking forward to building some equity for myself.” Harcourt looks to “explore new career opportunities and expand upon my other activities in movie, television, voice over work, advertising and the Internet,” he said in a statement. Harcourt, music director and host of KCRW’s signature program Morning Becomes Eclectic, will continue at the station as host of an as yet unnamed Sunday evening music show. In this 2005 profile of Harcourt, the New York Times Magazine describes Harcourt as “the country’s most important disc jockey and a genuine bellwether.”