KCSN drops classical music for Triple A

Los Angeles now has a full-time Triple A music station. KCSN, the 370-watt noncommercial station operated by California State University at Northridge, dumped its daytime classical music schedule today and reintroduced itself as the only L.A. radio station broadcasting contemporary music 24/7. “We’ve researched what is the best public radio format to reach the broadest audience and we’re convinced this is it. This format serves the musical interests of listeners in our region,” said Karen Kearns, interim g.m. and associate dean of the university’s college of arts, media and communication, in a news release. The station has struggled for viability in the crowded L.A. market amidst all-classical KUSC, news/eclectic music KCRW, jazz-format KKJZ, and news/talk KPCC. KCSN’s signal, the weakest among pubradio outlets in the region, reaches across the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys into L.A. and has a potential audience of nearly 3 million. “That’s a lot of people, but in L.A. there is so much competition,” said Kearns in an interview last fall. This is the second time in five months that KCSN has changed its format. Last Sept. 30, KCSN dismissed all paid on-air staff and switched to an automated service of daytime classical and Triple A/Americana music on evenings and weekends. KCSN went to automation after losing its CPB funding, Kearns said. “There is no money to pay the hosts.”