KUSC Leading the Way Again

Business Wire reports that KUSC, that intrepid Los Angeles classical station with the gigantic audience, is joining the iHeartRadio digital platform.  You can listen online at iHeartRadio.com, where you can customize your listening and even make your own radio station.  I’m not exactly sure how it works, because when I searched for KUSC it took me to a generic classical station, so I’ll update when more info is available.

KUSC is a forward-thinking station that’s not afraid to play a wide playlist, superserves its audience, and has a good mix of national and local programming, including the Met Opera and Performance Today, as well as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and a lot of local ensembles.  That doesn’t mean every note is stellar — I clicked a little while ago and heard an embarrassing performance of Bach by a local group, but I applaud the station for taking care of its local arts organizations.

What I’m hoping to see from this partnership with iHeartRadio is people coming to classical who don’t normally listen full time to classical but like to hear it some of the time.  Maybe they want to add the LA Phil to their personalized playlist, or maybe they have a favorite host.  Whatever opens the door is good, and I suspect iHeartRadio skews younger than the normal classical audience.

I’ve been griping lately about stations dumping their classical from the airwaves and thinking they are still serving their audience by playing CDs online with minimal hosting.  That’s utter garbage.  But this is different.  This is a station that values its on-air product enough to share it outside of LA.

KUSC rocks!