KCSN 'Smart Rock' In The Valley

The new program director at the Cal State Northridge-based station says the eclectic adult-alternative music blend will emphasize local bands, with live DJs replacing the automated format.

That philosophy will be carried out in special programs for which Program Director, SkyDaniels has hired hosts who have been fixtures on the Southland pop music scene: former KCRW-FM DJ and music director Nic Harcourt, whose new "Connections" show will run 3 to 6 p.m. Saturdays; longtime L.A. Times pop music critic Robert Hilburn, whose "Rock 'n' Roll Times with Robert Hilburn" will air at 6 p.m. Sundays; and another former Times staffer, Kevin Bronson, who will bring his "Buzz Bands" coverage of L.A. bands on the rise to the station from midnight to 1 a.m. Sundays.

Daniels is unveiling the Harcourt, Hilburn and Bronson shows this weekend in time for "Carmageddon," this weekend's closure of the 405 Freeway through the Mulholland Pass, when he expects many Angelenos to be spending extra time in the cars searching for diversions.

Daniels himself will return to the airwaves July 18 as the station's afternoon drive-time DJ 3 to 7 p.m. weekdays. Jim Nelson will handle the morning drive slot from 6 to 10, and Meishel Menachekanian will bridge the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. show between Nelson and Daniels. The station also will continue to carry National Public Radio's World Café program 7 to 9 weeknights.

And while KCSN's format officially remains AAA, Daniels said, "If someone says, 'I'm really into Triple A music,' who even knows what that is? That's not how real people talk. What we play, pure and simple, is smart rock."

He says KCSN's "smart rock" will encompass Top 40, Americana, alternative, country, R&B and hip-hop.

LAMediaWatch.com