KCRW Offers 24-Hour-A-Day Streaming On Your Computer

Mirror staff

   Considered National Public Radio's Southern California flagship station, Santa Monica College-based KCRW (89.9 FM) has begun offering 24-hour-a-day live streaming audio on its website, www.kcrw.org, including real-time broadcasts of NPR news and cultural programs regularly scheduled on KCRW.
   One of the first major market stations in the country to stream NPR in real time, KCRW is partnered with RealAudio ä, with its RealPlayer technology, and now offers more than 1000 streams serviced by InterVu, which has been paving the road for streaming media since the development of its patented distributed network in 1996.
   Although the Web is world-wide, KCRW's service is aimed at listeners who use their computers at work, since the RealPlayer permits multi-tasking while listening to KCRW.
   "Now commuters can finish listening to Morning Edition on their p.c. once they get to work," said KCRW General Manager, Ruth Seymour. "Since you can multitask while activating the RealPlayer, we've come up with the slogan, 'Listen While You Work.'"
   The station's 200 streams had been filled to capacity, especially on live in-studio performance days (nearly daily) during the station's signature music show, "Morning Becomes Eclectic" with Nic Harcourt (weekdays, 9 to noon).
   With the addition of more than 800 streams from InterVu, KCRW has been able to create two Internet-based program channels. The first is a real-time live simulcast of the station's regular program schedule, including NPR's news magazines "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" and cultural programs like "Fresh Air," in addition to the station's locally-produced signature daily public affairs program, "Which Way, L.A.?" with Warren Olney, the unique weekly musings of radio dramatist Joe Frank and the rants and mimicry of renowned satirist Harry Shearer.
   All of KCRW's local programs are available in both live and archived versions at www.kcrw.org; NPR archives can be accessed at www.npr.org. KCRW-FM is licensed to Santa Monica College.