Why I Like KCRW

KCRW is a great local radio station. It's public radio, and the varied schedule of shows keeps my curious mind entertained all day. Personally, I've always been one to have the radio on (I'm not a fan of silence), and commercial pop stations tend to bore me with the same music on rotation. News stations tend to spew the same news in cycles, too. KCRW, however, airs a fun and diverse music selection in the morning, followed by news and other talk shows until the evening when music starts again. I'm sure I sound like an ad, but when I like something, I like it lots :-)

As a public radio station, they depend on donors to contribute to their operating costs. My husband and I each pledge, and have been doing so for years. It's not entirely altruistic, though. They offer "premiums" on the air, donors call in and pledge the amount for that item, and everyone wins. The station, the donor, and the business that offered the premium (e.g., advertising). For example, a gift certificate of perhaps $35 or $50 to a particular restaurant might go for a pledge of $50. With that pledge, the station gives you a discount card that we actually take advantage of. There are some cute kids stores offering discounts, though most are a bit pricey for my taste. There are a few cooking classes which I'd really like to try, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. That and a sewing class...I REALLY need to learn to sew. Museum discounts are also enticing, though moreso when our little guy's a little older. We mostly take advantage of restaurant discounts (~10-15%) on places that we would have gone to regardless of the discount.
The other perk is that if you listen, which I do, they have giveaways throughout the day. They usually have 5 of something (e.g., CDs, pair of tickets) available to the first 5 members who call in. In the past, I've won pairs of tickets to concerts (some were sold out), CDs, and admission to a wine tasting with snacks.

Between the money we save with our discount card, the loot we've carted off, and the daily value the station provides us with on a daily basis, I figure we've more than recouped our contributions.

Each of their programs is online, too. Which means that if I miss an interesting news segment, I can catch it later. It also means that if you're interesting in tuning in, you can :-)

To listen online, click on one of the boxes at the top of their website. Fair warning: They're in the middle of a pledge drive, which is what motivated me to write this post. So if you listen between now and Monday 8/13 (I think), you won't be getting a good sampling of the station's offerings.