KUSC to Air Clinton’s Weekly Radio Broadcasts

Public-radio station KUSC-FM (91.5) said Wednesday it will begin airing President Clinton’s weekly radio broadcasts Saturday, making it the only Los Angeles-area outlet to carry the five-minute address.

The broadcast will be aired live from the Oval Office each Saturday at 7:06 a.m. PST, then will be repeated on tape at 3:50 p.m., followed by a Republican Party rebuttal broadcast.

Although Clinton’s radio program is heard in nearly all of the country’s major cities, stations in the Los Angeles-Orange County area have declined to carry it on a regular basis, saying that it often was not newsworthy or that they didn’t want to interrupt regular programming. Most had the same policy when Ronald Reagan and George Bush were in office.

KUSC General Manager Wallace A. Smith said he decided to run the program after a Times story revealed that no station was broadcasting the address and that the White House receives about two dozen calls and letters each week from Southern Californians who want to hear it.

“One reason we decided to carry it was because we felt it ought to be carried in Los Angeles, and it’s a part of public radio’s responsibility to provide programs that no one else will,” Smith said. “Also, we had a lot of community response encouraging us to make this decision.”