Who’s #1? We Are. Classical California Tops the Nation in Public Radio Listening

As Classical California’s KUSC (Los Angeles) and KDFC (San Francisco) officially merged their on-air presentation into one unified station, broadcasting live from both cities on October 27, the latest Nielsen ratings highlight an extraordinary success story for this statewide classical music network.

In the October Nielsen ratings period, Classical California’s Los Angeles station, KUSC, ranked as the most-listened-to public radio station in the country, reaching 698,000 weekly listeners. That places KUSC ahead of even powerhouse NPR news stations like KQED San Francisco (685,000 listeners) and WNYC New York (671,000 listeners).

For years, KUSC has had the largest classical radio audience in America, now nearly double the size of the next-largest classical station, WQXR in New York.

Meanwhile, in Northern California, KDFC continues to stand out as the Bay Area’s top-rated music station for the month, ranking third overall in San Francisco, behind only news leaders KQED and KCBS.

(These numbers don’t even include Classical California’s growing audiences in Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Monterey, and Ukiah, nor the station’s expanding online reach across the nation.)

A Vision in Harmony

On October 27th, Classical California combined its schedule of popular hosts broadcasting from both Los Angeles and San Francisco every day on one channel. As Classical California moves forward as one unified network, these milestones, record-breaking listenership, strong community support, and a shared vision underscore the vitality of classical music in California life. With the support of listeners across the state, that harmony continues to resonate louder than ever.