Crescent City Radio
Encyclopedia
Crescent City Radio is an internet radio
station
based in New Orleans, Louisiana
serving Metropolitan New Orleans and southern Mississippi
as well as all of the United States
and the world through its internet presence as a Freeform
radio station with a diverse offering of locally produced entertainment, music and talk programs ranging from listener-requested music, local music talent and airing radio formats such as Urban Contemporary
, Mainstream Urban
, Adult Contemporary, Classical Music
, Swamp Pop
, Gospel
, and Latin Top 40 Pop
. The station airs a variety of genres on rotation every hour, 24 hours a day. The station is an independently chartered organization at Loyola University New Orleans
.
’s main campus. The station then changed frequencies to 1070 kHz in 1924, 1090 kHz in 1925, 1220 kHz in 1927, and then at 850 kHz in 1929 when a 5,000 watt transmitter was installed in Bobet Hall. The station became affiliated with the CBS Radio Network
on November 1, 1935. In 1937, the station increased its transmission power to 50,000 watts. The station settled at 870 kHz in 1946. At this time, WWL-AM broadcasted from the Roosevelt Hotel in downtown New Orleans.
establishes WWL-TV
, the fourth oldest television station in New Orleans, as the area’s CBS
affiliate.
by the university at 101.9 MHz began broadcasting a Beautiful Music
radio format until the early 1970s from a transmitter in northern Kenner, LA close to the shores of Lake Ponchatrain. WWL-FM
would switch to a Top 40 radio format but revert back to Beautiful Music
by May 1976. On December 26, 1980, WWL-FM
became WAJY JOY 102 and then became KLMG
Magic 102, both airing an Adult Contemporary radio format. By 1995, KLMG
now owned by Entercom Communications
, would move back to 101.9 MHz and rebrand itself as Magic 101.9.
WWL-FM
currently also owned by Entercom Communications
would return to the airwaves at 105.3 MHz on April 2006 simulcasting WWL-AM’s signal after previously doing so on August 29, 2005 when then WKZN
’s transmitter was damaged because of Hurricane Katrina
. Shortly after the storm, the station switched to WKBU
as Bayou 105.3 airing a Classic rock
radio format. In October 2005, both WKBU
and WTKL Kool 95.7 would swap frequencies. WKBU
would change from transmitting from Kenner, LA to New Orleans and 105.3 MHz would become WTKL Kool 105.3. Then in April 2006, WTKL was moved to an Internet webcast
and WWL-FM
would return to the airwaves on 105.3 MHz simulcasting WWL-AM’s signal in an effort to increase listenership within office buildings or other places where AM broadcasting
could not penetrate. Shortly after, The Delta a Blues
radio format would begin to broadcast on 105.3 HD-2.
owned KATC-TV in Lafayette, Louisiana
as the area’s ABC
affiliate and WWL-TV
’s sister station.
comes back on the air. WLDC-AM
aired a progressive
radio format with news bulletins from ABC Radio Network’s American Contemporary Network service from the American Information Network along with cultural news bulletins produced by WLDC-AM
’s news operation. In 1986, the university’s new Communications/Music Complex is dedicated and WLDC-AM
and WLDC-TV move to its new studios on the 4th floor. The entire floor is equipped with several professional studios for the television station, editing rooms, a newsroom, control rooms and recording booths for WLDC-AM
. In 1996, WLDC-AM
still under the Department of Communications, goes off the air.
as an internet radio
station. The following year, the approved proposal was given a final approval by university president, Rev. Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J. and Crescent City Radio went online in Spring 2008 broadcasting from WLDC-AM
’s former studios in the Communications/Music Complex. Although the station was approved by the School of Mass Communication, Crescent City Radio operates under the College of Music and Fine Arts faculty, making the station more oriented towards broadcasting music related radio format
s. In contrast, when WLDC-AM
was under the then Department of Communications, the station included broadcast journalism
as original programming. Loyola Student Media, from the School of Mass Communication, supplies Crescent City Radio with news content. Crescent City Radio runs as a commercial radio station that functions independently as a chartered organization that allows each program to receive commercial sponsorship and air publicity.
’s weekly newspaper preempted several times a day with the university’s latest news. The recordings were updated weekly and were available as podcasts on The Maroon Online. The recordings were produced by the webmaster at The Maroon. Since May 2010, The Maroon has stopped recording radio broadcasts. The Maroon has editorial independence from the university and station.
, the university operated WWL-TV
Channel 4 beginning on September 7, 1957 from the current Rampart Street studios, previously a 7-Up bottling plant in the French Quarter
. After 1989, channel 4 was run by Rampart Broadcasting until it was sold to Belo Corp in 1994.
was owned by Loyola University New Orleans
and was WWL-TV
’s sister station. Previously, the station was owned by the Acadian Television Company since the station first launced on September 19, 1962. In 1984, the university sold the station to Merrill Lynch
. Channel 3 was then sold in 1998 to Cordillera Communications, the television unit of the Evening Post Publishing Company
.
station WLDC-TV that were part of the School of Mass Communication are on the forth floor of the university’s Communications/Music Complex, Crescent City Radio’s same location, which before WLDC-AM
’s closure in 1996 were also part of the School of Mass Communication. Before, WLDC-TV broadcasted from its studios in the basement of the Danna Student Center beneath the Orleans Room’s kitchen, hence the station’s call letters are named after "Loyola Danna Center". Broadcasting began in 1968. Like The Maroon, WLDC-TV produced a weekly student-produced newscast that would air within the university on cable channel 2 and later on 8. WLDC-TV operated with several video editing rooms, master control rooms, a newsroom, a central control room and four television studios
.
After 2006, most of the floor began to be used by the College of Music and Fine Arts except for the former newsroom and mutual usage of Studio A by the School of Mass Communication. The former central control room houses the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz
. Since 2009, the School of Mass Communication under a new director, planned with the College of Social Sciences of Loyola University New Orleans
to establish a student-run digital video operation within the television studios. This is the department’s attempt under a new director to use the university’s idle television studios to create a teaching platform for video
journalism
while avoiding to re-establish broadcast journalism
, which would go against the university’s Pathways restructuring program and its numerous lawsuits against the university. Most of Studio A was equipped with new studio lights in 2010 and is used as a lecture and event hall. Studio B is used for band practice. Studio C is used by the College of Music and Fine Arts to film Loyola Music News and Loyola Music News en Español and the university uses the studio to film video content for the university website. Studio D is used by Vital Sounds Recording Studio as part of their recording studios.
sequence from the School of Mass Communication were eliminated along with the broadcasting
faculty during the Pathways program after Hurricane Katrina
in 2005 when the university cut funding for many programs and fired faculty, many before their tenure due to the university’s assumption that enrollment would go down after Hurricane Katrina
which displaced students for half an academic year. Many former faculty sued the university. In June 2011, the American Association of University Professors officially removed the university from its censure list after a soliciation from the university’s chapter in May 2011.
Programs are produced at Crescent City Radio and most are broadcast live. Music rotations with different genres air every hour between shows.
Some programs may change air day and time every four months (three times) in a year.
Talent and program directors do not need to be affiliated with Loyola University New Orleans and are free to decide the content of their programming. Primetime during the week consists mostly of urban music programs, which also air commentary and discussions on cultural topics that are relevant to the audience. Most programming hours are aired in English
with some programming only in Spanish
.
radio station, Crescent City Radio airs programs that range from Urban radio formats like Urban Contemporary
, Mainstream Urban
, and Gospel
, varying Adult Contemporary radio formats, several New Orleans Music
genres, and specific Louisiana roots music and dance
southern region genres like Swamp Pop
. Other radio formats that air on programs include, Latin Top 40 Pop
, Rock en Español
, K-Pop
, and J-Pop
. Music rotations air Classical
, Reggae
, and unsolicited music submissions from artists. The station routinely researches through music sources and services for artists that the station staff believes may need greater exposure.
, which runs through New Orleans, "Get your fill of musical gumbo on Crescent City Radio dot com" relates to Louisiana
ˈs typical stew of gumbo
, and another stinger aired is, "Youˈre listening to Crescent City Radio, its music for your mind", which includes the stationˈs motto. In Spanish, the stationˈs stinger is "Estas escuchando Crescent City Radio, es música para tus oídos". The stationˈs motto, "Music for your mind" could possibly relate to the stationˈs Freeform
format.
software, a multi-channel recording format. Recordings are provided to the artists for use as demo recordings or for archival purposes. The radio station has a public lounge area overlooking St. Charles Avenue where visitors may see on-air talent live inside the studio through a soundproof glass barrier. Speakers were once in the lounge which allowed visitors to experience the station as it aired live worldwide. The speakers were removed under the decision by the station ˈs faculty advisor.
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
based in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
serving Metropolitan New Orleans and southern Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
as well as all of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the world through its internet presence as a Freeform
Freeform (radio format)
Freeform, or freeform radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercial radio stations, in which DJs have little or no...
radio station with a diverse offering of locally produced entertainment, music and talk programs ranging from listener-requested music, local music talent and airing radio formats such as Urban Contemporary
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
, Mainstream Urban
Mainstream Urban
Mainstream Urban is a term used to describe a radio format similar to an Urban Contemporary format. The format differentiates itself due to two factors: playlist composition and target demographic...
, Adult Contemporary, Classical Music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, Swamp Pop
Swamp pop
Swamp rock is a musical genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s and early 1960s by teenaged Cajuns and black Creoles, it combines New Orleans-style rhythm and blues, country and western, and traditional French...
, Gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, and Latin Top 40 Pop
Latin pop
Latin pop generally refers to pop music that has what may be perceived a Latin American influence...
. The station airs a variety of genres on rotation every hour, 24 hours a day. The station is an independently chartered organization at Loyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...
.
WWL-AM
The station has its origins with WWL-AM by first broadcasting on 833 kHz in 1922 from Marquette Hall on Loyola University New OrleansLoyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...
’s main campus. The station then changed frequencies to 1070 kHz in 1924, 1090 kHz in 1925, 1220 kHz in 1927, and then at 850 kHz in 1929 when a 5,000 watt transmitter was installed in Bobet Hall. The station became affiliated with the CBS Radio Network
CBS Radio Network
The CBS Radio Network provides news, sports and other programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation, and operated by CBS Radio ....
on November 1, 1935. In 1937, the station increased its transmission power to 50,000 watts. The station settled at 870 kHz in 1946. At this time, WWL-AM broadcasted from the Roosevelt Hotel in downtown New Orleans.
WWL-TV
On September 7, 1957, Loyola University New OrleansLoyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...
establishes WWL-TV
WWL-TV
WWL-TV, virtual channel 4, is the CBS-affiliated television station serving New Orleans, Louisiana, southeast Louisiana and parts of southern and coastal Mississippi, and is the primary CBS station for South and Coastal Mississippi. It broadcasts on UHF digital channel 36...
, the fourth oldest television station in New Orleans, as the area’s CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate.
WWL-FM
By 1960, the first WWL-FMWWL-FM
WWL-FM is a simulcast of news/talk WWL in the New Orleans, Louisiana radio market, licensed to the New Orleans suburb of Kenner. The Entercom station broadcasts at 105.3 MHz with an ERP of 96 kW.-History:...
by the university at 101.9 MHz began broadcasting a Beautiful Music
Beautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
radio format until the early 1970s from a transmitter in northern Kenner, LA close to the shores of Lake Ponchatrain. WWL-FM
WWL-FM
WWL-FM is a simulcast of news/talk WWL in the New Orleans, Louisiana radio market, licensed to the New Orleans suburb of Kenner. The Entercom station broadcasts at 105.3 MHz with an ERP of 96 kW.-History:...
would switch to a Top 40 radio format but revert back to Beautiful Music
Beautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
by May 1976. On December 26, 1980, WWL-FM
WWL-FM
WWL-FM is a simulcast of news/talk WWL in the New Orleans, Louisiana radio market, licensed to the New Orleans suburb of Kenner. The Entercom station broadcasts at 105.3 MHz with an ERP of 96 kW.-History:...
became WAJY JOY 102 and then became KLMG
KLMG
KGRB is a radio station broadcasting a Regional Mexican music format. Licensed to Jackson, California, USA, it serves the Sacramento, California, area. The station is currently owned by Adelante Media Group, LLC.-History:...
Magic 102, both airing an Adult Contemporary radio format. By 1995, KLMG
KLMG
KGRB is a radio station broadcasting a Regional Mexican music format. Licensed to Jackson, California, USA, it serves the Sacramento, California, area. The station is currently owned by Adelante Media Group, LLC.-History:...
now owned by Entercom Communications
Entercom Communications
Entercom Communications Corporation is the fourth-largest broadcasting company in the United States. As of November 2009, Entercom operates 110 radio stations in 23 markets across the United States....
, would move back to 101.9 MHz and rebrand itself as Magic 101.9.
WWL-FM
WWL-FM
WWL-FM is a simulcast of news/talk WWL in the New Orleans, Louisiana radio market, licensed to the New Orleans suburb of Kenner. The Entercom station broadcasts at 105.3 MHz with an ERP of 96 kW.-History:...
currently also owned by Entercom Communications
Entercom Communications
Entercom Communications Corporation is the fourth-largest broadcasting company in the United States. As of November 2009, Entercom operates 110 radio stations in 23 markets across the United States....
would return to the airwaves at 105.3 MHz on April 2006 simulcasting WWL-AM’s signal after previously doing so on August 29, 2005 when then WKZN
WKZN
WKZN is an AM broadcasting radio station licensed to the city of West Hazleton, Pennsylvania with service area extending out to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton radio market. The station is a full time relay of the programming of the WILK News Radio network featuring a News and Talk radio format...
’s transmitter was damaged because of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. Shortly after the storm, the station switched to WKBU
WKBU
WKBU, aka Bayou 95.7, is a classic rock radio station serving the New Orleans area in the US. The Entercom station is licensed to New Orleans, Louisiana and broadcast at 95.7 MHz with an ERP of 100 kW....
as Bayou 105.3 airing a Classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
radio format. In October 2005, both WKBU
WKBU
WKBU, aka Bayou 95.7, is a classic rock radio station serving the New Orleans area in the US. The Entercom station is licensed to New Orleans, Louisiana and broadcast at 95.7 MHz with an ERP of 100 kW....
and WTKL Kool 95.7 would swap frequencies. WKBU
WKBU
WKBU, aka Bayou 95.7, is a classic rock radio station serving the New Orleans area in the US. The Entercom station is licensed to New Orleans, Louisiana and broadcast at 95.7 MHz with an ERP of 100 kW....
would change from transmitting from Kenner, LA to New Orleans and 105.3 MHz would become WTKL Kool 105.3. Then in April 2006, WTKL was moved to an Internet webcast
Webcast
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...
and WWL-FM
WWL-FM
WWL-FM is a simulcast of news/talk WWL in the New Orleans, Louisiana radio market, licensed to the New Orleans suburb of Kenner. The Entercom station broadcasts at 105.3 MHz with an ERP of 96 kW.-History:...
would return to the airwaves on 105.3 MHz simulcasting WWL-AM’s signal in an effort to increase listenership within office buildings or other places where AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
could not penetrate. Shortly after, The Delta a Blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
radio format would begin to broadcast on 105.3 HD-2.
KATC-TV
During the 1970s, Loyola University New OrleansLoyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...
owned KATC-TV in Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
as the area’s ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate and WWL-TV
WWL-TV
WWL-TV, virtual channel 4, is the CBS-affiliated television station serving New Orleans, Louisiana, southeast Louisiana and parts of southern and coastal Mississippi, and is the primary CBS station for South and Coastal Mississippi. It broadcasts on UHF digital channel 36...
’s sister station.
WOLF-AM
At the end of the 1965-66 school year in 1966 under the university’s Department of Communications, WOLF-AM went on the air as Loyola’s student radio station on 640 kHz as an AM Carrier-current station transmitting from the basement underneath the Orleans Room’s kitchen to all of the university campus and Dominican College. The call letters stood for the university’s mascot, the Wolfpack.WLDC-AM
At the start of the 1968-69 school year in 1968, WOLF-AM changed its call letters to WLDC-AM naming it after the Loyola Danna Student Center. The station goes off the air in 1977. On February 4, 1980, WLDC-AMWLDC-AM
WLDC-AM was an AM carrier current station based in New Orleans, Louisiana serving the Loyola University New Orleans campus as a progressive-formatted station, airing Adult Contemporary and Top 40 formats...
comes back on the air. WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM was an AM carrier current station based in New Orleans, Louisiana serving the Loyola University New Orleans campus as a progressive-formatted station, airing Adult Contemporary and Top 40 formats...
aired a progressive
Progressive rock (radio format)
Progressive rock is a radio station programming format that prospered in the late 1960s and 1970s, in which the disc jockeys are given wide latitude in what they may play, similar to the freeform format but with the proviso that some kind of rock music is almost always what is played...
radio format with news bulletins from ABC Radio Network’s American Contemporary Network service from the American Information Network along with cultural news bulletins produced by WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM was an AM carrier current station based in New Orleans, Louisiana serving the Loyola University New Orleans campus as a progressive-formatted station, airing Adult Contemporary and Top 40 formats...
’s news operation. In 1986, the university’s new Communications/Music Complex is dedicated and WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM was an AM carrier current station based in New Orleans, Louisiana serving the Loyola University New Orleans campus as a progressive-formatted station, airing Adult Contemporary and Top 40 formats...
and WLDC-TV move to its new studios on the 4th floor. The entire floor is equipped with several professional studios for the television station, editing rooms, a newsroom, control rooms and recording booths for WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM was an AM carrier current station based in New Orleans, Louisiana serving the Loyola University New Orleans campus as a progressive-formatted station, airing Adult Contemporary and Top 40 formats...
. In 1996, WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM was an AM carrier current station based in New Orleans, Louisiana serving the Loyola University New Orleans campus as a progressive-formatted station, airing Adult Contemporary and Top 40 formats...
still under the Department of Communications, goes off the air.
Crescent City Radio
In 2005, Loyola’s Music Industry Studies program presented a proposal to the University Communications Committee to approve the creation of a college radio station at Loyola University New OrleansLoyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...
as an internet radio
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
station. The following year, the approved proposal was given a final approval by university president, Rev. Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J. and Crescent City Radio went online in Spring 2008 broadcasting from WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM was an AM carrier current station based in New Orleans, Louisiana serving the Loyola University New Orleans campus as a progressive-formatted station, airing Adult Contemporary and Top 40 formats...
’s former studios in the Communications/Music Complex. Although the station was approved by the School of Mass Communication, Crescent City Radio operates under the College of Music and Fine Arts faculty, making the station more oriented towards broadcasting music related radio format
Radio format
A radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
s. In contrast, when WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM was an AM carrier current station based in New Orleans, Louisiana serving the Loyola University New Orleans campus as a progressive-formatted station, airing Adult Contemporary and Top 40 formats...
was under the then Department of Communications, the station included broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are "broadcast", that is, published by electrical methods, instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. Broadcast methods include radio , television , and, especially recently, the Internet generally...
as original programming. Loyola Student Media, from the School of Mass Communication, supplies Crescent City Radio with news content. Crescent City Radio runs as a commercial radio station that functions independently as a chartered organization that allows each program to receive commercial sponsorship and air publicity.
News Operation
In agreement with Loyola Student Media, radio newscasts from The Maroon, Loyola University New OrleansLoyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...
’s weekly newspaper preempted several times a day with the university’s latest news. The recordings were updated weekly and were available as podcasts on The Maroon Online. The recordings were produced by the webmaster at The Maroon. Since May 2010, The Maroon has stopped recording radio broadcasts. The Maroon has editorial independence from the university and station.
WWL-TV
Before 1989, when WWL-AM was owned by Loyola University New OrleansLoyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...
, the university operated WWL-TV
WWL-TV
WWL-TV, virtual channel 4, is the CBS-affiliated television station serving New Orleans, Louisiana, southeast Louisiana and parts of southern and coastal Mississippi, and is the primary CBS station for South and Coastal Mississippi. It broadcasts on UHF digital channel 36...
Channel 4 beginning on September 7, 1957 from the current Rampart Street studios, previously a 7-Up bottling plant in the French Quarter
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...
. After 1989, channel 4 was run by Rampart Broadcasting until it was sold to Belo Corp in 1994.
KATC-TV
During the 1970s, KATC-TV, Channel 3 in Lafayette, LouisianaLafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
was owned by Loyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...
and was WWL-TV
WWL-TV
WWL-TV, virtual channel 4, is the CBS-affiliated television station serving New Orleans, Louisiana, southeast Louisiana and parts of southern and coastal Mississippi, and is the primary CBS station for South and Coastal Mississippi. It broadcasts on UHF digital channel 36...
’s sister station. Previously, the station was owned by the Acadian Television Company since the station first launced on September 19, 1962. In 1984, the university sold the station to Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
. Channel 3 was then sold in 1998 to Cordillera Communications, the television unit of the Evening Post Publishing Company
Evening Post Publishing Company
The Evening Post Publishing Company is a privately held media company, based inCharleston, South Carolina, United States.In addition to The Post and Courier of Charleston, the South's oldest daily newspaper, the company owns six other newspapers in South Carolina, including the Aiken Standard...
.
WLDC-TV
Television studios from former closed-circuit televisionClosed-circuit television
Closed-circuit television is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors....
station WLDC-TV that were part of the School of Mass Communication are on the forth floor of the university’s Communications/Music Complex, Crescent City Radio’s same location, which before WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM
WLDC-AM was an AM carrier current station based in New Orleans, Louisiana serving the Loyola University New Orleans campus as a progressive-formatted station, airing Adult Contemporary and Top 40 formats...
’s closure in 1996 were also part of the School of Mass Communication. Before, WLDC-TV broadcasted from its studios in the basement of the Danna Student Center beneath the Orleans Room’s kitchen, hence the station’s call letters are named after "Loyola Danna Center". Broadcasting began in 1968. Like The Maroon, WLDC-TV produced a weekly student-produced newscast that would air within the university on cable channel 2 and later on 8. WLDC-TV operated with several video editing rooms, master control rooms, a newsroom, a central control room and four television studios
Television studio
A television studio is an installation in which a video productions take place, either for the recording of live television to video tape, or for the acquisition of raw footage for post-production. The design of a studio is similar to, and derived from, movie studios, with a few amendments for the...
.
After 2006, most of the floor began to be used by the College of Music and Fine Arts except for the former newsroom and mutual usage of Studio A by the School of Mass Communication. The former central control room houses the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz
Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz
The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz is a non-profit music education-oriented organization co-founded in 1986 by the family of the late American jazz musician Thelonious Monk, opera singer Maria Fisher and Thomas R...
. Since 2009, the School of Mass Communication under a new director, planned with the College of Social Sciences of Loyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans
Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...
to establish a student-run digital video operation within the television studios. This is the department’s attempt under a new director to use the university’s idle television studios to create a teaching platform for video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
while avoiding to re-establish broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are "broadcast", that is, published by electrical methods, instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. Broadcast methods include radio , television , and, especially recently, the Internet generally...
, which would go against the university’s Pathways restructuring program and its numerous lawsuits against the university. Most of Studio A was equipped with new studio lights in 2010 and is used as a lecture and event hall. Studio B is used for band practice. Studio C is used by the College of Music and Fine Arts to film Loyola Music News and Loyola Music News en Español and the university uses the studio to film video content for the university website. Studio D is used by Vital Sounds Recording Studio as part of their recording studios.
Pathways Eliminations
WLDC-TV and the broadcastingBroadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
sequence from the School of Mass Communication were eliminated along with the broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
faculty during the Pathways program after Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
in 2005 when the university cut funding for many programs and fired faculty, many before their tenure due to the university’s assumption that enrollment would go down after Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
which displaced students for half an academic year. Many former faculty sued the university. In June 2011, the American Association of University Professors officially removed the university from its censure list after a soliciation from the university’s chapter in May 2011.
LSCN Channel 8
In Fall 2006, campus-wide (except Broadway Campus) television channel LSCN Channel 8, operated by the Office of Residential Life replaced WLDC-TV as a 24 hour movie channel, airing pre-selected movies and educational material which broadcast from the Danna Student Center basement. The same package of movies would air for an entire month and replaced the following month with a new line-up of movies. It was typical for the Office of Residential Life to send out polls via e-mail to all its residents in all dormitories (except Cabra Hall) asking which movies should air the following month. LSCN Channel 8 went dark in 2010 with no official word on its return.Programming
Programming SchedulePrograms are produced at Crescent City Radio and most are broadcast live. Music rotations with different genres air every hour between shows.
Some programs may change air day and time every four months (three times) in a year.
Talent and program directors do not need to be affiliated with Loyola University New Orleans and are free to decide the content of their programming. Primetime during the week consists mostly of urban music programs, which also air commentary and discussions on cultural topics that are relevant to the audience. Most programming hours are aired in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
with some programming only in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
.
Musical Influences
As a FreeformFreeform (radio format)
Freeform, or freeform radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercial radio stations, in which DJs have little or no...
radio station, Crescent City Radio airs programs that range from Urban radio formats like Urban Contemporary
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
, Mainstream Urban
Mainstream Urban
Mainstream Urban is a term used to describe a radio format similar to an Urban Contemporary format. The format differentiates itself due to two factors: playlist composition and target demographic...
, and Gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, varying Adult Contemporary radio formats, several New Orleans Music
Music of New Orleans
The music of New Orleans assumes various styles of music which have often borrowed from earlier traditions. New Orleans, Louisiana is especially known for its strong association with jazz music, universally considered to be the birthplace of the genre. The earliest form was dixieland, which has...
genres, and specific Louisiana roots music and dance
Music of Louisiana
The music of Louisiana can be divided into four general regions. Southwest Louisiana, , Southern Louisiana, west of New Orleans the southeast, the region in and around Greater New Orleans has a unique musical heritage tied to Dixieland jazz, blues and Afro-Caribbean rhythms...
southern region genres like Swamp Pop
Swamp pop
Swamp rock is a musical genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s and early 1960s by teenaged Cajuns and black Creoles, it combines New Orleans-style rhythm and blues, country and western, and traditional French...
. Other radio formats that air on programs include, Latin Top 40 Pop
Latin pop
Latin pop generally refers to pop music that has what may be perceived a Latin American influence...
, Rock en Español
Rock en Español
Rock en español is the Spanish-language rock music. While the term is used widely in English, it is used in Spanish mainly to distinguish such music from "Anglo rock." It is a style of rock music that developed in Latin American countries and Latino communities, along with other genres like...
, K-Pop
K-pop
K-pop is a musical genre consisting of electropop, hip hop, pop, rock, and R&B music originating in South Korea...
, and J-Pop
J-pop
, an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music, such as The Beatles, and replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene...
. Music rotations air Classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, and unsolicited music submissions from artists. The station routinely researches through music sources and services for artists that the station staff believes may need greater exposure.
Station Image
Crescent City Radio identifies itself with the Crescent City of New Orleans, hence the stationˈs name. Stingers aired on the station include, "Youˈre rolling down the river with Crescent City Radio dot com", which is related to the Mississippi RiverMississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, which runs through New Orleans, "Get your fill of musical gumbo on Crescent City Radio dot com" relates to Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
ˈs typical stew of gumbo
Gumbo
Gumbo is a stew or soup that originated in southern Louisiana during the 18th century. It consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable holy trinity of celery, bell peppers, and onions...
, and another stinger aired is, "Youˈre listening to Crescent City Radio, its music for your mind", which includes the stationˈs motto. In Spanish, the stationˈs stinger is "Estas escuchando Crescent City Radio, es música para tus oídos". The stationˈs motto, "Music for your mind" could possibly relate to the stationˈs Freeform
Freeform (radio format)
Freeform, or freeform radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercial radio stations, in which DJs have little or no...
format.
Live Performance
With a bi-directional audio link with the nearby recording studio facilities, the station is able to feature high quality live performances. Musical acts frequently perform live, on the air and are recorded by station and university staff by using a Digital Audio WorkstationDigital audio workstation
A digital audio workstation is an electronic system designed solely or primarily for recording, editing and playing back digital audio. DAWs were originally tape-less, microprocessor-based systems such as the Synclavier and Fairlight CMI...
software, a multi-channel recording format. Recordings are provided to the artists for use as demo recordings or for archival purposes. The radio station has a public lounge area overlooking St. Charles Avenue where visitors may see on-air talent live inside the studio through a soundproof glass barrier. Speakers were once in the lounge which allowed visitors to experience the station as it aired live worldwide. The speakers were removed under the decision by the station ˈs faculty advisor.