When Ruth Seymour arrived as a consultant for KCRW-FM (89.9) in September 1977, the station was operating out of a building at John Adams Middle School in Santa Monica and had the oldest transmitter west of the Mississippi.
"There was one typewriter, and it didn't work. If you opened the door, you were on the playground of a junior high school," Seymour said. "There was no place to go but up."
Seymour helped transform KCRW from a small outlet with a weak Westside signal to the National Public Radio flagship in Southern California, broadcasting to Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and Orange and Ventura counties. On Wednesday, she announced that after 32 years, she would step down as general manager and retire at the end of February.
Seymour, 74, said that after three decades at any job, "you know you're going to make that decision. It's a question of when. For the last year I knew somehow, sometime, during the year I would leave."
Her departure comes at a time when the station is seen to be in transition. Despite its reputation for superlative programming -- including its signature music and public affairs shows, such as "Morning Becomes Eclectic," "Which Way, L.A.?" and "To the Point" -- KCRW lags behind other public radio stations in local-area ratings.
In October, the month in which the most recent ratings are available, KCRW placed 30th in the Los Angeles-Orange County market, with 1% of the total audience ages 6 and older. Classical station KUSC-FM (91.5) was 19th at 2.3%, while KPCC placed 24th at 1.8%.
But KCRW officials have challenged the ratings system, which they say undercounts the station's true audience.
KCRW is looking to broaden its appeal nationally through digital initiatives such as streaming and podcasting. Seymour felt that having someone else in the general manager role might help the station more quickly realize that goal.
"It's going to be a new era," she said. "Time to begin without me."
The personnel commission at Santa Monica College, which holds the station's license, will review all applicants to replace Seymour and make a list of the top qualifiers; college President Chui L. Tsang ultimately will decide who will replace Seymour.
Seymour, most familiar to listeners for her distinctive role as a lead voice during pledge drives and as the sometime host of the program "The Politics of Culture," demurred about whether she'd return to KCRW's airwaves after February.
