A network of repeaters and broadcast translators, as well as internet radio, allows the station to serve the Greater Los Angeles area and other communities in Southern California.

The station's main transmitter is located in Los Angeles's Laurel Canyon district, adjacent to Mulholland Drive at the end of Briarcrest Road, and broadcasts in the HD radio format.

KCRW was founded in 1945 to train servicemen returning from World War II in the then-new technology, FM broadcasting—hence its call letters, which stand for College Radio Workshop.

Born Ruth Epstein to Russian-Polish Jewish immigrants, she grew up in the East Bronx, studied at Sholem Aleichem Folk School[4] and the City College of New York, and married and divorced Jack Hirschman,[5] adopting the name of her paternal great-grandfather in 1993 to become Ruth Hirschman Seymour.

The KCRW Foundation board of directors is composed of business and community leaders; Monica J. Shilling, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, serves as chair.

[15] The station has three live program streams—"On Air," "Eclectic 24" and "News 24"[16]—and on-demand listening through the KCRW apps[17] and podcasts.

Because of the nature of the repeater network, Santa Monica City Council meetings can be heard throughout the Southern California region reaching out to approximately 150 mi (240 km).

Longtime KCRW DJ Jason Bentley, known for his "Metropolis" nighttime avant garde dance program, is the former host and music director.

[48] KCRW has given initial exposure to artists such as Coldplay, Norah Jones, Sigur Ros, Damien Rice, David Gray and Lorde.

[58] Several hosts have extended their careers into music supervision for both film and television, including Chris Douridas (American Beauty, Shrek 2 and House of Lies), Liza Richardson (Friday Night Lights and The Kids Are All Right), and Gary Calamar, the music supervisor for HBO's True Blood and Six Feet Under.

KCRW has members across the country and the station regularly sponsors live music events throughout the United States and in Canada.

"[59] KCRW promotes a great deal of live music events nationally, featuring both established and emerging artists.

The transaction will allow KCRW to begin using another Santa Barbara station, KQSC (88.7 FM) as a repeater for KCRW's programming, while transferring KUSC's classical programming from KQSC to KDB, thereby preserving KDB's role as Santa Barbara's classical station.

KCRW Berlin ceased broadcasting on December 13, 2020, due to the economic disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.