CSUN NOTEBOOK; RADIO GAMES STILL UP IN AIR.

Byline: Chris Branam Staff Writer

They're probably the best women's and men's Division I college basketball teams in America that don't have their games broadcast on radio.

Lack of radio can be attributed to the pathetic home attendance for the Cal State Northridge men, who are off to the fastest start in their Division I history, and for the women, who won the Big Sky Conference last year.

One local broadcaster wants to make a change. Scott Himelstein, a Chaminade High graduate who performed play-by-play for the Matadors' football team last season, has done research that could put CSUN basketball over the airwaves next season.

Himelstein has pinpointed a few FM stations compatible with carrying Northridge basketball, and he also found CSUN will be in a bad situation if it wants its athletic events carried on a far-ranging AM station.

``No AM station (heard) in the (San Fernando) Valley can carry CSUN,'' Himelstein said. ``You don't want a station in the top 50 (rated stations).''

Stations like KABC and KNX, which can be heard for hundreds of miles on a clear night, have costly broadcast fees, Himelstein said, because their ratings are high.

``Even if they were interested in carrying the games,'' he said of KABC and KNX, ``they would charge per hour, and not per game. Their ad rates are too high.''

Himelstein said two Valley-based stations - KFSG-FM in Glendale and KBUA-FM in San Fernando - could be targeted for CSUN athletics. KFSG's format is Christian music, and KBUA is Spanish - and also the No. 6-rated FM station in L.A.

Sporting events broadcast in English on a non-English-speaking station is nothing new, according to Himelstein. As a student at the University of San Francisco in the 1990s, Himelstein remembered Santa Clara men's basketball was carried on a Vietnamese station.

CSUN athletic director Dick Dull said exploring radio for CSUN basketball is one of his projects for the new year.

``We have the opportunity to go out into the market and find if there are any stations interested in carrying us,'' he said.

But Dull said cost, which he estimates at $25,000 for a football or basketball season, is a consideration on CSUN's shoe-string budget.

``With the budget problems we have,'' he said, ``I'm more interested in putting our teams on the road and in new uniforms.''

One Valley-based station is the perfect fit for CSUN athletics - campus- based KCSN-FM, which carried football games on the road last season. But Dull said KCSN isn't interested in broadcasting CSUN basketball on a full-time basis.

``Its format really is not sports,'' he said. ``(The KCSN producers) don't see their format lending easily toward sports.''

--HELLO, CAMPERS: The softball and baseball programs are both offering one-day clinics later this month.

CSUN coach Janet Sherman, with help from assistant coaches Barbara Jordan and Randy Roeder, leads the coaches/players softball camp on Saturday, Jan. 22 at the Matador softball field. The coaches portion runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the clinic for players ages 7 to 16 runs from noon to 4 p.m.

The cost is $30 for coaches and athletes, with a $5 discount for a coach who enrolls five more more players from the same team.

Registration forms can be found on CSUN's athletics Web site, www.GoMatadors.com.

The ``Junior Matador'' baseball clinic is Sunday, Jan. 30 at 9 a.m. at the baseball field, with instruction from coach Mike Batesole and his staff. The Matadors' game against Nevada follows at noon.

Information: 677-7055.