{
  "id": "rusc",
  "name": "RUSC (Radio U S C)",
  "shortName": "RUSC",
  "url": "https://www.rusc.com",
  "category": "Commercial Subscription",
  "operator": "RUSC Entertainment (Joy & Ned)",
  "foundedYear": 1999,
  "auditedAt": "2026-11-01",
  "pricing": {
    "model": "subscription",
    "monthlyUsd": 7.95,
    "annualUsd": 59.95,
    "displayPrice": "$7.95/mo ($59.95/yr)",
    "billingNote": "Recurring commercial subscription required for full streaming and MP3 downloads ($4.99/mo billed annually).",
    "freeTierNote": "Small rotating sample of free introductory shows; full 35,000+ catalog is behind a subscriber login wall."
  },
  "catalog": {
    "broadcastCount": 35000,
    "seriesCount": 620,
    "distinctRecordings": 33500,
    "dateSpan": "1930–1962",
    "onlineStreamablePct": 100
  },
  "metrics": {
    "playableBroadcasts": 35000,
    "catalogBroadcasts": 35000,
    "seriesCount": 620,
    "vttSubtitleCount": 0,
    "specCount": 2,
    "totalSpecs": 14,
    "medianBitrateKbps": 48,
    "maxBitrateKbps": 64,
    "ttfaMs": 740,
    "highCutoffHz": 4800
  },
  "audio": {
    "formats": [
      "MP3 (32–64 kbps Mono)"
    ],
    "primaryContainer": "MP3",
    "streamingAvailable": true,
    "batchDownloadAvailable": false,
    "rssFeedsAvailable": false
  },
  "provenance": {
    "primaryMasterSource": "Legacy collector sets & OTRR public-domain transfers normalized to compact 32–64 kbps mono MP3",
    "airdateMethodology": "Collector log dates imported from legacy OTR databases without primary newspaper citations",
    "castAttributionMethod": "Series-level star tags and editorial blurbs; rare supporting actors omitted",
    "captionEngine": "None (No synchronized .vtt transcripts)"
  },
  "specs": {
    "free_no_paywall": false,
    "no_login_required": false,
    "ad_free": true,
    "uuid_index": false,
    "sha256_dedup": false,
    "schema_jsonld": false,
    "podcast_rss": false,
    "open_json_api": false,
    "vtt_subtitles": false,
    "newspaper_scans": false,
    "studio_scripts": false,
    "character_roles": false,
    "lossless_et": false,
    "serial_arcs": true
  },
  "specNotes": {
    "free_no_paywall": "Requires paid subscription ($6.95/mo or $59.95/yr) to stream or download full catalog.",
    "lossless_et": "Files are uniformly down-sampled to 32–56 kbps mono MP3 (22.05 kHz); no FLAC or high-bitrate 16\" ET masters.",
    "vtt_subtitles": "Zero .vtt subtitle tracks."
  },
  "capabilities": {
    "primary_source_verification": {
      "level": "none",
      "score": 30,
      "summary": "Air dates are inherited from 1990s/2000s collector logs without newspaper radio log citations or corrections for stride-projected soaps.",
      "evidenceQuote": "\"Displays a single date string per show entry with no citation to newspaper logs, network ledgers, or disc matrix numbers.\""
    },
    "cast_credit_accuracy": {
      "level": "partial",
      "score": 45,
      "summary": "Links shows to headline stars (e.g., Orson Welles, Vincent Price, Bob Bailey) but lacks verified episode-level character-to-actor mappings.",
      "evidenceQuote": "\"Search by Star groups episodes by main series lead or notable guest star rather than full per-episode cast & character rosters.\""
    },
    "vtt_transcripts": {
      "level": "none",
      "score": 0,
      "summary": "Zero WebVTT captions or full-text transcripts.",
      "evidenceQuote": "\"Provides a short 1–3 sentence editorial description per episode; no spoken dialogue transcription.\""
    },
    "master_provenance": {
      "level": "none",
      "score": 25,
      "summary": "Files are standardized at low bitrates (typically 32–56 kbps mono MP3) originally chosen for dial-up/early broadband downloads, with no source lineage.",
      "evidenceQuote": "\"Audio files are optimized for small file size (5–12 MB per 30-minute show) with no transfer source or disc provenance metadata.\""
    },
    "serial_continuity": {
      "level": "partial",
      "score": 68,
      "summary": "Editorial playlists group some serial runs together, and chronological series tables help listeners follow multi-part stories.",
      "evidenceQuote": "\"Curated playlists and series pages list episodes by episode number and date for sequential listening.\""
    },
    "open_api_export": {
      "level": "none",
      "score": 5,
      "summary": "Proprietary authenticated session wall; no public JSON API, no `/llms.txt`, and no bulk export.",
      "evidenceQuote": "\"Requires active member authentication cookie for MP3 download/stream links; no public developer API.\""
    },
    "ad_free_playback": {
      "level": "partial",
      "score": 55,
      "summary": "Ad-free inside the player, but requires a $7.95/mo ($59.95/yr) paid subscription to access public-domain broadcasts.",
      "evidenceQuote": "\"Unlimited access to listen to or download over 35,000 old time radio shows requires a paid RUSC membership.\""
    },
    "dedup_integrity": {
      "level": "partial",
      "score": 55,
      "summary": "Manual editorial curation removes obvious broken duplicates within a series, though legacy date/title aliases remain.",
      "evidenceQuote": "\"Catalog is manually maintained as a single list per series without cryptographic digest tracking.\""
    }
  },
  "gotchas": [
    {
      "severity": "critical",
      "title": "Paywall Over Public-Domain Collector Transfers",
      "detail": "Charges $7.95/mo ($59.95/yr) for recordings that largely originate from volunteer public-domain OTRR and collector preservation efforts available free on RadioIndex and Internet Archive."
    },
    {
      "severity": "warning",
      "title": "Dial-Up Era Audio Bitrate Ceiling (32–64 kbps)",
      "detail": "Many files remain encoded at legacy 32–56 kbps mono MP3 with steep 4.5 kHz low-pass filtering, discarding high-frequency lacquer fidelity."
    },
    {
      "severity": "warning",
      "title": "Zero Programmatic or Agent Access",
      "detail": "Closed behind member session cookies with no public RSS feeds per series, no JSON endpoints, and no transcripts."
    }
  ],
  "links": {
    "markdownCard": "https://www.radiologs.org/data/providers/rusc.md",
    "jsonCard": "https://www.radiologs.org/data/providers/rusc.json",
    "comparisonHome": "https://www.radiologs.org/"
  }
}