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Non-comm. changes

The talk/news most non comm's switched to has led to all time record audiences in the ratings, and that keeps many of these stations viable and on the air
Let's see if that shows up in their ratings. Also, the reality is that more listeners are streaming or going to sources like XM due to the local radio stagnation. At least we have WKHR for some jazz/big band programming.
 
Why would reception change? There are no power changes as they're just moving the deck chairs around.
Correct. But those who were listening to NPR on 90.3 now need to listen on either 104.9 or 89.7. Depending on their location, they may have some reception issues. I assume anyone who was listening to WCLV on 104.9 will not have any reception issues on 90.3.
 
Let's see if that shows up in their ratings. Also, the reality is that more listeners are streaming or going to sources like XM due to the local radio stagnation. At least we have WKHR for some jazz/big band programming.
Nothing lasts forever, is the point. WKHR is one of those few stations that—for now—is still largely sustainable because the staff is all-volunteer. If it were employee-staffed they would have been sold to other outside interests a long time ago.

WCLV will naturally experience an uptick in ratings and support and WKSU’s ratings should largely be unchanged in Akron. Ideastream promoted these changes long enough on both 104.9 and 90.3 that WKSU should place at or around what WCPN had been.

It might come as a surprise to some but in the long run streaming is much more viable than SiriusXM and HD Radio. All you need is a smartphone to listen to any station you want to, anywhere around the world, and it doesn’t require a paywall or fancy equipment.

This is why Ideastream and WKSU did what they did, to develop and enhance two core radio brands in this new environment that people can identify with and search for, while preserving all the local elements they possibly could.
 
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Nothing lasts forever, is the point. WKHR is one of those few stations that—for now—is still largely sustainable because the staff is all-volunteer. If it were employee-staffed they would have been sold to other outside interests a long time ago.
WKHR besides being volunteers does have decent on-air fundraising and I believe the school district provides the space but regardless of the specifics, they do a great job and have great sound quality better than many commercial stations.

If Cleveland Schools might have though about the future, they might have kept WBOE which later became WCPN but it would have had to shift focus since audio lessons were not as popular in the 1970's and television was taking over that area with WVIZ. At that time, there were many issues which led to program cuts but there was a lack of leadership then and afterwards which certainly did not help the district.
 
WKHR besides being volunteers does have decent on-air fundraising and I believe the school district provides the space but regardless of the specifics, they do a great job and have great sound quality better than many commercial stations.
I believe their transmitter is on the 107.9 tower. They seem to have a good coverage area for 750 watts. A shame they tend to shy away from playing anything from the 60s and beyond. There are lots of performers from that era that would fit the format - Al Martino, Robert Goulet, Edyie Gorme, Dionne, Warwick, Andy Williams, Henry Mancini, etc., etc. Seems like they will have to do so eventually as the old-timers are dying off.
 
I believe their transmitter is on the 107.9 tower. They seem to have a good coverage area for 750 watts. A shame they tend to shy away from playing anything from the 60s and beyond. There are lots of performers from that era that would fit the format - Al Martino, Robert Goulet, Edyie Gorme, Dionne, Warwick, Andy Williams, Henry Mancini, etc., etc. Seems like they will have to do so eventually as the old-timers are dying off.
I think they do avoid some of what some might call "middle of the road" singers/musicians but not sure if that's due to the hosts or being told what they should ignore.
 
90.3 is showing the WCLV call letters (with 104 9 appearing here and there) on a regular tuner but using an HD one it still shows WCPN-FM-1.
 
I think they do avoid some of what some might call "middle of the road" singers/musicians but not sure if that's due to the hosts or being told what they should ignore.
There are been some volunteer hosts at 91.5 that tried to mix in a few "middle of the road" selections from the 60s and 70s. Those hosts were subsequently let go.

Getting back on topic, I rarely listen to WCLV or WCPN, so this change will have little impact on me. I was listening to the German program on Sunday nights on WCPN. I am not German, but I enjoyed the music played by host Dr. Joe Wendel. Hopefully, he will find a new home for his show, perhaps on one of the college stations.
 
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If Cleveland Schools might have though about the future, they might have kept WBOE which later became WCPN but it would have had to shift focus since audio lessons were not as popular in the 1970's and television was taking over that area with WVIZ. At that time, there were many issues which led to program cuts but there was a lack of leadership then and afterwards which certainly did not help the district.
It’s likely that WBOE would have either lost its license to Cleveland Public Radio or simply sold it to the group. As it is, they tried to sell it to the Cleveland Public Library after the default-triggered suspension, and the compromise had WBOE’s license deleted.

The biggest problem WBOE faced was WVIZ itself. Their commitment to instructional programming—outsized by PBS member standards even back then—made WBOE almost obsolete.
 
No one said jazz had to be full time but some during the day would bring some variety to the same old same old. As I recall back then, WCPN didn't give daytime jazz much time so it's hard to say whether it was sustainable or not.
I agree that it would be nice to hear more jazz during the day. I have a feeling that more of the arts news and programming on WCPN will stay on 90.3 with the WCLV Classical format.
 
It’s likely that WBOE would have either lost its license to Cleveland Public Radio or simply sold it to the group. As it is, they tried to sell it to the Cleveland Public Library after the default-triggered suspension, and the compromise had WBOE’s license deleted.

The biggest problem WBOE faced was WVIZ itself. Their commitment to instructional programming—outsized by PBS member standards even back then—made WBOE almost obsolete.
From the Wiki:

"WBOE's non-commercial license was still active, and in May 1979 the school board organized an auction to sell the station, with the minimum bid set at $200,000. Northern Ohio Public Radio, described as a two-member organization headed by Gabriel Jurasek, bid $200,000, but it was announced that the winning bid was $205,000, which came from the Cleveland Public Library. A bid by Cleveland Public Radio of $234,360.87 was ruled out-of-order "because it did not meet the minimum requirement of $200,000 payable in cash".[30] Plans were made for the station to be moved from WBOE's eastside Cleveland studios to the main library downtown, with the intention to change the call letters to WCPL, for Cleveland Public Library. An application to assign WBOE's license to the library was filed with the FCC.[31]"

The real issue then and now is leadership in the district. It could have stayed on but the board apparently did not agree:

"A group known as Cleveland Public Radio, headed by lawyer Brad Norris,[26] was founded in 1976 with the goal of bring expanded NPR programming to Cleveland, which at the time was the largest U.S. city without a local fulltime NPR station. The group considered WBOE's limited NPR programming to be insufficient, and after reviewing various options concluded that the only viable solution was to assume control of WBOE and replace its school-oriented programming. However, at this time the Board of Education was unwilling to agree to this proposal.[27]"
 
There are been some volunteer hosts at 91.5 that tried to mix in a few "middle of the road" selections from the 60s and 70s. Those hosts were subsequently let go.

Getting back on topic, I rarely listen to WCLV or WCPN, so this change will have little impact on me. I was listening to the German program on Sunday nights on WCPN. I am not German, but I enjoyed the music played by host Dr. Joe Wendel. Hopefully, he will find a new home for his show, perhaps on one of the college stations.
As I said in a previous posts, the college stations might be the ticket or AM radio like the Czech hour which is on WHKW 1220 or can be streamed:

 
Per RabbitEars, WVIZ is close to activating an audio-only 25.7 subchannel as an additional WKSU relay.
As of this post, there is still no 25.7. Earlier this morning, 25.3-25.5 were all audio only channels, broadcasting the audio of their respective networks. Everything reverted back after 8 o'clock. However, one viewer reported that even earlier today, PBS kids was on 25.3, and WKSU-FM was up on 25.7, along with WCLV-FM on 25.8.
 
1490 is just a rumor on the west side. It is a shame that the legendary WERE call letters have been relegated to a puny 1000 watt signal that doesn't ever cover Cleveland.
 
From the Wiki:

"WBOE's non-commercial license was still active, and in May 1979 the school board organized an auction to sell the station, with the minimum bid set at $200,000. Northern Ohio Public Radio, described as a two-member organization headed by Gabriel Jurasek, bid $200,000, but it was announced that the winning bid was $205,000, which came from the Cleveland Public Library. A bid by Cleveland Public Radio of $234,360.87 was ruled out-of-order "because it did not meet the minimum requirement of $200,000 payable in cash".[30] Plans were made for the station to be moved from WBOE's eastside Cleveland studios to the main library downtown, with the intention to change the call letters to WCPL, for Cleveland Public Library. An application to assign WBOE's license to the library was filed with the FCC.[31]"

The real issue then and now is leadership in the district. It could have stayed on but the board apparently did not agree:

"A group known as Cleveland Public Radio, headed by lawyer Brad Norris,[26] was founded in 1976 with the goal of bring expanded NPR programming to Cleveland, which at the time was the largest U.S. city without a local fulltime NPR station. The group considered WBOE's limited NPR programming to be insufficient, and after reviewing various options concluded that the only viable solution was to assume control of WBOE and replace its school-oriented programming. However, at this time the Board of Education was unwilling to agree to this proposal.[27]"
I worked at WBOE at the time of its demise. Beginning in December, 1976 NPR programming began part-time with only "All Things Considered" being aired at 5pm. Then beginning on January 1, 1977 Public Radio programming was heard in Morning Drive beginning at 6:00am (a local pre-recorded show) and mostly NPR programming from 5pm until midnight when the station signed off. From 3:30pm-5pm they ran shows that the station got from other sources. If the station would have stayed on the air a few more months in 1978, they would have gotten $50,000 from CPB. The school district was in the middle of a teachers strike in 1978 when the 'plug-was-pulled with the last day of regular over-the-air programming being Saturday, October 7th, 1978. However, WBOE remained active as the 67khz subchannel was being used for the Radio Reading Service. The FCC permitted the station to turn on its transmitter with no modulation so that the Radio Reading Service could continue to broadcast its programming for blind and print impaired persons. This lasted until sometime in 1982. During some of those years, the transmitter was on from 9am to 1pm, and then from 5pm until 9pm. The station was still WBOE throughout that time.
 
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