Apparently there are some at the station who weren't students at all.
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WCSB Flips to Jazz
- Thread starter Delete My Account
- Start date
Apparently there are some at the station who weren't students at all.
Indeed, most of them were the nationality hosts. And to be honest, nationality programming is a relic from decades ago; many of them moved to the non-comm band when WXEN and WZAK gave up ethnic programming and switched formats in the late 1970s. WCPN aired them as part of a condition with their license but those hosts either retired or passed away.
Some colleges still do it. I think WRSU still does a few on Sundays. It's their version of public service programming.
What interests me is that IdeasStream is owned by WKSU which is an NPR affiliate. Even with the Fowler Foundation funding, I have to wonder if a couple of years down the road we will be seeing WCSB being sold to a religious broadcaster to help WKSU pay its NPR bills.
Not exactly. WKSU is owned by Kent State. IdeaStream is an independent operator. They own WCLV and WCPN. Kent State retained the license of WKSU, just as Cleveland State is retaining the license of WCSB. Because Cleveland State retained the license, there is no way that WKSU could sell it to anyone. Also, WCSB won't be an NPR affiliate. So it won't have any NPR bills.
I'll have to check the website but it sounds like the new WCSB will not be carrying any of the jazz specialty programs from NPR, APR, or PRI.
It's a win-win for all parties. Cleveland State and Kent State only need to administer the licenses for WCSB and WKSU (plus repeaters WKRW, WKSV, WKRJ and WNRK, along with WKSU's two on-channel boosters) while Ideastream supplies the programming. JazzNEO was already in existence as a WCLV subchannel, so there's no additional personnel or infrastructure.
WCSB/JazzNEO is carrying a few NPR music shows and a few from PRX on the weekend (WFMT's Jazz Network airs in spots when there are no local hosts) but no newscasts from NPR or elsewhere.
Don't forget the travel shows with Rick Steves.
Yes, I know. I assume those shows are (or were) listened to by older, ethnic folks. How many of them are capable of tuning in to HD subchannels? Probably not many. I think a better option would be moving to another college station - some are already airing ethnic programs. Or maybe even WHK - I know they air an Irish program on Sunday morning, not sure if they have any others.
The vast majority are probably streaming the content online, which doesn't require an HD tuner. Just a phone.
And one could have said the same thing about WXEN and WZAK being on FM in the early 1960s.
In theory WRUW and WJCU could, but that would impact their existing schedules for this semester. WHK is all-brokered on the weekend so it's a matter of the hosts paying for the airtime (and Gerry Quinn effectively has a lifetime arrangement to continue his Irish program on WHK). WERE 1490 used to have ethnic shows on Sunday but it's now only Polish and Slovak hours nowadays.
I grew up in the 60s. We had radios capable of receiving FM at home. I know it was a different story in cars which typically just had AM radios.
VintageMac
Banned
Not for the individuals who were actively involved in the station and were cut off quite abruptly, some would rudely.
That's life. Wait til they get jobs in the real world. They'll get that experience a lot. Especially in radio.
VintageMac
Banned
One positive thing to note is that the sound quality on WCSB is excellent compared to the HD-2 stream on 90.3 which is somewhat compressed so for those who like the jazz format, they will enjoy the improvement.
VintageMac
Banned
Correct but for a public university who already has some image problems, it doesn't look good. The Reddit forum on this topic is an interesting read.
How many of those people on reddit work in real radio? People get fired all the time. We have government workers getting fired right now.
Public universities are getting their funding cut. You can't pay for radio stations when your funding gets cut.
The university wants to direct all of its funding towards instruction and learning. Not playtime.
VintageMac
Banned
It doesn't matter if they work in radio, it's the image of the university that's getting trashed. They simply could have handled the situation better since most of the affected individuals were not paid as I understand it.
We know people get fired all the time so you're stating something we all know but those are paid positions which is worse but again, the university should have handled it better.
Do you want your taxpayer money going to a bunch of kids playing their favorite music on the radio? Vote yes or no.
The government just cut millions of dollars from Ideastream. How do you feel about that?
VintageMac
Banned
That's better than our tax money being paid to our supposed representatives who can't even figure out property tax reform.
VintageMac
Banned
By the way, college is a learning experience and WCSB was part of that for some just like WUJC, WRUW, WBWC etc.