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WCSB - college station that flipped to jazz
- Thread starter b-turner
- Start date
Still jazz. Still foaming at the mouth over it but less since they ran out of protest funds.
Not sure what you mean by that. Who "blew through their money?"
Perhaps you mean the University. That's what caused this. The university is $80 million in debt. They've been selling off assets to cut costs and focus on core programs. Operating a radio station was not one they wanted to continue. So they handed off operations to Ideastream.
As for the students, their last on-air fundraiser netted about $27,000. I don't know any broadcast radio station that can operate on $27K. The utilities alone cost more than that. The students have no idea what it costs to run a radio station. They can barely run an online station for that kind of money, especially if they want to have a studio. The university allowed them to keep that money. Who knows what they've spent it on. I see they've produced a film about the history of the station. That's wonderful, but really doesn't solve their main problem.
They haven't subscribed yet. They really have no need, since ratings are mainly for commercial radio. The main thing they would get would be demographics. It will take a while for the jazz audience to find the station. Nationally, the jazz audience is declining. The reason why Ideastream chose jazz was they had a benefactor for the format. Had there been a donor for AAA or some other format, they would have gone with that. However, they were not going to retain the status quo. The main thing accomplished is that the university is no longer responsible for any expenses related to the station.
The students have continued their campaign against the change. AFAIK, they haven't established an online station yet. They still believe they can get the university to change its mind and bring back the students. They also had hoped they could hurt Ideastream, and cause them to lose money. In fact ratings at both WCLV and WKSU have increased since October.
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Ideastream from what I heard also had successful fundraising drives in December. It sounds like the angry mob online is smaller than the actual listener and membership base.
Also, a recent article from Spin magazine on the CSU-Ideastream move was written by a guy who used to host mornings on WNWV a few years ago for only a few months. It has a bent that is pro-students and anti-CSU and anti-Ideastream. Not to mention saying format is smooth jazz, which is not.
Also, a recent article from Spin magazine on the CSU-Ideastream move was written by a guy who used to host mornings on WNWV a few years ago for only a few months. It has a bent that is pro-students and anti-CSU and anti-Ideastream. Not to mention saying format is smooth jazz, which is not.
The fact that they haven't been able to get an online radio station up & running shows how big they are. In almost every case I can think of, where a major college has sold or shut down its student station, the students have been able to launch an online station almost immediately. My favorite example is at Vanderbilt. This is how you do it. Notice at the bottom, it says that WRVU is NOT owned or operated by Vanderbilt University. If the students own the station, the university can't shut you down:
WRVU Nashville – Vanderbilt’s #1 Music Resource, est. 1953
Vanderbilt’s #1 Music Resource, est. 1953
wrvu.org
Here's another great example from the University of San Francisco:
Read the "about" page. Very similar to WCSB. Starting a radio station isn't brain surgery. All it takes is desire.
Maybe they haven't tried yet or, if they are trying, they're going about it in a half-assed way.
In all the hullabaloo over Cleveland State's "That's another fine mess you've gotten me into, Laura" this comes from Radio Insight: Greenville College Educational Broadcasting Foundation’s 89.5 WGRN Greenville IL (Not included in future operational strategy; to be sold).
Maybe someone should keep a running tab of how many colleges/high schools are ditching their stations.
Maybe someone should keep a running tab of how many colleges/high schools are ditching their stations.
I don't have any insider knowledge, but my guess is that they are going to hold out to get the OTA signal back, bc a compromise would be a betrayal of their "punk" values. Plus, I think many of the volunteers were used to coming and in doing their shows. While a lot of noise is being generated, I'm not sure they are willing to take on the work to make an internet station happen.
I did find it telling that XCSB is sponsoring a show featuring The Dead Milkmen, a band that hit the scene in the early 1980s. I haven't seen EVERY social media post about WSCB, so maybe I'm not looking in the right places, but I have yet to see anyone who is a student outside of the GM, post anything about the demise of the station. The posters whose pics are available or via the comments they make are people in their 40s-60s. I know WCSB had a lot of shows, but from the outside looking in, it seemed to be a station that spent a lot of airtime serving aging alt rockers, who were in their teens and 20s in the 80s-90s, with hosts of a similar age.
I think the university came to the same conclusion, which is why they came to their decision.
Holy Crap! I remember seeing the Dead Milkman at a show at the old Phantasy theater [I think] in Lakewood back in the 80s or 90s. The one thing I can remember is that after they got done playing a song, the drummer threw down his sticks and ran behind the curtain like Freddy Krueger was after him. I figured "Man, he's really gotta go to the bathroom." Found out later it turns out he had the flu, soon as he got behind the curtain he puked all over the floor.
Those involved with XCSB would prefer to get the 89.3 frequency back. Fans and supporters of the station, meanwhile, continue to attack Ideastream in every way possible. The Ideastream News Facebook page has every article filled with comments that pro-WCSB. I understand they're still upset, and the way the transition happened was handled horribly. Yet, they need to understand that it's radio and it's also a business, even in the non-commercial world.
Unfortunately, the backlash is not going to stop universities and colleges all over the country from getting rid of their radio stations. I do fear for the remaining college stations in Northeast Ohio.
Unfortunately, the backlash is not going to stop universities and colleges all over the country from getting rid of their radio stations. I do fear for the remaining college stations in Northeast Ohio.
If I was Ideastream, I'd close the comments section. The WCSB Change.org petition has 3600 signatures. That's not good.
Correct. A few more went away this month. Universities want to get out of the radio business. Unless students have a viable business plan, they should expect to see more of this.
Absolutely it needs to close. Banning those making the comments would only make things worse.
News did come of out the Dead Milkmen show last night-re XCSB. they are teaming with the Cleveland Reading room to become a non-profit...with the hopes of streaming by May-looking for donations to help get project off the ground.
Also, a lawsuit has been filed agst CSU and Ideastream.
No clue on any of this-just guessing if the lawsuit fails...at least they will be up and streaming if they can make it happen.
Also, a lawsuit has been filed agst CSU and Ideastream.
No clue on any of this-just guessing if the lawsuit fails...at least they will be up and streaming if they can make it happen.
Perhaps over the way it was done, in private without taking outside bids. The bad news for the students is all this means is the university might have to open bidding to other companies. It doesn't mean the university has to return the station to the students. There is no lawsuit that would require the university to bring back the student station, because there is no contract between the students and the university. WCSU was a voluntary club, not an entitlement. The fact that the university retained the license limits their liability in such a lawsuit. They didn't SELL the station. They just turned over operations to an outside company. Had they sold the station, that would have opened the door to a lawsuit.
The other side of this is were the students required to share some of the money they raised with the university? They used a university owned facility to raise money, so shouldn't some of that money belong to the university? Where is that money now? These are some of the questions that could come up in the lawsuit.
The CSB staff wasted their time with protests and picketing trying to get the FM back, when they should have immediately established an online XCSB station. Now months later, they have lost some of their staff and their listeners have found other alternatives. Sorry kids....you blew it.
One other aspect in a lawsuit would be about property. The students claim that there is recorded music and other assets still locked in the studios that belong to the students because they used listener donations to buy them. However, they used the university signal to appeal for donations. The recordings were stored on university property. The new antenna was paid for with donations, but installed on the university tower. The issue isn't about who paid for it. It's about who owns it. Whose name is on the receipt? Just because listener donations paid for something doesn't mean they own it. If you're a student and you create something as part of your education while using their facilities, the university has rights to that creation. If the students used "WCSB" as the name of their organization, that name is licensed and owned by the university, not the students. Unless they created their own non-profit, it's all retained by the university.
Even if the students can prove ownership of certain property, all it gets them is either return of that property, or reimbursement for the expense. It doesn't mean the university has to bring back the student station.
Even if the students can prove ownership of certain property, all it gets them is either return of that property, or reimbursement for the expense. It doesn't mean the university has to bring back the student station.
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