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Cleveland's WCLV FM/104.9 planning switch to non-commercial format

Zachary Lewis, The Plain Dealer By Zachary Lewis, The Plain Dealer
on September 25, 2012 at 8:00 PM, updated September 26, 2012 at 6:02 AM
WCLV.jpgIn January, WCLV FM/104.9 will switch from a commercial to a non-commercial operation, enabling it to seek philanthropic support.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland's classical radio station is switching organizational formats.

On Jan. 1, WCLV FM/104.9 will transform from a commercial to a noncommercial entity, aligning itself more closely with WVIZ Channel 25 and WCPN FM/90.3, its public-broadcast colleagues at Ideastream in Cleveland.

Station managers said the move, announced to employees on Tuesday, will have no effect on staffing and little impact on WCLV programming other than the substitution of occasional pledge drives for advertisements.

"What's really changing is the business model," said Robert Conrad, president of WCLV and the station's co-founder. "The sound of the station will be essentially the same."

The move by WCLV, which turns 50 in November, comes as part of a nationwide trend among classical radio stations to exchange commercial status for nonprofit platforms, enabling the stations to support themselves through grants, memberships and private donations rather than advertising.

In New York, for instance, WQXR recently made a successful switch from commercial to public mode, with the change leading to increases in both number of listeners and financial support. Similar transitions also have occurred at stations in Boston, San Francisco and Seattle.

"There is a very definite trend," said Jerry Wareham, president of Ideastream, noting positive early feedback from potential corporate and foundation supporters in Cleveland.

Perhaps most importantly, the transition by WCLV to nonprofit status marks another step in a long-running effort by Conrad to ensure the future of the station he co-founded five decades ago and a place for classical music on the radio in Northeast Ohio.

Adopting a nonprofit identity completes a process that began in 2010 with a move by WCLV to the Idea Center at PlayhouseSquare and continued last year, when ownership of the station was turned over to Ideastream.

"That's really the whole impetus for this," Conrad explained.

There are other likely advantages as well. Wareham said the switch also will allow stations within the Idea Center to more easily share resources, including programming such as performances by the Cleveland Orchestra, Apollo's Fire and students at the region's many music schools.

Fundraising mechanisms also can be shared, Wareham said, although pledge drives at the new WCLV will be initially staggered so as not to overlap with those at WCPN and WVIZ. The first drive after the change is currently slated to take place in February.

"We will be taking advantage of those cost-effective measures over time," Wareham said. "There's a lot of synergy here."
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