Cleveland’s WCLV becomes latest classical FM to shift to pubcasting ownership

Under a license transfer agreement announced this week, Cleveland’s commercial classical music station WCLV will become a subsidiary of ideastream, the Northern Ohio pubcaster that operates WVIZ-TV and WCPN-FM. The transfer is a donation, not an acquisition, intended to preserve the existing service and staff by sharing facilities, services and programming, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Both WCLV and ideastream are grounded in the same philosophy — that broadcasters have a great opportunity and hence a great responsibility to use the medium to enrich and enlarge the lives of the public they serve,” says Robert Conrad, WCLV president and co-founder, in Crain’s Cleveland Business. The ownership transfer makes WCLV the fourth major market commercial classical music station to shift to pubcasting ownership since 2009.