WCLV
Encyclopedia
WCLV — branded WCLV 104.9 — is the classical radio station licensed to Lorain, Ohio
serving Greater Cleveland
and western parts of surrounding Northeast Ohio
; WCLV is one of the few remaining classical music stations in the United States
.
As of 2011, the station has been owned by Ideastream (the non-profit parent organization of WCPN
public radio and WVIZ
public television). WCLV itself continues to operate as a commercial radio station with paid advertising, however "excess profits" are shared with five local cultural institutions: the Cleveland Orchestra
; the Cleveland Museum of Art
; the Cleveland Institute of Music
; the Cleveland Play House
; and the Cleveland Foundation
.
During the week of December 6, 2010, the WCLV studios relocated to Idea Center in Playhouse Square
— the home of Ideastream stations WCPN and WVIZ. The WCLV transmitter remains in the Cleveland suburb of Avon
.
from its principal owner: Douglas G. Oviatt. The correct call sign for the station caused confusion among some listeners since the station used a Scotty dog as a logo, causing the letters sometimes to be transposed as WDOG.
The station was purchased in 1962 by C.K. "Pat" Patrick and Robert Conrad as an outlet for classical music. At the time, most large American cities had at least one commercial radio station that devoted either a large part or all of its broadcast day to classical programming; most non-commercial classical stations were operated by colleges and universities, established years before the advent of the National Public Radio network.
Patrick and Conrad formed Radio Seaway, Inc., taking its name from the St. Lawrence Seaway
, which had opened in 1959 and had made Cleveland an ocean port. The new owners wanted to shed the "WDOG" image and wanted a new callsign that would reflect their orientation toward community service to the greater Cleveland area. The initial choice was WCLE, as "CLE" was the International Air Transport Association
airport code
for Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
. Those call signs also had a previous history in the market, as they were used on a daytime-only station owned by United Broadcasting, a company organized by the The Plain Dealer's parent company, Forest City Publishing, in the 1930s. At the same time, United Broadcasting also owned WHK
, which now broadcasted on a full-time basis. Due to new regulations enacted that prohibited duopolies in a single market, WCLE was relocated to Akron, Ohio as station WHKK, which today broadcasts as WHLO
.
However, the WCLE calls had already been taken by a station in Cleveland, Tennessee
, and the WCLD calls were in use by a station in Cleveland, Mississippi
. As a result, Patrick and Conrad opted for the call letters WCLV, and christened the station WCLV 95/5 on November 1, 1962. (During WCLV's years on 95.5 FM, the forward slash was always used in print instead of a point on the frequency number in station promotions and identification.)
The station immediately launched an impressive, for its day, line-up of classical music programming. FM stereo broadcasts were begun on February 4, 1963, just three months after the debut. Two hour-long evening programming blocks also were unveiled within months of each other: first, the Symphony at Seven sponsored by Cleveland Trust on October 5, 1964, and the Heinen's Concert Hall on February 1, 1965. Concert Hall ended its run in 2003, while Symphony at Seven continues to this very day, its sponsorship carried over by Cleveland Trust's successors (Ameritrust, Society Bank and KeyBank).
One of WCLV's booth announcers, Martin Perlich
, debuted the Perlich Project in late 1966 - a mixture of classical music with the early selections of progressive rock
along with Perlich's own personal comments and editorials on events of the day. His show would gain renown as one of the earliest such shows on commercial radio, and as a model for the progressive rock medium itself.
In 1965, the station began broadcasting concerts of the Cleveland Orchestra
on Sunday afternoons at 4:00 p.m. That time slot has remained virtually unchanged since. WCLV eventually started national distribution of the Orchestras' broadcasts to stations throughout the country, through its subsidiary syndication arm Seaway Productions. WCLV and Seaway also started to syndicate other programs, including Karl Haas
' Adventures in Good Music
(which ran from 1970 until 2007), and concert broadcasts of the Detroit Symphony
, the Royal Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra
, the Rotterdam Philharmonic
, and the San Francisco Symphony
.
Studios were moved from the original location in the Eastgate Shopping Center in Mayfield Heights
to downtown Cleveland's Terminal Tower
in 1968 , to Warrensville Heights
in 1986, and finally to the current location in the Idea Center at Playhouse Square in Downtown Cleveland
(as of December 2010).
The station did continue one traditional program from the old WDGO days. On Saturday night, WCLV broke away from its usual classical music programming to present an eclectic program of folk
and novelty music and comedy called WCLV Saturday Night; the program was rebroadcast on Wednesday afternoon under the title WCLV Saturday Night on Wednesday Afternoon. The program also initiated some friendly feuding with rival classical music station WCRB
in Boston. Hosted by WCLV President and longtime Cleveland Orchestra commentator Robert Conrad, WCLV Saturday Night spawned an hourlong syndicated version in 1982 titled Weekend Radio
; it is still heard on numerous NPR-affiliated stations elsewhere in the U.S. By 1990, Conrad decided to retire the full three or so live hours on WCLV in favor of the hourlong version. At about the same time, he reformatted the show, substituting light classical pieces for the folk and novelty songs of past years.
Since 1970, the station has pre-empted regular programming for a week in September to broadcast requested concert recordings of the Cleveland Orchestra as a fund-raiser for the Orchestra. The event is known as the "Cleveland Orchestra Marathon."
's WAKS
moved from 104.9 in Lorain to 96.5 in Akron, Clear Channel's WKDD moved from 96.5 in Akron to 98.1 in Canton, and Salem Communications
' WHK-FM moved from 98.1 in Canton to 95.5 in Cleveland and became WFHM.
At the same time on the AM portion of the dial, Salem moved the WHK
calls and religious format from 1420 to 1220, the WKNR
calls and sports talk format were moved from 1220 to 850, and Radio Seaway took over the 1420 frequency from Salem and renamed it WCLV (whereas the 104.9 frequency had to officially take the WCLV-FM callsign). Radio Seaway initially intended to program the AM station as a direct simulcast of 104.9 FM
(hence the WCLV calls), but instead wound up acquiring the intellectual property of WRMR, a big band and standards station that Salem gave up for WKNR's move to 850 AM
.
While the calls for 1420 AM were first WCLV-AM (branding "WCLV Classic Pops 1420 AM"), Radio Seaway changed the callsign back to WRMR (branding "The Songs You Love") on January 1, 2003, with WCLV-FM dropping the "-FM" suffix that same day. By July 2004, it became apparent that the standards format was not working (probably due to an older demographic base, something largely unattractive to advertisers), and Salem reacquired the AM station, changing the format to syndicated talk under the original WHK
calls.
In addition to assuring the station would maintain its classical music format, WCLV's move to non-profit status has provided funding for local arts organizations. Portions of the station's profits have been donated to The Cleveland Orchestra, The Cleveland Institute of Music, The Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Play House and The Cleveland Foundation. Conrad kept his involvement with the station intact through the change, continuing his duties as before, although he has reduced his day-to-day workload in recent years.
, which provides poorer reception to the extreme eastern parts of the Cleveland area, particularly in Lake County
. From 2001 to 2006, WCLV tried to remedy the problem by having an AM station located in nearby Painesville
, WBKC
1460 AM, broadcast most of WCLV's schedule, but when its owners sold another AM station they owned in the market and moved that station's format to WBKC, the arrangement ended.
Since 1996, the station's programs have also been webcast on wclv.com (see link at bottom of page), one of the first stations in the market to have done so. On August 4, 2003, the station began HD Radio
broadcasts of its signal on 104.9, second only to Elyria
-licensed WNWV
.
On June 29, 2007, WCLV broadcast the final Adventures in Good Music
episode. The program, which had been airing at 8 p.m. weeknights, had actually discontinued production some four years earlier, two years before the death of host Karl Haas
, who began the show on a Detroit radio station in 1959. Syndication of the show to other (mostly NPR-affiliated) classical-format stations was ended at that time as well. Essential Classics, another program of recorded music, replaced Adventures on the WCLV schedule.
On August 10, 2010, WCLV announced it would move from its long-time "Radio Ranch" studios in Warrensville Heights to the "ideastream" headquarters of public broadcasters WVIZ
channel 25 (PBS
) and WCPN
FM 90.3 (NPR
) at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland. The station's transmitter site will remain in Avon. The move occurred in December 2010.
Lorain, Ohio
Lorain is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River, about 30 miles west of Cleveland....
serving Greater Cleveland
Greater Cleveland
Greater Cleveland is a nickname for the metropolitan area surrounding Cleveland, Ohio and is part of what used to be the Connecticut Western Reserve.Northeast Ohio refers to a similar but substantially larger area as described below...
and western parts of surrounding Northeast Ohio
Greater Cleveland
Greater Cleveland is a nickname for the metropolitan area surrounding Cleveland, Ohio and is part of what used to be the Connecticut Western Reserve.Northeast Ohio refers to a similar but substantially larger area as described below...
; WCLV is one of the few remaining classical music stations in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
As of 2011, the station has been owned by Ideastream (the non-profit parent organization of WCPN
WCPN
WCPN — branded 90.3 WCPN — is a public radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, and serving the serving Greater Cleveland area....
public radio and WVIZ
WVIZ
WVIZ is a public television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was the 100th public television station to sign on in America. Its founder was Betty Cope, a former producer at Cleveland's ABC affiliate, WEWS, who recognized the value of non-commercial educational television for the schools...
public television). WCLV itself continues to operate as a commercial radio station with paid advertising, however "excess profits" are shared with five local cultural institutions: the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
; the Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000...
; the Cleveland Institute of Music
Cleveland Institute of Music
The Cleveland Institute of Music is an independent music conservatory located in the University Circle district of Cleveland, Ohio, United States and is overseen by president Joel Smirnoff and Adrian Daly, dean....
; the Cleveland Play House
Cleveland Play House
The Cleveland Play House is a professional regional theater company located in Cleveland, OH. As of 2005, the artistic director is Michael Bloom, the eighth artistic director since its inception. In 2011 they moved operations to the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square Center.Founded in 1915,...
; and the Cleveland Foundation
Cleveland Foundation
Established in 1914, the Cleveland Foundation was the world's first community foundation. , it is America's second-largest community foundation, with assets of $1.62 billion and annual grants of around $84 million....
.
During the week of December 6, 2010, the WCLV studios relocated to Idea Center in Playhouse Square
Playhouse Square Center
The Playhouse Square Center, in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, is the second-largest theater complex in the United States . Constructed in a span of nineteen months in the early 1920s, the theaters were subsequently closed down, but were revived through a grass-roots effort...
— the home of Ideastream stations WCPN and WVIZ. The WCLV transmitter remains in the Cleveland suburb of Avon
Avon, Ohio
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 11,446 people, 4,088 households, and 3,143 families residing in the city. The population density was 548.4 people per square mile . There were 4,291 housing units at an average density of 205.6 per square mile...
.
Early years
WCLV began in 1961 at 95.5 MHz as WDGO-FM, deriving its call lettersCall sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
from its principal owner: Douglas G. Oviatt. The correct call sign for the station caused confusion among some listeners since the station used a Scotty dog as a logo, causing the letters sometimes to be transposed as WDOG.
The station was purchased in 1962 by C.K. "Pat" Patrick and Robert Conrad as an outlet for classical music. At the time, most large American cities had at least one commercial radio station that devoted either a large part or all of its broadcast day to classical programming; most non-commercial classical stations were operated by colleges and universities, established years before the advent of the National Public Radio network.
Patrick and Conrad formed Radio Seaway, Inc., taking its name from the St. Lawrence Seaway
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The Saint Lawrence Seaway , , is the common name for a system of locks, canals and channels that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior. Legally it extends from Montreal to Lake Erie, including the Welland Canal...
, which had opened in 1959 and had made Cleveland an ocean port. The new owners wanted to shed the "WDOG" image and wanted a new callsign that would reflect their orientation toward community service to the greater Cleveland area. The initial choice was WCLE, as "CLE" was the International Air Transport Association
International Air Transport Association
The International Air Transport Association is an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the International Civil Aviation Organization is also headquartered. The executive offices are at the Geneva Airport in SwitzerlandIATA's mission is to...
airport code
IATA airport code
An IATA airport code, also known an IATA location identifier, IATA station code or simply a location identifier, is a three-letter code designating many airports around the world, defined by the International Air Transport Association...
for Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is a public airport located nine miles southwest of the central business district of Cleveland, a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The airport lies just within the city limits of Cleveland...
. Those call signs also had a previous history in the market, as they were used on a daytime-only station owned by United Broadcasting, a company organized by the The Plain Dealer's parent company, Forest City Publishing, in the 1930s. At the same time, United Broadcasting also owned WHK
WHK (AM)
WHK is the oldest radio station in Ohio, and 15th oldest in the country still broadcasting. WHK is currently owned by Salem Communications and broadcasts on 1420 kHz with a news/talk format with programming provided by the Salem Radio Network, as well as being the Cleveland affiliate for The...
, which now broadcasted on a full-time basis. Due to new regulations enacted that prohibited duopolies in a single market, WCLE was relocated to Akron, Ohio as station WHKK, which today broadcasts as WHLO
WHLO
WHLO is an AM radio station in Akron, Ohio, USA, operating on 640 kHz, and owned by Clear Channel Communications.The station has a news/talk format with Jim Quinn's program from WPGB in Pittsburgh, and a schedule of syndicated talkers during the day, headed by Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, with a...
.
However, the WCLE calls had already been taken by a station in Cleveland, Tennessee
Cleveland, Tennessee
Cleveland is a city in Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 41,285 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Bradley County...
, and the WCLD calls were in use by a station in Cleveland, Mississippi
Cleveland, Mississippi
Cleveland is a city in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 12,334 as of the 2010 census.Cleveland has a fairly large commercial economy, with numerous restaurants, stores, and services along U.S. Highway 61...
. As a result, Patrick and Conrad opted for the call letters WCLV, and christened the station WCLV 95/5 on November 1, 1962. (During WCLV's years on 95.5 FM, the forward slash was always used in print instead of a point on the frequency number in station promotions and identification.)
The station immediately launched an impressive, for its day, line-up of classical music programming. FM stereo broadcasts were begun on February 4, 1963, just three months after the debut. Two hour-long evening programming blocks also were unveiled within months of each other: first, the Symphony at Seven sponsored by Cleveland Trust on October 5, 1964, and the Heinen's Concert Hall on February 1, 1965. Concert Hall ended its run in 2003, while Symphony at Seven continues to this very day, its sponsorship carried over by Cleveland Trust's successors (Ameritrust, Society Bank and KeyBank).
One of WCLV's booth announcers, Martin Perlich
Martin Perlich
Martin Perlich, born 1937 in Cleveland, Ohio is an American broadcaster and writer. He attended Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio and Columbia University where he studied music history with composer Douglas Moore....
, debuted the Perlich Project in late 1966 - a mixture of classical music with the early selections of progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
along with Perlich's own personal comments and editorials on events of the day. His show would gain renown as one of the earliest such shows on commercial radio, and as a model for the progressive rock medium itself.
In 1965, the station began broadcasting concerts of the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
on Sunday afternoons at 4:00 p.m. That time slot has remained virtually unchanged since. WCLV eventually started national distribution of the Orchestras' broadcasts to stations throughout the country, through its subsidiary syndication arm Seaway Productions. WCLV and Seaway also started to syndicate other programs, including Karl Haas
Karl Haas
Karl Haas was a German-American classical music radio host, whose distinctively sonorous voice and humanistic approach to making music appreciation contagious made him well-received by many...
' Adventures in Good Music
Adventures in Good Music
Adventures in Good Music, hosted by Karl Haas, was radio's most widely listened-to classical music program, and aired nationally in the U.S. from 1970 to 2007. Adventures in Good Music was also syndicated to commercial and public radio stations around the world...
(which ran from 1970 until 2007), and concert broadcasts of the Detroit Symphony
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...
, the Royal Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a symphony orchestra of the Netherlands, based at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In 1988, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands conferred the "Royal" title upon the orchestra...
, the Rotterdam Philharmonic
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra is a Dutch symphony orchestra based in Rotterdam. Its primary venue is the concert hall De Doelen. The RPhO is considered one of the Netherlands' two principal orchestras of international standing, second to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam...
, and the San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...
.
Studios were moved from the original location in the Eastgate Shopping Center in Mayfield Heights
Mayfield Heights, Ohio
-External links:*...
to downtown Cleveland's Terminal Tower
Terminal Tower
The Terminal Tower is a landmark skyscraper located on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was built during the skyscraper boom of the 1920s and 1930s, and was the second-tallest building in the world when it was completed. The Terminal Tower stood as the tallest building in North America...
in 1968 , to Warrensville Heights
Warrensville Heights, Ohio
Warrensville Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 13,542 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Warrensville Heights is located at ....
in 1986, and finally to the current location in the Idea Center at Playhouse Square in Downtown Cleveland
Downtown Cleveland
Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of the City of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Reinvestment in the area in the mid-1990s spurred a rebirth that continues to this day, with over $2 billion in residential and commercial developments slated for the area over the next few years...
(as of December 2010).
The station did continue one traditional program from the old WDGO days. On Saturday night, WCLV broke away from its usual classical music programming to present an eclectic program of folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and novelty music and comedy called WCLV Saturday Night; the program was rebroadcast on Wednesday afternoon under the title WCLV Saturday Night on Wednesday Afternoon. The program also initiated some friendly feuding with rival classical music station WCRB
WCRB
WCRB is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Lowell, Massachusetts and based in the Brighton area of Boston, which serves the Greater Boston area. It broadcasts a classical music format; it existed as a commercial station from the early 1950s until December 2009, and as a listener-supported...
in Boston. Hosted by WCLV President and longtime Cleveland Orchestra commentator Robert Conrad, WCLV Saturday Night spawned an hourlong syndicated version in 1982 titled Weekend Radio
Weekend Radio
Weekend Radio is a radio variety show hosted by Robert Conrad; its flagship station is WCLV in Cleveland, Ohio. Weekend Radio is syndicated and runs for an hour on many National Public Radio-affiliated stations throughout the United States....
; it is still heard on numerous NPR-affiliated stations elsewhere in the U.S. By 1990, Conrad decided to retire the full three or so live hours on WCLV in favor of the hourlong version. At about the same time, he reformatted the show, substituting light classical pieces for the folk and novelty songs of past years.
Since 1970, the station has pre-empted regular programming for a week in September to broadcast requested concert recordings of the Cleveland Orchestra as a fund-raiser for the Orchestra. The event is known as the "Cleveland Orchestra Marathon."
2001 frequency swap
On July 3, 2001, a seven-way frequency swap occurred involving four FM and three AM stations in Cleveland, precipitated by the establishment of the WCLV Foundation (see below). WCLV moved from 95.5 MHz in Cleveland to 104.9 MHz in Lorain. Clear ChannelClear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
's WAKS
WAKS
WAKS — branded 96.5 KISS-FM — is a commercial radio station licensed to Akron, Ohio broadcasting a pop/contemporary hit radio format. The station serves Cleveland, Akron and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio....
moved from 104.9 in Lorain to 96.5 in Akron, Clear Channel's WKDD moved from 96.5 in Akron to 98.1 in Canton, and Salem Communications
Salem Communications
Salem Communications is a U.S. radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher specializing in evangelical Christian and conservative political talk radio. It owns 99 commercial radio stations, 65 of which are in the top 25 markets. Salem is the fifth largest U.S....
' WHK-FM moved from 98.1 in Canton to 95.5 in Cleveland and became WFHM.
At the same time on the AM portion of the dial, Salem moved the WHK
WHK (AM)
WHK is the oldest radio station in Ohio, and 15th oldest in the country still broadcasting. WHK is currently owned by Salem Communications and broadcasts on 1420 kHz with a news/talk format with programming provided by the Salem Radio Network, as well as being the Cleveland affiliate for The...
calls and religious format from 1420 to 1220, the WKNR
WKNR
WKNR — branded ESPN 850 WKNR — is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio. Owned by Good Karma Broadcasting, WKNR is the primary Cleveland affiliate for ESPN Radio; together with sister station WWGK, WKNR is often referred to as ESPN Cleveland.WKNR is the Cleveland affiliate...
calls and sports talk format were moved from 1220 to 850, and Radio Seaway took over the 1420 frequency from Salem and renamed it WCLV (whereas the 104.9 frequency had to officially take the WCLV-FM callsign). Radio Seaway initially intended to program the AM station as a direct simulcast of 104.9 FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
(hence the WCLV calls), but instead wound up acquiring the intellectual property of WRMR, a big band and standards station that Salem gave up for WKNR's move to 850 AM
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
.
While the calls for 1420 AM were first WCLV-AM (branding "WCLV Classic Pops 1420 AM"), Radio Seaway changed the callsign back to WRMR (branding "The Songs You Love") on January 1, 2003, with WCLV-FM dropping the "-FM" suffix that same day. By July 2004, it became apparent that the standards format was not working (probably due to an older demographic base, something largely unattractive to advertisers), and Salem reacquired the AM station, changing the format to syndicated talk under the original WHK
WHK (AM)
WHK is the oldest radio station in Ohio, and 15th oldest in the country still broadcasting. WHK is currently owned by Salem Communications and broadcasts on 1420 kHz with a news/talk format with programming provided by the Salem Radio Network, as well as being the Cleveland affiliate for The...
calls.
WCLV Foundation
On November 1, 2001, Radio Seaway donated WCLV to the non-profit WCLV Foundation. In large measure, Robert Conrad and partner Rich Marschner (Patrick had retired nine years earlier) arranged the transaction in response to what they and others felt was a disturbing trend in major markets toward corporate buyouts of historically classical-formatted commercial stations, with the new owners invariably discontinuing the format.In addition to assuring the station would maintain its classical music format, WCLV's move to non-profit status has provided funding for local arts organizations. Portions of the station's profits have been donated to The Cleveland Orchestra, The Cleveland Institute of Music, The Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Play House and The Cleveland Foundation. Conrad kept his involvement with the station intact through the change, continuing his duties as before, although he has reduced his day-to-day workload in recent years.
Recent years
Since the frequency change, WCLV has struggled with the coverage provided by its west side transmitter in Avon, OhioAvon, Ohio
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 11,446 people, 4,088 households, and 3,143 families residing in the city. The population density was 548.4 people per square mile . There were 4,291 housing units at an average density of 205.6 per square mile...
, which provides poorer reception to the extreme eastern parts of the Cleveland area, particularly in Lake County
Lake County, Ohio
Lake County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of 2010, the population was 230,041. The county seat is Painesville, and the county name comes from its location on the southern shore of Lake Erie....
. From 2001 to 2006, WCLV tried to remedy the problem by having an AM station located in nearby Painesville
Painesville, Ohio
As of the 2010 Census, there were 19,563 people. As of the census of 2000, there were 17,503 people, 6,525 households, and 4,032 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,928.6 people per square mile . There were 6,933 housing units at an average density of 1,160.0 per square mile...
, WBKC
WBKC
WWGK — branded ESPN 1540 KNR2 — is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio. Owned by Good Karma Broadcasting, WWGK is the secondary Cleveland affiliate for ESPN Radio; together with sister station WKNR, WWGK is often referred to as ESPN Cleveland.WWGK is the Cleveland...
1460 AM, broadcast most of WCLV's schedule, but when its owners sold another AM station they owned in the market and moved that station's format to WBKC, the arrangement ended.
Since 1996, the station's programs have also been webcast on wclv.com (see link at bottom of page), one of the first stations in the market to have done so. On August 4, 2003, the station began HD Radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
broadcasts of its signal on 104.9, second only to Elyria
Elyria, Ohio
-Community:Elyria has an extensive, although financially burdened, community food pantry and "Hot Meals" program administered through the Second Harvest Food Bank and several churches Elyria is served by Elyria Memorial Hospital.-Recreation and parks:...
-licensed WNWV
WNWV
WNWV — branded V107.3 Cleveland — is a commercial radio station licensed to Elyria, Ohio broadcasting an adult album alternative format. The station serves the Cleveland radio market and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio, and is one of the few remaining locally-owned stations in the entire...
.
On June 29, 2007, WCLV broadcast the final Adventures in Good Music
Adventures in Good Music
Adventures in Good Music, hosted by Karl Haas, was radio's most widely listened-to classical music program, and aired nationally in the U.S. from 1970 to 2007. Adventures in Good Music was also syndicated to commercial and public radio stations around the world...
episode. The program, which had been airing at 8 p.m. weeknights, had actually discontinued production some four years earlier, two years before the death of host Karl Haas
Karl Haas
Karl Haas was a German-American classical music radio host, whose distinctively sonorous voice and humanistic approach to making music appreciation contagious made him well-received by many...
, who began the show on a Detroit radio station in 1959. Syndication of the show to other (mostly NPR-affiliated) classical-format stations was ended at that time as well. Essential Classics, another program of recorded music, replaced Adventures on the WCLV schedule.
On August 10, 2010, WCLV announced it would move from its long-time "Radio Ranch" studios in Warrensville Heights to the "ideastream" headquarters of public broadcasters WVIZ
WVIZ
WVIZ is a public television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was the 100th public television station to sign on in America. Its founder was Betty Cope, a former producer at Cleveland's ABC affiliate, WEWS, who recognized the value of non-commercial educational television for the schools...
channel 25 (PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
) and WCPN
WCPN
WCPN — branded 90.3 WCPN — is a public radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, and serving the serving Greater Cleveland area....
FM 90.3 (NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
) at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland. The station's transmitter site will remain in Avon. The move occurred in December 2010.