On College Radio Day, Cleveland State University stunned students by turning over operations of its Alternative station WCSB to Ideastream Public Media, replacing nearly 50 years of student-run programming with the Jazz format, JazzNEO.
WCSB’s student management told Ideastream reporters they were called into a surprise Zoom meeting on Friday morning with no indication of what it was about. By the time the meeting ended, the station’s signal had already switched to jazz.
Both the CSU Board of Trustees and the Ideastream Public Media Board of Trustees approved the agreement at meetings earlier last week. Under the agreement, Ideastream will oversee programming for WCSB while CSU retains the station’s FCC license. The partnership expands JazzNEO’s reach with a new analog broadcast signal at 89.3 FM, building on the February 2024 launch of JazzNEO on WCLV-HD2.
Ideastream also operates NPR-affiliated WKSU, Classical-formatted WCLV, and WVIZ-TV.
The collaboration will include paid and for-credit internships in journalism, radio and television production, marketing, and graphic design. It continues a decades-long relationship between CSU and Ideastream, which began with Tower Music on WCLV in the 1970s and includes a longstanding studio partnership between WCPN and CSU’s Cole Center.
Cleveland State University President Dr. Laura Bloomberg said, “The decision to have Ideastream oversee WCSB programming is one step forward in our Cleveland State United vision, the strategic plan for our university launched earlier this year. CSU is uniquely embedded within the city of Cleveland, which provides students with opportunities to benefit from strategic partnerships like this one. We look forward to working with Ideastream to expand access to experiential and work-based learning.”
Ideastream President and CEO Kevin Martin said, “Jazz is one of America’s most original art forms – and by expanding its reach on the airwaves, we’re ensuring this music remains vibrant, accessible, and part of the cultural fabric of our community. We are deeply grateful to Cleveland State University’s partnership in making this possible.”
