This story was produced in collaboration with The Cleveland Stater.
Programming at Cleveland State University’s college-run radio station will be taken over by Ideastream, ending a 49-year-run by 89.3 WCSB, college leadership announced Friday. The news was announced on College Radio Day.
The station began broadcasting JazzNEO effective this morning, according to an email sent by CSU President Dr. Laura Bloomberg. While the station will retain its call letters and its FCC license, programming will be taken over by Ideastream and will significantly shift its focus to jazz. It appears the station will no longer feature programming created by university students. Students and community members currently involved in the operation of WCSB were told of the station’s programming fate in a Zoom meeting 15 minutes prior to the campus-wide email being sent by Bloomberg, according to DJs interviewed by The Land. Bloomberg said a non-disclosure agreement between CSU and Ideastream prevented her from breaking the news to staff earlier.
A news alert was posted Friday on Ideastream’s website detailing the new partnership. The acquisition of WCSB also follows the announcement of a $1 million gift from Chuck and Char Fowler to Ideastream. The gift will be used to create a dedicated studio for JazzNEO within Ideastream, according to a press release sent to The Land, and was unrelated to the partnership with Cleveland State University. Ideastream has been investing in the JazzNEO brand since 2024.
“For longtime WCSB listeners, thank you for being part of the station’s rich history. We’re excited to continue that tradition by bringing you JazzNEO’s signature blend of jazz programming. Together, we’ll carry forward the spirit of discovery and community that WCSB has always represented,” Ideastream said in its statement.
Bloomberg said Ideastream will offer paid internships and for-credit learning opportunities to Cleveland State University students, specifically focusing on fields like journalism, radio production and graphic design. The number of internships and for-credit spots has not yet been set, Bloomberg told The Land, because she wants the Department of Communications involved in those discussions. Ideastream confirmed their plans to expand their internship program with CSU.
Bloomberg noted that the move is effectively “budget neutral” and that no cash changed hands between Ideastream and CSU as part of this deal. In an interview with The Land, she emphasized that this was an opportunity to deepen a strategic relationship and offer more professional development to students.
“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,” Bloomberg said in a press release. “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.”
However, WCSB will also apparently cease student-run programming on the radio — a staple of the station since its launch in 1976. The last news posting on the WCSB website was a callout for station alumni to provide their memories of working at the station ahead of the 50-year anniversary. There also appeared to be plans for a reunion dinner and shows featuring current and previous DJs. Bloomberg wants to create a memorialization for WCSB utilizing recordings from the past five decades.
“Programming originating from CSU officially ended this morning, and already, the public listenership and Ideastream’s 44,000 members are receiving the broadcast of 89.3 FM and ideastream.org,” Bloomberg said in her email, which was forwarded to The Land.
“Station members are distraught, there was no warning whatsoever. Besides the student programming, there were a number of nationality-based shows, some with 40+ years history, displaced and with no chance to transition,” said Bob Drake, a community programmer for WCSB and Cleveland State University alumni. However, Ideastream has suggested it will allow some nationality programs to continue broadcasting on Ideastream digital properties until they find a new platform to broadcast. A spokesperson for Ideastream said they have opened three spots on their platforms for WCSB nationality-based shows.
Bloomberg said her office is reaching out to the hosts of all nationality-based programming and connecting them to Global Cleveland and other cultural groups in the region. Elizabeth Papp Taylor, co-host of The Hungarian Hour on WCSB, said she had not yet been contacted by CSU. Her co-host broke the news to her.
“It was a shock,” she told The Land. “We were preparing for a show on Sunday, we were gung ho, and then this.”
Student DJs were equally surprised.
Campus police were sent to WCSB on Friday to escort any students out of the studio. Bloomberg said students would be given an opportunity to collect their belongings under the supervision of a campus police officer.
“There are two police upstairs — we’re trying to get back into the station now to get the rest of what we have,” said Nicole Wloszek, host of WSCB’s “Odd Girl Hour.” “They didn’t give a chance to say goodbye, they didn’t give us a chance to end our shows or say anything to our listeners.”
WCSB has been a not-for-profit, commercial-free and student-run station for 49 years, according to its website. The station also offered ethnic programming catered to Hispanic, German, Hungarian, Polish, Irish, Arabic, Asian and Slovenian audiences; and public affairs programming covering everything from social justice to space exploration.
The station gave students the opportunity to become apprentices who trained on the station’s equipment, learned FCC rules and regulations, and developed responsibilities for their own radio programming. Students were also offered the chance to run station events, assist in behind-the-scenes management, work with music venues and handle marketing, development and promotions.
Bloomberg said she hoped this wouldn’t be “the end” of WCSB. She wants students to explore alternative means of communication and broadcasting. Many of the hosts said they had not yet considered the future of their shows.
“This was very abrupt,” Drake said. “I’ve been summarily dismissed more than once, but never this summarily.”
Papp Taylor hasn’t considered The Hungarian Hour’s future yet, but said it was a privilege to have her show broadcast over the airwaves. “It’s a loss. It was the community we had there at WCSB. It was the students. It was the ethnic radio hosts. We had powwows with other hosts. It was the people. Anybody, anywhere can do a podcast but there’s no community. It’s a loss to lose this community.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly cited the source of the $1 million gift to Ideastream as being from the Chuck and Char Fowler Family Foundation. That is incorrect. The gift was made by Chuck and Char Fowler personally and did not involve the foundation. This story has been updated to correct this error.
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