On November 1, 1962, the classical musical station WCLV made its on-air debut. In honor of WCLV’s sixtieth anniversary, Ideastream Public Media will celebrate this milestone with special programming, staff spotlights, Spotify playlists and more!
The sixtieth anniversary is a significant moment for the station, especially as many other classical music stations have left the airwaves. WCLV, co-founded by the legendary Robert Conrad, has consistently brought listeners engaging classical programming and performances from The Cleveland Orchestra, Apollo's Fire, the Canton Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Institute of Music's Opera Theater.
Around a decade ago, WCLV became part of Ideastream Public Media, and as of March 2022, moved from its previous frequency of 104.9 FM on the radio to 90.3 FM, which has a wider listening area across Northeast Ohio.
STAFF SPOTLIGHT: ROBERT CONRAD, WCLV CO-FOUNDER
"When I was a senior at Kankakee High School in my hometown of Kankakee, Illinois — back in the last century — I had an English assignment to suggest what I would be doing in the next ten years. I wrote that I would be the program director of a radio station. I was dead on, as I did become the program director for WDTM in Detroit.
During this period, I was contacted by C.K. Patrick, the sales manager of WDGO in Cleveland. He sensed that WDGO would soon be for sale. While Pat knew sales, he was not familiar with radio programming. In need of someone with programming experience, Pat consulted his network and discovered that several of his peers mentioned me.
One thing led to another, and soon enough Pat and I signed the papers transferring the license to our new radio company Radio Seaway. On November 5, 1962, we updated the call letters and WCLV was born. As we observe 60 years with classical music on the radio, I note that only a handful of Northeast Ohio radio stations have stayed with their original format throughout this time. We thank our loyal listeners for continuing to make WCLV's future bright." — Robert Conrad
