No money is being exchanged between Cleveland State University and Ideastream in the handoff of the university’s beloved student-run radio station.
But public records requested by Signal show the school will receive several perks in the deal for WCSB.
The institutions officially entered into an eight-year agreement on Oct. 3, records show. Ideastream now controls WCSB’s programming. Cleveland State, meanwhile, keeps the station’s license with the Federal Communications Commission.
As part of the exchange, an agreement shows one of the things Cleveland State will receive is up to 1,000 annual on-air mentions – officially known as “underwriting” in the public media world – across three of Ideastream’s radio and TV stations. Eight hundred spots will run on both WCSB and classical radio station WCLV, with the remaining 200 announcements airing on television station WVIZ.
The university and the public media station will also create up to 1,000 in total additional on-air spots celebrating the institutions’ “joint strategic collaborations” across those same three stations, records show.
Both promotions run for the deal’s full terms. Plus, Cleveland State’s president will receive a seat on Ideastream’s Board of Trustees for that same time frame, records show.
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Deal doesn’t note specific number of internships
In an interview with Signal earlier this month, current university president Laura Bloomberg said the partnership offers a chance to expand students’ access to “true professional growth opportunities.”
Yet these records don’t note how many internships or other learning experiences will be offered to Cleveland State students each year.
“Ideastream will prioritize paid and for-credit internships, classroom-level projects and other opportunities for students enrolled at Licensee’s [Cleveland State University] School of Communication and other colleges within CSU,” part of the agreement reads.
Records show the deal went on to say Ideastream will provide “student internships and classroom-level special projects in journalism, television, and radio production, marketing and graphic design,” though again with no specific number attached.
Cleveland State community pushes back against station departure
The pushback to the Oct. 3 announcement about WCSB’s future was swift. Some students, alumni and community members were quick to blast the news, especially about the abruptness of the takeover.
WCSB went off the air soon after the organizations sent out a joint press release. The station was quickly rebranded to “JazzNEO,” expanding Ideastream’s jazz music offerings to more people in the region with this new FM radio presence, per that release.
Former WCSB workers said they were given no advance notice about the deal. Supporters of the station held a protest at the university last week. Another is planned ahead of Ideastream CEO Kevin Martin’s appearance at the City Club of Cleveland Friday.
Both institutions have weathered financial difficulties. Last year, Cleveland State faced a budget gap once projected to hit as high as $40 million. Ideastream and other public media stations nationwide, meanwhile, are dealing with federal funding cuts.
Bloomberg told Signal the deal wasn’t about money. She said that it is essentially “cost neutral” for the university.
“This was not made for budgetary or financial reasons,” she said. “This is not a cut for CSU. This is an opportunity to grow our engagement.”
The university has not responded to Signal’s requests to learn how much the school spent on WCSB each year, including how much the station received from the university’s general student fee fund. Former radio station staffers told Signal they received about $62,000 from the university annually over the past five to 10 years.
This story was updated Oct. 15 to accurately reflect the institutions will create up to 1,000 “joint strategic collaborations” in total.