Is WCRB up for sale?

[Scott Fybush]

Ric Werme wrote:

> I grew up in Painesville, about 25 miles east of Cleveland.  Haven't heard
> WCLV in ages.

And you wouldn't hear it if you went home to Painesville, either!

Bob Conrad's heart was in the right place when he did that big signal 
swap in 2001, trading WCLV's full-market class B signal on 95.5 for a 
west-side rimshot A on 104.9 (it's licensed to Lorain) and a pile of 
cash to help keep WCLV alive.

Unfortunately, the audience for classical music in Cleveland is mostly 
on the east side of town, and 104.9 just doesn't go there. As part of 
those 2001 swaps, Conrad picked up the AM 1420 signal (previously, and 
now again, WHK), hoping at the time that HD Radio might come along 
quickly and make classical viable on the AM side. That didn't happen, 
and after a few years operating 1420 with standards (first as WCLV AM, 
then as WRMR), he sold the station to Salem.

WCLV's classical format was also simulcast for a few years on the 1460 
in Painesville, under the WBKC calls, but the audio quality was abysmal 
and ratings never materialized.

I give Conrad plenty of credit for trying to keep classical alive in 
Cleveland - but it's hard to run a radio station when your target 
listeners can't hear you!

s