The WCLV Foundation

The culmination of a three-year process to preserve classical music on the radio in Cleveland took place on November 1, 2001, when WCLV 104.9 FM was donated to the non-profit WCLV Foundation, established under the auspices of The Cleveland Foundation. Robert Conrad and Richard Marschner, the majority stockholders of WCLV, made the donation.

WCLV 104.9 FM continues to operate as a commercial radio station, with any excess profits benefiting six major Cleveland arts institutions: The Cleveland Orchestra, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Institute of Music, The Cleveland Playhouse, ideastream and The Cleveland Foundation.

WCLV was founded in 1962 by Conrad and his first partner, the late C.K. “Pat” Patrick. Since then, the station has established a reputation as one of the leading classical music broadcasters in the nation. The donation of the radio station resulted from concerns of Conrad and Marschner that eventually the station would have to be sold, and there could be no legal guarantee that the classical music format would be continued. Robert Conrad observed, "Classical music radio stations are an endangered species. They are generally worth more dead than alive because of the upward pressure on station values resulting from radio ownership consolidation.” Heritage classical stations in cities such as Detroit, Philadelphia, Denver, San Diego, Miami, Tulsa and Chicago have been sold and their formats switched to popular music. The ownership of WCLV wanted to be certain that never happened in Cleveland. Thus the decision was made to get WCLV into a “safe harbor”, so that listeners in Northeast Ohio, as well as the innumerable arts organizations that depend on the station to inform the public about their activities, would continue to have a radio station to serve their mutual interests. The WCLV Foundation is that safe harbor.