WKSU Classical

WKSU (89.7 FM) is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to Kent, Ohio, United States, featuring a public radio format. Owned by Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media, WKSU's primary signal serves the Akron metro area, Greater Cleveland and much of Northeast Ohio as the regional affiliate for National Public Radio (NPR), American Public Media, Public Radio Exchange and the BBC World Service.

The station's reach is extended into the Canton, Mansfield, Lorain, Ashtabula, Sandusky, New Philadelphia and Wooster areas via a network of five full-power repeaters, two low-power translators, and two on-channel boosters. Founded by Kent State University, the station had its origins as a radio training workshop on the university's campus that provided programming for commercial radio stations, and save for a brief hiatus due to World War II, continued into WKSU's 1950 establishment as one of the first educational FM stations in the United States. An NPR affiliate since 1973, WKSU evolved from a university-operated station into a public radio and classical music outlet, with additional emphasis on folk music during the weekends. WKSU's influence extended into Cleveland, where from 1978 to 1984, it was the NPR information station of record for the entire region. After a public service operating agreement with WCPN owner Ideastream took effect on October 1, 2021, this distinction was again made official as both stations combined programming and personnel, with WKSU as the surviving entity. WKSU's studios are located at the Idea Center in Downtown Cleveland, while the station transmitter is in Copley Township. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WKSU broadcasts over four HD Radio channels, is simulcast over WCLV's third HD subchannel and WVIZ's 25.7 audio-only subchannel, and is available online.