106.7...Should Become.....JAZZ

[Johnnie_Radio]

Remember WJZZ....105.9 as "Jazz 106...this was the BluePrint of Jazz Radio, Bell Broadcasting never should have dropped it in 1996 just to try to beat WJLB, which they never DID.

Clear Channel, Jazz radio in Detroit is needed, the format would sell in this market, Look at the Demographics,
why not Bring the Jazz format back as it once was on 105.9 to 106.7....as Jazz 106..WZJZ, Bring up the Calls from your Y-100 in Ft Myers...........You've already tried Rock on this Frequency ??? ??? IT WILL NEVER BEAT WCSX. "The D Rocks" ??? How Original of a name..... ??? Or Just Sell the Damn Frequency Already, How many more formats can 106.7 have already :-[

I wish these Corporate Clowns would stop Killing off Good Formats just because they are making 20 million compared to 25 million.

I hope one day someone will Blow up CLear Channel and Radio will go Independent Again : It was much much better, & the owners then cared about the stations and it's workers.

 

[Media_Maven]

While I agree it would be smart for someone to try to resurrect a commercial Jazz-related format on Detroit FM radio, I doubt Clear Channel could execute the format successfully, even if they wanted to. CC's subsidiary, Broadcast Architecture, has failed miserably on a national basis with 'Smooth Jazz', and now with 'Smooth AC', which is most likely what they would resort to if they tried a Jazz format in Detroit. I don't think they have the imagination or competency to resurrect something like Detroit's legendary WJZZ, even if they wished to; and I don't think CC is interested in a niche format, especially in the current economic climate (can an upscale-demo, niche format still work today, even if it were well-executed? Would anyone, let alone CC ever take the chance to find out?). If anyone in Detroit was going to try Jazz, and make it successful, it should've been WGPR; now that they've sold out to Radio One, I just don't see a commercial Jazz format returning to Detroit airwaves, sadly.

 

[steve82655]

Remember WJZZ....105.9 as "Jazz 106...this was the BluePrint of Jazz Radio, Bell Broadcasting never should have dropped it in 1996 just to try to beat WJLB, which they never DID.

Clear Channel, Jazz radio in Detroit is needed, the format would sell in this market, Look at the Demographics,
why not Bring the Jazz format back as it once was on 105.9 to 106.7....as Jazz 106..WZJZ, Bring up the Calls from your Y-100 in Ft Myers...........You've already tried Rock on this Frequency ??? ??? IT WILL NEVER BEAT WCSX. "The D Rocks" ??? How Original of a name..... ??? Or Just Sell the Damn Frequency Already, How many more formats can 106.7 have already :-[

I wish these Corporate Clowns would stop Killing off Good Formats just because they are making 20 million compared to 25 million.

I hope one day someone will Blow up CLear Channel and Radio will go Independent Again : It was much much better, & the owners then cared about the stations and it's workers.

I agree 100% . Why doe's Detroit need a another classic rock station? Smooth Jazz would have been great on 106.7. A fresh format on this station instead of the some format every couple of year's. Come on Clear Channel!

 

[Rjs725]

Ya but who in Detroit really listens to Jazz? If anything they should of tried to compete in the country category. I know it sounds retarded to try to do that again but if they would hire some Dj's with a good backround in radio they could actually create some competition with 99.5

WYCD is the only Detroit country station to my knowledge that sticks to the format... I think its about time they have some competition. The only reason that WYCD consistently is up-top on the rating charts is because they are the only station that plays country and a lot of adults like country, even some young people have seem to have grown a liking for the format too.

As a radio listener, I like CHR & rap music. When one station goes to a commercial I switch the station to the other. Country listeners don't have that choice to turn to another country station.

 

[new_friends_gr]

Remember WJZZ....105.9 as "Jazz 106...this was the BluePrint of Jazz Radio, Bell Broadcasting never should have dropped it in 1996 just to try to beat WJLB, which they never DID.

Clear Channel, Jazz radio in Detroit is needed, the format would sell in this market, Look at the Demographics,
why not Bring the Jazz format back as it once was on 105.9 to 106.7....as Jazz 106..WZJZ, Bring up the Calls from your Y-100 in Ft Myers...........You've already tried Rock on this Frequency ??? ??? IT WILL NEVER BEAT WCSX. "The D Rocks" ??? How Original of a name..... ??? Or Just Sell the Damn Frequency Already, How many more formats can 106.7 have already :-[

I wish these Corporate Clowns would stop Killing off Good Formats just because they are making 20 million compared to 25 million.

Well said. Jazz music is good for the Detroit radio market. It still saddens me that Detroit is without a Smooth Jazz station. (I hope The Oasis can make its return to the airwaves for at least a portion of the market soon enough.)

I remember sometimes listening to Jazz 106 in the '90s as a kid and really liking it.

I also agree that classic rock is not the right format... although I'm happy that it's neither country nor sports. 106.7 had two rock stations from 1999 and 2006 (Alice and The Drive). Look what happened to those.

 

[new_friends_gr]

Ya but who in Detroit really listens to Jazz? If anything they should of tried to compete in the country category. I know it sounds retarded to try to do that again but if they would hire some Dj's with a good backround in radio they could actually create some competition with 99.5

WYCD is the only Detroit country station to my knowledge that sticks to the format... I think its about time they have some competition. The only reason that WYCD consistently is up-top on the rating charts is because they are the only station that plays country and a lot of adults like country, even some young people have seem to have grown a liking for the format too.

As a radio listener, I like CHR & rap music. When one station goes to a commercial I switch the station to the other. Country listeners don't have that choice to turn to another country station.

106.7 had a country station, The Fox, from 2006 to 2009 that competed with WYCD. It didn't last.

 

[Goldilocks94941]

Detroit does have jazz, at least half time, on WRCJ, and, if you can pick up WEMU from Ypsilanti, they have been devoted to the format for decades, but they also include some NPR news programs and a few specialty shows, like blues, in case you don't get an instant jazz fix when you tune to 89.1.

I don't think there's a commercial conglomorate out there in America capable of running a jazz format of any type anymore. They don't understand the music, or who it can appeal to, and how to respect the music in the format without driving listeners away with too much self-hype. So if you appreciate jazz, you have to rely on non-commercial stations who are able to dedicate some of their airtime to the format, and understand that jazz doesn't always mix well with other public radio program formats in maintaining audience. Straightahead jazz really deserves its own fulltime signal, by a licensee that doesn't require big cash right away as proof of the format's "success." Wish that could be true in every US market, if the "public interest" were ever reinstated as a reason for giving out a radio license.

When webstreaming works in your car, you'll have to make presets for some great jazz outlets, like KKJZ Long Beach, KPLU Tacoma, WBGO Newark, and try a few other ones like KMHD, KSDS, CJRT, WWOZ, etc.

 

[uncamark]

Detroit does have jazz, at least half time, on WRCJ, and, if you can pick up WEMU from Ypsilanti, they have been devoted to the format for decades, but they also include some NPR news programs and a few specialty shows, like blues, in case you don't get an instant jazz fix when you tune to 89.1.

I don't think there's a commercial conglomorate out there in America capable of running a jazz format of any type anymore. They don't understand the music, or who it can appeal to, and how to respect the music in the format without driving listeners away with too much self-hype. So if you appreciate jazz, you have to rely on non-commercial stations who are able to dedicate some of their airtime to the format, and understand that jazz doesn't always mix well with other public radio program formats in maintaining audience. Straightahead jazz really deserves its own fulltime signal, by a licensee that doesn't require big cash right away as proof of the format's "success." Wish that could be true in every US market, if the "public interest" were ever reinstated as a reason for giving out a radio license.

Please explain why cramming a niche-appeal format down the throats of an audience that doesn't want to listen to it is "the public interest."

 

[ChrisInMI]

Actually if you're in Detroit you DO have a second choice for country music, if you're willing to put up with Canadian content and a very low-budget presentation - not that that's really much of a choice. IMHO WYCD executes the format very poorly, and I second the comment that its ratings success is due to the lack of a strong competitor. (106.7 The Fox wasn't a strong competitor.) Fortunately I'm in an area where if I'm in the mood for country music I can tune in Ann Arbor's W4 Country, Toledo's K100, or Lansing's WITL.

I should point out that WEMU no longer airs jazz during the late evenings and overnights, they've added the nationally syndicated Adult Alternative music show "Undercurrents." However, jazz listeners still have WRCJ as an option for late night listening.

My observations have been that many Smooth Jazz listeners are passionate and willing to tune in even a product like Broadcast Architecture's format that smooth-jazz junkies hate. Look at the success The Oasis had with its poor signal and virtually no promotion. Smooth jazz listeners will latch on to whatever source they can find for the music they love. The sole reason I asked for an HD Radio for Christmas several years ago was to be able to tune in V98.7 HD2, which I can hardly get at all where I live, although I can listen online.

I think CBS Radio should consider a Smooth AC format for 98.7 if AMP Radio continues to fail. I think the time could be right for it now, especially with the rumors that Magic 105.1 will drop AC after the Christmas music ends - it would give Detroit a mellow-leaning station suitable for play in dentists' and doctors' offices and in workplaces again, since WNIC hardly qualifies as such anymore. I bet a number of former WGPR listeners would also welcome such a format as well. The smooth AC approach has been a success in L.A. for 98.7's sister station, 94-7 The Wave, and in Chicago for 87.7 (and on a frequency that many radios still can't even receive, yet). Sure, Detroit is different than L.A. or Chicago, but I think Smooth AC would at least be worth a try, if not all-out smooth jazz again. And it should be local and not BA-fed.

 

[Jasonthegreat]

If 106.7 does become jazz, they probably won't tank like they did as "The Fox", "The Beat" and "The Drive" if anyone remembers "The Drive".