This thread is sounding mean spirited. I'm sorry if I started it. I was hoping somebody who is more 'inside radio' would answer allisonmarie's question. All I would say is - corporations own radio stations to make money, and both Smooth Jazz and Oldies stations are being flipped to other formats all over the country because their ratings are declining, and those two formats increasingly only bring in demographics that are undesirable to advertisers...ie.: too old, like me.
In LA, both formats are surviving (KRTH, and KTWV), but I don't know that you can compare the huge LA market to the Bay Area. Also, those two stations have the benefit of a brilliant Program Director (Jhani Kaye) who first fine-tuned K-Earth into a revived powerhouse, and is reportedly now making changes at The Wave to keep Smooth Jazz afloat.
