When I was browsing the web I came across this interesting interview that Christopher Right did with former host of Smooth Jazz 105.9.
Who says there's too much spin in Washington? Veteran broadcaster Al Santos says there's not enough, at least not enough of the right kind, and he's out to do something about it. Al's roots are in Top 40 radio, where variety ruled the day, providing a listening experience completely different from today's homogenized commercial formats. Al can be heard weekdays on Smooth Jazz 105.9 (WJZW-FM) in Washington, D.C., but his signature show is the Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch (same station), where he picks most of the music himself. In this interview, Al explains why DJs generally have very little say in what gets played and how the people who really call the shots in radio decide what gets on the air.
Here's a link to the interview:
http://www.adventuresinmusic.biz/Archives/Music_Biz/alsantos.htm
I believe Al Santos is right on the money, not only with smooth jazz, but just general broadcast radio in general. People get tired of hearing the same music, but the way of thinking with the big corp radio bubble heads, well's it familiar to them, so we'll play more of it to keep them coming back, instead of explorering different types of music and keeping listeners interested. Then when the ratings drop, they cut the playlist even more. I believe that's what had happened with WJZW and led to it's demise. His show, where he picked most of the music and play a variety different artist and even crossing over to New Age remained popular.
I hope jazz finds it was back to DC, but I doubt it will be any better content wise. I wish the radio companies would at least "think outside the box" and if not on regular FM at least with the new HD sub-channels. I wish I would had a chance to listen to Al's Sunday Brunch channel on HD2, before it got pushed off too. :-[
Who says there's too much spin in Washington? Veteran broadcaster Al Santos says there's not enough, at least not enough of the right kind, and he's out to do something about it. Al's roots are in Top 40 radio, where variety ruled the day, providing a listening experience completely different from today's homogenized commercial formats. Al can be heard weekdays on Smooth Jazz 105.9 (WJZW-FM) in Washington, D.C., but his signature show is the Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch (same station), where he picks most of the music himself. In this interview, Al explains why DJs generally have very little say in what gets played and how the people who really call the shots in radio decide what gets on the air.
Here's a link to the interview:
http://www.adventuresinmusic.biz/Archives/Music_Biz/alsantos.htm
I believe Al Santos is right on the money, not only with smooth jazz, but just general broadcast radio in general. People get tired of hearing the same music, but the way of thinking with the big corp radio bubble heads, well's it familiar to them, so we'll play more of it to keep them coming back, instead of explorering different types of music and keeping listeners interested. Then when the ratings drop, they cut the playlist even more. I believe that's what had happened with WJZW and led to it's demise. His show, where he picked most of the music and play a variety different artist and even crossing over to New Age remained popular.
I hope jazz finds it was back to DC, but I doubt it will be any better content wise. I wish the radio companies would at least "think outside the box" and if not on regular FM at least with the new HD sub-channels. I wish I would had a chance to listen to Al's Sunday Brunch channel on HD2, before it got pushed off too. :-[
