Levine and KKJZ

[dbdigital]

It was announced that Saul Levine's Global Jazz will be taking over the programming, sales and management of KKJZ this April 21. Most of the current staff will be let go April 20.

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[calguy]

It was announced that Saul Levine's Global Jazz will be taking over the programming, sales and management of KKJZ this April 21. Most of the current staff will be let go April 20.

db

Yeah, good old Saul never had any problem blowing out entire staffs at his own stations, so it
really should come as no surprise. Working there will really be nerve racking now I'm sure.
It has to be awful for the current staffers. But who knows, maybe he'll let them apply for their "soon
to be" old jobs. Lets just hope it's not the revolving door that is 105.1 fm 1260 & 540 am...

 

[JakeLongwell]

Maybe I'm getting my call letters and frequencies mixed up, but isn't KKJZ a non-commercial station? So how can a commercial broadcasting company own a non-comm at the same time? I didn't think that was possible under current FCC regs.

Jake
upstate New York

 

[dbdigital]

Maybe I'm getting my call letters and frequencies mixed up, but isn't KKJZ a non-commercial station? So how can a commercial broadcasting company own a non-comm at the same time? I didn't think that was possible under current FCC regs.

Jake
upstate New York

The Cal State Long Beach Foundation will still be the licensees and owners of KKJZ but they have contracted the management and programming of the station to Saul Levine's company. In fact, KKJZ (and KLON) had been managed this way for several years but with a different contractor.

KKJZ has, for years, suffered from poor management resulting in a steady eroding of listeners and funding. For all his faults, I think Saul can really help to turn KKJZ around and make it the premier jazz station it once was.

db

 

[calguy]

Maybe I'm getting my call letters and frequencies mixed up, but isn't KKJZ a non-commercial station? So how can a commercial broadcasting company own a non-comm at the same time? I didn't think that was possible under current FCC regs.

Jake
upstate New York

The Cal State Long Beach Foundation will still be the licensees and owners of KKJZ but they have contracted the management and programming of the station to Saul Levine's company. In fact, KKJZ (and KLON) had been managed this way for several years but with a different contractor.

KKJZ has, for years, suffered from poor management resulting in a steady eroding of listeners and funding. For all his faults, I think Saul can really help to turn KKJZ around and make it the premier jazz station it once was.

db

KKJZ may have been mismanaged but in most cases when there is an ownership type change (and that's the closest way to describe this) at a commercial station, talent is evaluated and there are some firings, but it's usually a bit on the rare side that an entire staff (not just the air-staff) is blown out. It's not un-heard of, but it's not always standard operating procedure. It's harder to make smooth transitions that way...

 

[dbdigital]

Maybe I'm getting my call letters and frequencies mixed up, but isn't KKJZ a non-commercial station? So how can a commercial broadcasting company own a non-comm at the same time? I didn't think that was possible under current FCC regs.

Jake
upstate New York

The Cal State Long Beach Foundation will still be the licensees and owners of KKJZ but they have contracted the management and programming of the station to Saul Levine's company. In fact, KKJZ (and KLON) had been managed this way for several years but with a different contractor.

KKJZ has, for years, suffered from poor management resulting in a steady eroding of listeners and funding. For all his faults, I think Saul can really help to turn KKJZ around and make it the premier jazz station it once was.

db

KKJZ may have been mismanaged but in most cases when there is an ownership type change (and that's the closest way to describe this) at a commercial station, talent is evaluated and there are some firings, but it's usually a bit on the rare side that an entire staff (not just the air-staff) is blown out. It's not un-heard of, but it's not always standard operating procedure. It's harder to make smooth transitions that way...

No doubt this is true, especially since KKJZ isn't changing formats. Keeping at least a couple of familiar voices will make the transition smoother.

According to the current management, Pacific Public Radio, the company plans to "terminate all or most of its employees April 20th." Saul Levine has said that his company, Global Jazz, has not yet concluded the hiring of staff for KKJZ. So it will be interesting to find out who stays and who doesn't.

But I wouldn't weep if all of the station's current management was let go. I don't think they understood the mainstream jazz format or respected the KLON heritage. Adding smooth jazz artists to KKJZ's playlist, an obvious attempt to capture some of KTWV's listeners, was a serious mistake.

That's like mixing in a few slices of frozen pizza to one made fresh by a family-owned Italian restaurant. The ingredients might be similar but the taste sure isn't.

db

 

[dbdigital]

The following will be staying at KKJZ: Chuck Cecil and Helen "Gorgeous" Borgers. The rest have been canned including Joni Caryl.

Actually they were all canned by Pacific Public Radio but only two were hired by Global Jazz (Levine). One interesting new hire is Jose Rizo who will be hosting a show entitled, "Jazz on the Latin Side", which will reflect Saul's stated intent to add more Latin Jazz into the KKJZ playlist.

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[dbdigital]

As an odd footnote to the KKJZ takeover, Global Jazz reported that hundreds of jazz albums, many which are out of print and priceless, have been stolen from KKJZ. Former employees are saying that Levine is accusing them of the theft.

Then KUOR-FM, University of Redlands, dropped KKJZ for its programming and began carrying KPCC instead. So no mainstream jazz of the I.E.

Not a good start for Saul's takeover of the station.

db

 

[K6JHU]

Too bad about losing KUOR. While I can get KPCC through most of the IE, I lose KKJZ in the Santa Ana canyon and have difficulty getting it back. KKJZ should have diversified (a la KUSC) a long time ago.

John

 

[dbdigital]

Too bad about losing KUOR. While I can get KPCC through most of the IE, I lose KKJZ in the Santa Ana canyon and have difficulty getting it back. KKJZ should have diversified (a la KUSC) a long time ago.

John

That's a shame. And broadcasters wonder why the iPod is so popular. Listeners are sick and tired of having their favorite formats flipped to something else.

Well, time to load up your iPod (or something similar) with your fave jazz for the road and/or tune into KKJZ's webstream. KRML also has a nice webstream and playlist.

db