Sean Ross piece on Tempo and PPM - applicable to us?

[AnotherCat]

This is a piece Sean Ross did for his A/C column on how uptempo songs seem to bring PPM success and A/C stations are shifting toward a more uptempo mix.
http://www.radio-info.com/programming/25-plus/in-ppm-era-is-tempo-acs-magic-bullet

Obviously the reason I found this interesting for the cjazz/smoothjazz universe is that traditional thinking is that PPM was the
final death blow to the radio format as we know it. Obviously there were lots of suicide attempts before that (pop vocals, focus on covers, no fresh music etc) but the music mix, especially toward the end was very slow and draggy..with a tempo/mood of about 1.5 on a 1-5 scale (compared to A/C which used to run at about 2.5 - 3 overall and is now getting into more 3.5 or so.
Slow draggy songs on a format - format not PPM friendly..hmmmm...how 'bout if the relaxation police pack it in. There is some strong bright/uptempo music out there right now (Will Sumner, Patrick Bradley, etc..) I'm not saying CJazz stations need to kick a$$ constantly but the slow songs in minor keys can start to suck the life out of you after a while.

 

[AC Tones]

All about tempo, Cat. The majority of my playlist is comprised of mid and up-tempo cuts. But I think changing pace is VERY important. But it is tough (without PAL scripting) to build an instrumental-heavy program and avoid "ruts." Sometimes I'll listen and hear 4 or 5 songs of similar tempo and sound, and say, "Sh!t." Under a majority of the circumstances, you can get away with it, because "good" music is "good" music. But for discerning ears, if the tunes are all of similar tempo, you can easily lose listeners.