• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

What's wrong with WSJT 98.7 Tampa?

RMarino

RMarino

Ok I used to live in the Tampa area and for years I listened to WSJT when it was on 94.1 and always enjoyed their mix. So today I tuned in online for the first time in awhile and here is the set I heard during the 5pm hour:

Genesis - Hold On My Heart (not a favorite, but I've heard them play it before, no big deal)
Seal - Fly Like A Eagle (whoa, the WSJT I knew rarely if ever played two vocals in a row)
Michael Jackson - Rock With You (this isn't smooth and it sure isn't jazz)
Joe Jackson - Steppin' Out (great song, but 4 pop vocals in a row??)
Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven (ok enough!)

And WSJT still calls itself smooth jazz!! Even KTWV which stopped using "smooth jazz" still plays more actual jazz than WSJT. No wonder this format is in trouble.

Even the excellent long time afternoon jock Alicia Kaye now sounds bored and tired.
 
Welcome to the party, my friend! ;D You will have PLENTY of allies on this board who have LONG been fed up with terrestrial radio's direction with this format. Many predicted the death of WSJT when it flipped frequencies with another CBS station, and judging by this most recent playlist, it would appear they are pushing daisies as far as Smooth Jazz is concerned.
 
I do miss listening to the old WSJT with Kathy Curtis and Alicia Kaye and been meaning to listen as of late but, why bother. The station died when they brung Broadcast Architecture aboard after CBS made their cuts. Now, CBS is just dragging it out. They should just flip to soft rock with that playlist and just drop the jazz.
 
Yeah, looking at their last songs played right now
Boney - Ain't No Sunshine
Toni Braxton - You Mean The World To Me
J. Butler - Song for Elizabeth
Sade - Your Love Is King
Basia - Crusing For Bruising
Spencer Day - Till You Come To Me
Billy Paul - Me and Mrs Jones
Peter White - Autumn Day
Christina Aguilera - Beautiful
EWF = SingASong
------------
something of a mishmash and not a very impressive choice of songs if there are only going to be two instrumentals..that particular PW song is a trainwreck against Ms Christina. I can't seem to get as excited over Spencer Day as everyone else is...as Simon Cowell would say - it's just OK...
 
I was on WSJT's website earlier tonight and notice they are advertising an upcoming concert for the Dave Matthews Band. :eek: Could this be a heads up for what's in store? We already seen two stations flipped this week.

Another Cat - I know what you mean about their playlist, it's horrible. Please BA retire some of these old songs by EWF, Marvin Gaye, and Micheal McDonald. I was listening to a soundcheck the other night, (that one of you posted here from 1987) and they were playing an EWF song, but twenty three later, it's time to put it on the shelf IMO. ::) Jury is still out for me about Spencer Day though.
 
I have not listened to WSJT since the late 90's, when they had a British guy on in mornings. Loved the station back then. But obviously, given the playlist on this thread, I have no reason to tune-in this morning!
 
Went by WSJT website this morning and saw their new site. It's looks a lot like what KTWV in Los Angeles is, I reckon they are going to make all the CBS station sites like that. They should have dropped the smooth jazz off their logo while there were and maybe rename it KTWV Jr. ::) ;D

http://wsjt.radio.com/
 
They should drop smooth jazz off the logo..sets of 4 pop vocals in a row: old Seal, Mariah Carey, Norah "Don't Know Why" Peabo "Can You Stop The Rain". only two instrumentals in the last 10 played- P White's "Autumn Day" and Boney's "Metropolis"
 
It's been reported that...

CBS Radio downsized 15-year station vet Kathy Curtis from Smooth Jazz WSJT. Curtis, who doubled as MD/morning personality, can be reached at 727-492-5284 or [email protected].

...She was still on the website as of this morning (3/31-7am).
 
Bill Harmonic said:
It's been reported that...

CBS Radio downsized 15-year station vet Kathy Curtis from Smooth Jazz WSJT. Curtis, who doubled as MD/morning personality, can be reached at 727-492-5284 or [email protected].

...She was still on the website as of this morning (3/31-7am).
Click to expand...

:eek: Could be signs of a possible change for WSJT. :-\ I've been reading on the Los Angeles forum that KTWV will become Fresh 94.7 tomorrow. Most likely an April's Fool joke like someone already said. We'll see.

I'm kinda torn both ways for Kathy. One, I hate to see anyone to lose their job these days, but on the other hand, she is an awesome talent and will land somewhere soon I hope. If they were downsizing, maybe they shoudn't have hired the new midday host, Josh Knauer. I don't know. Maybe she will take over mornings on WXJZ. Not a big fan of the Bob and Sherri show.
 
I've been listening to WSJT today online and I've noticed that they are no longer saying "jazz" on the air. The jock, who I've never heard before, is only identifying the station by either the call letters or "Smooth 98.7." Even the upcoming "Smooth Jazz Fest" is now being referred to as "Smooth Fest." No change in the playlist. If anything, I'm actually hearing more instrumentals than I did when I last listened. But I really would like to know when "jazz" all of a sudden became a bad word. The whole thing is a little disturbing.
 
RMarino said:
I've been listening to WSJT today online and I've noticed that they are no longer saying "jazz" on the air...But I really would like to know when "jazz" all of a sudden became a bad word. The whole thing is a little disturbing.
Click to expand...

I think it is a combination of a couple of things. First and foremost, I think you are seeing the marketing "backlash" to the Smooth Jazz monicker finally playing out. Those stations that did not outright flip and have "morphed" into Soft or Smooth A/C fit this mold. Since there is so much negativity towards the format in general these days, stations now want nothing to do with the monicker. I have to admit a couple of years ago, I too wondered whether "Smooth Jazz" had outgrown its usefulness as a format name. Funny thing is, now that terrestrial radio suddenly feels the same way, now I am not so sure :D. I deliberately kept the term "Smooth Jazz" incorporated within the text on my station page and into a handful of my liners to make it easier for listeners to find me and more readily identify with the product. For all of the negativity about "familiarity," there are benefits to it when jilted listeners are looking for somewhere to go. And I know we have all had fun with coming up with new format names, but the suggestions I have read just don't exactly "roll off the tongue" the way I would like them to. So I am sticking with "Smooth Jazz" for now, albeit in a more subtle, scaled back fashion.

Another factor is it gives stations an opportunity to come up with a brand name that is more consistent with their current or FUTURE musical presentation, i.e., more Soft A/C vocals and less instrumentals. The other thing is that since this format's inception, many "straight ahead" jazz pundits have complained that contemporary jazz is not REAL jazz, or even jazz at all. I have always defined it as "contemporary instrumental music with jazz elements." By no means do I think this is a placation to "straight ahead" jazz fans (I don't think this is the driving force at all behind stations dropping "jazz" from their websites). I definitely think it has more to do with the first paragraph (marketing ploy). It's sort of changing the uniforms for a bad sports team in order to sell more jerseys. The product on the field still stinks, but the owners are hoping the new colors and team logo will get you out to the stores to buy the apparel. ;D
 
This backlash is so real that I have not been able to sell our local A/C a brunch show even on the marginal signal in their cluster because "smooth jazz" has such a bad rep. I used neither "smooth" or "Jazz" in the title of the show or the presentation except for one little sweeper. I pitched it right after our BA affiliate died of old age (oldies plus covers of oldies) and took the whole genre of contemporary instrumental music down with it. Now that they have seen two years of the concert series it's time to re-pitch but there is definitely a stigma against "smooth" right now. Sad thing is that the music that is taking the blame is the music they quit playing - really strong original instrumentals.
 
Uggh, a smooth jazz station playing Beautiful by Christina A.? I never liked that song much. The only good versions of it are the Al B. Rich remixes.

AnotherCat said:
Yeah, looking at their last songs played right now
Boney - Ain't No Sunshine
Toni Braxton - You Mean The World To Me
J. Butler - Song for Elizabeth
Sade - Your Love Is King
Basia - Crusing For Bruising
Spencer Day - Till You Come To Me
Billy Paul - Me and Mrs Jones
Peter White - Autumn Day
Christina Aguilera - Beautiful
EWF = SingASong
------------
something of a mishmash and not a very impressive choice of songs if there are only going to be two instrumentals..that particular PW song is a trainwreck against Ms Christina. I can't seem to get as excited over Spencer Day as everyone else is...as Simon Cowell would say - it's just OK...
Click to expand...
 
If the continue to drink the BA Kool aid they will be really gone very shortly.This whole scenario reminds me of the Pied Piper.Everybody followed BA
and look where they all ended. I am very surprised that there isn't more public venom towards them.How many people have lost jobs because of their folly?
The format is dead-time to realize that and move towards a re-invention.
I'm surprised that tampa still calls itself smooth jazz
 
Old habits die hard. BA owned the world for 15 years. Even some of the so called "innovators" like KHIH (online) and the new Chicago SJ station are still playing a BA playlist.
 
WXJZ in Gainesville had been calling it self "Smooth Jazz" but recently changed to "Smooth FM 100.9"

I had been waiting for this to happen... since they started playing Alicia Keys "No One" and Jason Mraz "I'm Yours"
 
ThatGuyOnTheRadio said:
WXJZ in Gainesville had been calling it self "Smooth Jazz" but recently changed to "Smooth FM 100.9"

I had been waiting for this to happen... since they started playing Alicia Keys "No One" and Jason Mraz "I'm Yours"
Click to expand...

Since I have family in the area, I've been hoping WXJZ sticks around. Looking at the playlist on their site, it looks like they do still play a lot of smooth jazz, much more than WSJT does.
 
If I remember correctly, I believe WXJZ was "Smooth Jazz 100.9", then changed to "Smooth 100.9" and then back to "Smooth Jazz 100.9" and now to it's current status. Granted, WXJZ might play Jason Mraz, Alicia Keys, or Beyounce every once in a while , but they play a lots of great instrumentals and other vocal songs that (should be played on smooth jazz stations) you not going to hear on many smooth jazz radio stations. Outside of KYSJ, KWJZ, WVSU, and maybe KIFM, this is one of the best stations left IMO. Here's some of their playlist, ...

04/29/2010
01:36 AM Fever
Joe Sample f/Lalah Hathaway

04/29/2010
01:32 AM It's Been Too Long
Nick Colionne

04/29/2010
01:28 AM Luis
Jr Billy Joe Walker

04/29/2010
01:24 AM Clima Suave
Jazz Crusaders

04/29/2010
01:21 AM Ordinary
Wayne Brady

04/29/2010
01:15 AM In My Dreams
Steve Laury

04/29/2010
01:11 AM Feelin' Fine
Spyro Gyra

04/29/2010
01:07 AM Sunday Morning
Euge Groove

04/29/2010
01:04 AM Caribbean Blue
Enya

04/29/2010
12:59 AM Thieves In The Temple
Herbie Hancock

04/29/2010
12:56 AM Only Human
Human League

04/29/2010
12:51 AM Promenade
Peter White

04/29/2010
12:46 AM Astro
Drew Davidsen
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom