WSJT Next?

[Bill Harmonic]

Tom Taylor this morning...

"The Tampa Board, ever rife with rumors, suggests CBS might be up to something with “Smooth 98.7” WSJT – like maybe there’s a Thursday evening client party, an ideal time to announce a change, going into the long Labor Day weekend? See what you think about the speculation, in the thread titled “which station will be the first to flip format?”

 

[AnotherCat]

This station is not "smooth jazz" anymore. They are down to about 2 instrumentals an hour at most. Even in this PPM oriented world of trying to reconfigure over researched gold-based music into new conceptual mixes there may not be a big enough niche this mix. It is "Lite-er" than mainstream A/C but does that interest a marketable demographic (and in this market can it compete with an entrenched heritage station like The Dove) and plays some urban gold but not enough to lure an Urban A/C listener away from a pure Urban A/C station. Also is this mix trying to create a hipness factor that simply does not exist in reality with this music mix, which is basically Lite Gold with a lot of Sade and Luther?

I hate to see Alica get bumped because she is sooo wonderful but everyone else is already gone anyway and the format is unlistenable and has no identity as it is now so that's the bottom line. The core listeners and core music have already left the building so, really,
no loss.

(2 pre-PPM reconfigurations just popped up in my market - an oldies/80s hybrid and a classic rock/90s hybrid Both jockless so more air talent out of work)

 

[Bill Harmonic]

As of 3pm on Tuesday the 31st, WSJT became Play 98.7. Just what the world needs is another top 40 station.

 

[Jazz_Kat]

As of 3pm on Tuesday the 31st, WSJT became Play 98.7. Just what the world needs is another top 40 station.

I know what you mean Bill. I just found out too. WSJT have move their smooth jazz programming now to the HD 2 station.

 

[passtheword]

As of 3pm on Tuesday the 31st, WSJT became Play 98.7. Just what the world needs is another top 40 station.

I know what you mean Bill. I just found out too. WSJT have move their smooth jazz programming now to the HD 2 station.

What a great (and unexpected) place to drop the smooth jazz format! On an HD2 channel, for all those large masses of people who own (or care about) HD radio. :

 

[icycool7227]

As of 3pm on Tuesday the 31st, WSJT became Play 98.7. Just what the world needs is another top 40 station.

I think you're mistaken. It sounds more like hot AC - like Mix 100.7.

 

[Bill Harmonic]

Ok, so it sounds like a Hot AC. The point is that outside of CBS, WHO CARES? Whatever it is, it's just more of the same old stuff and radio wonders why it's in trouble. Last I looked, Tampa already had a Hot AC. Thanks to PPM, we are now assured that every market under that ratings system will have at least 2 of the same thing. We should be ashamed for letting a vendor control how we operate. By the way, a move to HD is a death sentence. One, they are moving something that was so waterdown it was unlistenable and that was the other reason many left the format. And two, how many listeners in any given market has an HD radio?  

 

[Nock]

Starting I believe this year (2011) HD radio is standard in new cars.

Nock

 

[Jazz_Kat]

Since the Labor Day holiday is near, I wonder what other "smooth jazz" stations will flip. Probably somewhere along the line of KMYT, KMGQ, and KYOT. Personally, I hope KYOT doesn't flip, although the lastest ratings doesn't help. They just need some work on their playlist.

WLOQ has a new site as well. http://www.wloq.com/

 

[AnotherCat]

Most of these smooth jazz stations have already flipped if not in name, they are only playing 2-3 instrumentals an hour,mostly the ones that crossed over (Lily, Breezin, Songbird, etc) The sad part of it is that if I was in that market I would probably listen to Play more than I listened to WSJT because I like the stuff they play (post 2000 pop without some of the really weak hip hop stuff) better than oldies and instrumental oldies...

 

[ChuckTiller]

About 2 years before the demise of KHJZ 95.7 "The Wave" in Houston, the program director told me, "Chuck, smooth jazz is just a name. What we really are, is a light adult contemporary station." When I arrived in the beginning of the format in November 2002, we were playing 3 instrumentals to one vocal. A little over a year later, KHJZ went to 2 instrumentals to one vocal. By the time I left, a year before it's demise, it became 1 instrumental to one vocal. During this 5 year existence, I watched the playlist become shorter and shorter. Additionally, long songs were edited to become less than 3 minutes.

The end was inevitable. What a shame.

 

[imjazzed]

That was a matter of one programer's opinion at that time, given their background and experience in their respective market(s). Opinion's vary on the descriptor just like experiences in a different market on what the station should "sound" like. I'd heard different descriptors for the format and different opinions dating back to the early-mid 80's before "Smooth Jazz" became the default moniker. The 3:1 ratio was if I recall just getting the thing on the air in a hurry and should of never really happened. You know what happens when you just wanna get the thing on the air. It was shortly afterward made more manageable with the traditional 2:1 ratio 99.9999% SJ stations were playing at the time. "General" rule of thumb was no 3 instrumentals in a row and no back to back vocals, sans "ghost" vocals. Yes, it became a cluster you-know-what in the final couple years. Edited songs where they shouldn't (or didn't need to be) and an edited choppy morning show that should of never been. Make that shows/plural. The end? Yes, given all the confusion and mixed messages both internally and the final product the listeners experienced, no crystal ball needed. Agreed. What a Shame.

 

[imjazzed]

Let me correct below post. Not only a matter of opinion but was the direction of the station - the road that PD chose to go down.