WSJZ Smooth Jazz

[Movie Man <movieman@shore.net>]

Save Boston Radio's Only Smooth Jazz Outlet

For immediate release

Boston's only radio outlet for Smooth Jazz, WSJZ Smooth Jazz 96.9 FM, is 
being taken off the air effective September 6, 1999.  The locally produced 
music shows are to be replaced with a talk format that will be largely 
supplied from outside the Boston market via satellite.  This is an 
unwelcome move being made by the station's owners, Greater Boston Radio 
Group, a division of Greater Media, Inc., and fueled by Senior Vice 
President and Regional Director, Peter Smythe, and his subordinate 
Operations Manager Don Kelley.  The outpouring of support for the station 
has been overwhelming.

About two months ago, Greater Media signed an agreement with Westwood One, 
a syndicator of satellite based programming to over 5000 radio stations, to 
reformat one of its radio stations to all talk.  This contract included the 
signing of talk show host Don Imus, whose contract was recently dropped by 
Boston's WEEI radio for declining ratings. The rumors within the radio 
group were that WBOS 92.9, long the lowest rated station in the group, was 
the logical target for the change of format.  It was spared, owing to a 
statistical anomaly in the ratings for the month of July that bumped it up 
several ratings points.  Despite the fact that it was unable to maintain 
the ratings for the month of August, its fate as a rock station remained 
secure while WSJZ was to be sacrificed.  WSJZ, by contrast, has had fairly 
consistent ratings in its prime demographic of 25-54 year olds.

Sources within the station say that they are stunned by the outpouring of 
support for the Smooth Jazz format and the air personalities that presented 
it and the expression of anger at management for taking away a radio 
station that many found to be soothing and relaxing.  The station's 
switchboard was overwhelmed the first day that they "teased" the new format 
by replacing the regular morning show of Chuck Munroe and Debbi Enblom with 
reruns of Don Imus.  A special voicemail box had to be set up to handle the 
angry callers who wanted to express their opinions to manangement.  They 
have since received hundreds of faxes and e-mails from listeners upset with 
the pending changes.  These calls, faxes and messages still continue but 
fall upon deaf ears.

WSJZ has been a firm supporter of the community in and around the Boston 
area.  Most notable were fundraising for causes such as the AIDS Action 
Committee.  They have also made cultural contributions including free 
summer concerts at Copley Square and Newbury St., sponsorship of the Smooth 
Jazz Boston Harbor cruises and the Newport Jazz Festival for the past three 
years. The station also supports the many affluent and well-known jazz 
clubs and schools in the area including Sculler's, Wally's, and the Berklee 
College of Music.  Smooth Jazz is a station that supports the efforts of up 
and coming musicians and their efforts by giving them a forum to showcase 
their talents.

WSJZ and Smooth Jazz has had an uphill battle in Boston.  It began its 
Smooth Jazz incarnation as WOAZ, owned by Granum Broadcasting where it 
enjoyed moderate success in this niche format.  Granum was aquired by 
Infinity Broadcasting (CBS' Radio Division) as a part of a larger 
acquisition.  Infinity, already an owner of a number of Boston stations, 
had to divest itself of several Boston properties to stay within FCC 
rules.  WBOS and WSJZ were sold to Greater Media's Greater Boston Radio 
Group, owners of the very successful WMJX Adult Contemporary outlet.  This 
presented a conflict in the eyes of Peter Smythe and Don Kelley who feared 
that a successful Smooth Jazz station would hurt the ratings of the station 
that was the reason for their career's success, Magic 106.7.  As a result 
of this, WSJZ has had extremely limited support in the form of promotional 
and advertising dollars from its parent company while its sister stations 
have had extensive TV, print and billboard campaigns.  It should be noted 
that during the one period that the station was advertising on TV, its 
ratings were the highest in its history.

It should also be noted that in addition to being the Operations Manager 
for the Boston Group, Mr. Kelley is also the Program Director of WMJX.  His 
compensation is directly tied to that station and he has used his position 
as Operations Manager to keep down the ratings of the others in the group. 
Mr. Kelley, according to sources around the station, has been quoted as 
saying that Smooth Jazz is "a format that has no more than 10 listeners at 
a time" and the station as being "death by sax".  He has made a habit of 
placing trade and press articles critical of the Smooth Jazz format in the 
mailboxes of the WSJZ air and management staff as a form of psychological 
warfare against the station.

Statements made to the public about WSJZ's financial unviability are 
blatantly untrue.  One only has to listen to the station to hear that it 
has a healthy roster of commercial advertisers.  The station lists Jaguar, 
Turner Fisheries, Hotel Meridien and Jordan's Furniture among its clients, 
all advertisers who know that their advertising dollar is being well 
spent.  It is a fact that during a recent contest between the various 
stations sales departments within the group, WSJZ's sales department 
outsold WMJX's!

Radio broadcast licenses are issued "in the public trust".  It is our 
contention that Greater Media's move to switch this station's format 
violates that trust.  Boston's talk radio market is already served by two 
stations in the daytime (WEEI and WRKO) and a third at night (WBZ).  Boston 
will be left without a station that provides relaxation music for 
discriminating adults.

Greater Media's move to flip the format of WSJZ makes no financial 
sense.  Talk radio ratings have, on the average, been declining 
nationwide.   Locally WRKO and WEEI have had substantial drops in their 
market share over the past several years.  Adding another talk outlet will 
only reshuffle the existing talk audience and cause all of the station's 
numbers to drop.

The Smooth Jazz format has been popular for the past several 
years.  Stations exists in all major and most secondary markets and 
generally do well.  In markets where the ownership has aggressively 
promoted the station, they have rated in the top 5.  As an 
illustration,  WNUA-FM in Chicago is 5th in the country's 3rd largest 
market and WJJZ in Philadelphia is currently 3rd in the country's 5th 
largest radio market.  Boston will be the only major market station without 
a Smooth Jazz outlet.

It has become apparent that Greater Boston Radio Group's management is 
intent on making this format change regardless of public outcry or 
financial peril. The only hope for a change of position on this is to 
appeal to the parent corporation, Greater Media and also to the station's 
advertisers, many of whom also advertise on other Greater Boston 
properties.  Appeals to Greater Media should be addressed to:

Frank Kabela, President
Greater Media
2 Kennedy Blvd
East Brunswick, NJ 08816-1248
(732) 247-6161
FAX: (732) 247-0215

Copies of all letters, faxes and emails should be addressed to Greater 
Boston Radio at the address listed below with a note of instruction stating 
that they are to be placed in the station's FCC Public file.

Smooth Jazz WSJZ 96.9 FM
55 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125-3315
617-822-9600
Studio Fax 617-822-6859



For additional information, contact Kim Stiles at kim.stiles@att.net

------------------------------