Re: WSJZ Smooth Jazz

[laurence@sprintmail.com]

Movie Man posted:

> WBOS 92.9, long the lowest rated station in the group...
> WSJZ, by contrast, has had fairly consistent ratings in its prime
> demographic of 25-54 year olds.  

WSJZ's ratings weren't consistently better than WBOS.

> These calls, faxes and messages still continue but fall upon deaf
> ears.  

Every message and every call is being listened to.  The Smooth 
Jazz audience is loyal and has responded to the format change 
with strong support.  But the ratings have not been large.

> WSJZ has been a firm supporter of the community in and around the
> Boston area.

They've really done a great job at getting involved in the community 
and live music.  It does make you wonder if another station trying a 
similar format could succeed, since WSJZ did so many things right.

> 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.  

As you noted, Greater Boston Radio supported a large TV 
campaign for the Smooth Jazz format, and in recent months had a 
large billboard campaign.  I'd bet they spent more on promotion 
than any other Boston station with similar ratings and revenue.  
The station went from the suburban 99.5 to the top of the Pru and 
96.9, a signal that dominated Boston radio when it was WJIB.  
They hired one of the top programmers in the format, Shirley 
Maldonado.  They promoted the station on Magic's top rated 
Sunday Morning Jazz show, and hired SMJ host Jackie Brush to 
do afternoons on WSJZ.  If that doesn't reflect committment to the 
format, I don't know what does.

> ...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!  

None of this constitutes any proof that the station was a financial 
success.  And there's substantial evidence that it was not: it's 
leaving the airwaves.  

> 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.  

The bet from GBR is that more talk fans are searching for an 
alternative, than Smooth Jazz fans were listening to WSJZ.  If 
they're right, the public interest will have been served better than it 
was before. 

Mark Laurence
laurence@sprintmail.com

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