Re: WSJZ Smooth Jazz

[MovieMan <movieman@shore.net>]

To clear up some of the controversy that has surrounded the press release 
that I posted yesterday, here are some comments:

1.  Although I did not write the press release, I was one of the 
collaborators on it.  It is therefore safe to say that the opinions 
contained therein are in line with my own.

2.  Neither I, nor to the best of my knowledge, any of the other persons 
who collaborated on the release, work for the station, its advertisers, 
program providers or affiliates.  We have no financial interest in the outcome.

3.  All of the quotes and events outlined in the release have been conveyed 
to us by more than one source within the station.  That is to say, we 
didn't rely on anyone employee for the dirt.  We have talked to various 
individuals in various positions within the company.  The names were 
omitted to protect their jobs as many are still employed, and will continue 
to be employed by the station after the change.  Their comments about the 
change were remarkably consistent.

4.  While I can agree that the release is verbose, it was felt that the 
background material was necessary to place the other portions of the 
release in perspective.

5.  There is no conspiracy here. If you look at all of Greater Media's 
stations, the only one that has any serious numbers out of the 14 that they 
own is WMJX.  The individual in charge of the entire radio group, Peter 
Smythe and the person in charge of the Boston group, Don Kelley, both have 
strong ties to that station and, much like anyone who's proud of their 
work, tend to be protective of it.

6.  For the record, GM owns no NAC formatted stations (other than 
WSJZ).  In Detroit the NAC station (WVMV - Infinity) is right on the heels 
of their rocker WRIF-FM and splitting the 7th place slot with their Classic 
Rocker WCSX-FM (in previous books it has beat it consistently).  In New 
York, WMGQ is so far down on the list (well behind the NAC station) one 
questions if the transmitter has been actually on.  All of the Philadelphia 
stations trail the NAC station considerably.  Boston is the only market 
where their Magic format is making serious numbers and that they have a 
substantial market share.  It appears although GM can't program a 
successful NAC station, Clear Channel, Infinity, Emmis and AMFM can.

7.  Peter Smythe and Don Kelley were instrumental in the purchase and flip 
of WCDJ to country WBOS earlier in this decade.  This cost Greater Media 
millions.

8.  It has been stated repeated in this group that Smooth Jazz has failed 
twice in Boston.  It should be noted that both Smooth Jazz stations began 
the format under different ownership and were acquired by Greater Media 
after they had started the format.  Management at GM is very concerned that 
the SJ audience skews their Magic audience.

9.  For the most part, discussions on this group have been thoughtful and 
intelligently worded with tolerances for other's opinions.  You don't have 
to agree with me but I'd appreciate the professional courtesy of an 
intelligently worded reply.  I've stated previously in this post that I 
have no financial investment in the outcome of this.  I am simply a 
listener of the station.  I would be interested in hearing the 
affiliations, if any, of those who were most critical of the post and 
calling it "crap".  Do any of you work for Greater Media?


At 01:04 AM 9/7/99 -0400, Martin J. Waters wrote:
> >Larry Weil wrote:
><snip>
> >I have no problem with reading divergent opinions on this list, but I would
> >like to know who's opinion I'm really reading.  And, I'd like to hear YOUR
> >opinion, not just the parroting of some press release from god-knows-who
> >comming from god-knows-where (the record companies?)
>
>         I agree. There is a name signed to the news release, for those who
>read all 25 miles of text, but no info. about who she is. As Larry
>suggested, she could have been a record executive playing at being a
>community activist out to preserve the format. Now it seems, from a later
>post, that the original poster had some info. about who she is, which would
>have been helpful in evaluating the (REALLY REALLY REALLY LONG--and look
>who's talking) news release. I think generally that posting the release
>here is a good thing, as it's certainly interesting reading on a hot topic
>for this group. But info. to give context is always good, too.
>
> >---
> >Larry Weil
> >Lake Wobegone, NH
>
>         But in the spirit of full disclosure, what lake are you really at
>up there <g>?

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