Re: WSJZ

[Mike Thomas <nostatic@earthlink.net>]

I think there are a few of reasons why Greater Media has rushed this format on the air.  First, the broadcast community in this town in very tight, and if the talk rumors persisted as long as, say, WNEW-FM's in NYC did, it would give WRKO a chance to react, particularly since 96.9 is not going in a hot-talk direction.  Secondly, they had to get Imus on the air right away, which was going to kill whatever station's format he wound up on anyway.  Finally, there have been some rumors floating around that WBCN may flip to a hot-talk format like WNEW-FM and other Infinity FM's in LA, Detroit and DC.  GM may have wanted to beat them to the punch and be the city's first FM talker.

As far as the jazz is concerned, why not leave it on in the interim?  I'm sure they have many listeners who tune in in the evenings to unwind after work or for a night of romance.  To these people, they probably haven't noticed any change. :)  Many FM talkers have difficulty filling fringe shifts with quality programming, particularly overnights and weekends, and a music format is often employed during these times.  Why not leave the jazz on?  It can't hurt anything and besides, most of the billing will be generated between 5:30a-10a Monday through Friday anyway, at least for the forseeable future.

Mike Thomas
WXLO & Mediabase 24/7

Bill Decker wrote:

> You're too kind. Most of the problem lies in the fact that someone(management) was
> in a big hurry to launch a brand new FM talk format in this town while not having all the pieces together. Why couldn't they just keep Imus in the AM drive and simulcast one of their other stations(don't they own 4 or 5 in this market?!) for 2 or 3 months while trying to sign up decent talk talent and put together a solid line-up in the process?What they have so far is a big joke! And switch off Smooth Jazz at night and on weekends for crying out loud!! The format is already long gone and forgotten as far as a listener goes! The company would be better served if they promoted/simulcasted their other stations such as WBOS or WROR...
>
> I realize it's very early in the game BUT to have a PM-drive host(Jay Severin) doing a show via an ISDN line from his house in Long Island and pretend that he's based in Boston doesn't show much respect for Boston audience, in my professional opinion. During today's show, the link-up went down in a middle of a debate with a caller. The producer, who seemed to be prepared for this kind of a glitch, went straight to a commercial break. When Severin came back from a break and continued with the same caller, there was no explanation or reference to what just took place. If this station's management thinks that they can get away with this kind of a small market approach in the #8 market and become a success, lots of luck to them!
>

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