Smooth Jazz in Suburbs or Rural Areas?

[Kevin]

Hello. This is my first time posting on this board. I usually don't pay much attention to jazz and smooth jazz, but when I listen to a station, I enjoy the music. My question is, are smooth jazz radio stations only popular in cities? Or are there smooth jazz stations that do well in suburbs or even rural areas? Thanks for any answers.

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Kevin

[Nick Langan, W2NJL]

> Hello. This is my first time posting on this board. I
> usually don't pay much attention to jazz and smooth jazz,
> but when I listen to a station, I enjoy the music. My
> question is, are smooth jazz radio stations only popular in
> cities? Or are there smooth jazz stations that do well in
> suburbs or even rural areas? Thanks for any answers.
>

The general thinking seems to be that Smooth Jazz only works in areas where there is an "affluent" audience, and that it's not going to attract listeners in rural, lower-class regions.  I don't necessarily agree with that idea, but I can't say that there have been too many successful Smooth Jazz stations in small markets, either.  KVJZ in Des Moines, Iowa at one point had over a 6 share in the ratings book in one of its first books, but its ratings declined and Clear Channel quickly pulled the plug.  WQJZ in Ocean City, Maryland has been on the air for I believe 7 years now, and has drawn much better ratings of late.  Charlottesville, Virginia's WCJZ drew a good rating in their last book, Traverse City in Michigan has been on for a few years now.  Other than that, there aren't many.  I think while some small market Smooth Jazz stations clearly haven't been successful, there hasn't been enough opportunity given to them either.

As for Smooth Jazz stations in the suburbs, I'm not sure why this hasn't been tried more.  I guess being that most Smooth Jazz stations in metro areas are on full powered signals, the feeling is that there isn't a need to put the format on a small signal in fringe signal areas.  But I'd be willing to bet a Smooth Jazz station say, on Long Island or in Westchester County in New York would do decently (how did WZZN 106.3 do ratings wise with the Jones Satellite format?).

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Nick Langan
WNJL.com Radio

[crushtl]

> > Hello. This is my first time posting on this board. I
> > usually don't pay much attention to jazz and smooth jazz,
> > but when I listen to a station, I enjoy the music. My
> > question is, are smooth jazz radio stations only popular
> in
> > cities? Or are there smooth jazz stations that do well in
> > suburbs or even rural areas? Thanks for any answers.
> >
>
> The general thinking seems to be that Smooth Jazz only works
> in areas where there is an "affluent" audience, and that
> it's not going to attract listeners in rural, lower-class
> regions.  I don't necessarily agree with that idea, but I
> can't say that there have been too many successful Smooth
> Jazz stations in small markets, either.  KVJZ in Des Moines,
> Iowa at one point had over a 6 share in the ratings book in
> one of its first books, but its ratings declined and Clear
> Channel quickly pulled the plug.  WQJZ in Ocean City,
> Maryland has been on the air for I believe 7 years now, and
> has drawn much better ratings of late.  Charlottesville,
> Virginia's WCJZ drew a good rating in their last book,
> Traverse City in Michigan has been on for a few years now.
> Other than that, there aren't many.  I think while some
> small market Smooth Jazz stations clearly haven't been
> successful, there hasn't been enough opportunity given to
> them either.
>
> As for Smooth Jazz stations in the suburbs, I'm not sure why
> this hasn't been tried more.  I guess being that most Smooth
> Jazz stations in metro areas are on full powered signals,
> the feeling is that there isn't a need to put the format on
> a small signal in fringe signal areas.  But I'd be willing
> to bet a Smooth Jazz station say, on Long Island or in
> Westchester County in New York would do decently (how did
> WZZN 106.3 do ratings wise with the Jones Satellite
> format?).
>
In Wisconsin's Fox Valley (farmland) the Jones Network station failed big time.  I can't say in all my travels that it's easy to find Smooth Jazz in a market with less then 750k to a million, although they do exist.
WJZI is in a Milwaukee suburb and does more of their appearances and on-sites in the suburbs then in urban areas.  I would have to say from their advertising that they do better out of the city then in.  The local, big name Smooth Jazz festival in fact is held in a park about 30 miles from Milwaukee and is always sold out.

[elevator_opratr]

Well we have WSJW in rural south-central PA. The ratings aren't stellar, but I heard rumors that the owners are happy with their results in the second nearest city to home base, Harrisburg, a fairly urbanized little city.

[Jim_Hicks]

The success of a Smooth Jazz station outside of a major urban center, I believe, is the music mix.  Using one of the national syndicated services may not work and of course the budget usually does not allow for 24/7 live jocks.

The problem with the music mix is whether you go heavy with R&B vocals.  "The Wave" started the thrend most NAC stations followed. Mixture of New Age vocals (Enya), New Age instrumentals (Yanni, George Winston, Dave Lanz/Paul Speer) and AC vocals ("Marlena on the Wall", for example)and Contemporary Jazz.  As the format evolved into Smooth Jazz, New Age in total was dropped, the remaining vocals were Urban R&B, and the Contemporary Jazz instrumentals were restricted to maybe 3 "currents" per hour and the rest of the hour "safe" recurrents.  In the beginning, only a few recurrents were included.

To make the format work in suburban areas, you must rethink the vocals.  R&B can be on the playlist, but throwing more Adult Alternative female vocals would be the answer. Selective AC vocals can be included.  But as NAC became SJ, it was aimed at the Adult Urban audience; a station pleasing to Adults, both White and Black.  It worked.  But in suburban areas, the music mix must be rethought to meet the tastes of the potential audience.

I strongly believe SJ can work in the 'burbs.  But it takes a local touch, not the "every market is the same" approach of Clear Channel.


> Well we have WSJW in rural south-central PA. The ratings
> aren't stellar, but I heard rumors that the owners are happy
> with their results in the second nearest city to home base,
> Harrisburg, a fairly urbanized little city.
>