Broadcast Architecture

[icycool7227]

When did this BA Smooth Jazz format come on major market stations? How come there are hardly any local jocks on these big ones? I've heard many complaints about BA. If they are so disliked and not doing well, why continue with it? BTW: this goes out to DoubleD. I airchecked WAUN the other night and have to agree Jones music is more unique sounding.

[AnotherCat]

BA put their original Smooth Jazz network, which was also a turnkey format, in Winter 1995. They got a ton of affiliates right after Telcom went through because it was a cheap easy format to put on new acquisitions. Gradually the stations went live, usually first in drive time. Then Sony/Warner, the original distributor, went under. After that affiliates started to flip but BA remained as the full service consultant for the stations that stayed in the format and got some new clients too. They are owned by Clear Channel so they played it heavyhanded and pretty much bullied any other consultants who tried to start up, threatened competitors and generally presented corporate owners with the idea that they were the only ones who knew how to do the format...everyone else was a "jazz afficianado who knows nothing about programming a radio station."  I imagine they saw a nice window opening when all the corps began to have trouble on wall street and need to slash HR budgets because in early 2007 they launched a second national network, delivering a format that mixes a little bit of smooth jazz with a lot of oldies and instrumental covers of oldies. Their plan was to have an affiliate in every major and medium market. THe servide is a barter, stations don't pay for the programming, just run the commercials. Cheap, easy, low maintenence. Lots of stations jumped on. They pretty much do control AM and PM drive on the majority of SJ stations now, as well as the easily automated evening and overnight shifts. I think there are less than 10 stations in decent sized markets that are not running BA Network in at least one daypart.

As a business they are just doing their job and providing their clients with a service. What makes them scary is that they are such meglomaniacs. They want to control everything in all facets of the format and they will do whatever it takes to keep the marketplace closed down and competitors off the field.

[icycool7227]

BA put their original Smooth Jazz network, which was also a turnkey format, in Winter 1995. They got a ton of affiliates right after Telcom went through because it was a cheap easy format to put on new acquisitions. Gradually the stations went live, usually first in drive time. Then Sony/Warner, the original distributor, went under. After that affiliates started to flip but BA remained as the full service consultant for the stations that stayed in the format and got some new clients too. They are owned by Clear Channel so they played it heavyhanded and pretty much bullied any other consultants who tried to start up, threatened competitors and generally presented corporate owners with the idea that they were the only ones who knew how to do the format...everyone else was a "jazz afficianado who knows nothing about programming a radio station."  I imagine they saw a nice window opening when all the corps began to have trouble on wall street and need to slash HR budgets because in early 2007 they launched a second national network, delivering a format that mixes a little bit of smooth jazz with a lot of oldies and instrumental covers of oldies. Their plan was to have an affiliate in every major and medium market. THe servide is a barter, stations don't pay for the programming, just run the commercials. Cheap, easy, low maintenence. Lots of stations jumped on. They pretty much do control AM and PM drive on the majority of SJ stations now, as well as the easily automated evening and overnight shifts. I think there are less than 10 stations in decent sized markets that are not running BA Network in at least one daypart.

As a business they are just doing their job and providing their clients with a service. What makes them scary is that they are such meglomaniacs. They want to control everything in all facets of the format and they will do whatever it takes to keep the marketplace closed down and competitors off the field.

Wow, that is sad to hear really. They don't even have Danae Alexander who is the best SJ DJ I've ever heard. I wish something would change - no wonder smooth jazz is dying out. These big corporations are taking over the format and not doing such a good job.

[Double D]

BTW: this goes out to DoubleD. I airchecked WAUN the other night and have to agree Jones music is more unique sounding.

Precisely...JSJ is the best syndicated commercial SJ product...bar none!!  Kepler and his BA could learn many lessons from JSJ's musical programming selection process...here are just a few more examples of quality songs found on JSJ which will never see the light of day on BA...

TIME TO LOUNGE - ALKEMX - RENDEZVOUS LOUNGE
PLAYING WITH FIRE - KIRK WHALUM – UNCONDITIONAL
THIS TIME AROUND - NORMAN BROWN - BETTER DAYS AHEAD
CAFE REGGIO - ZACHARY BREAUX - UPTOWN GROOVE
MUCH LATER - NATIVE VIBE – SPIRITS
Mister Marvin - Candy Dulfer - Best Of Candy Dulfer
AUTUMN SONG - INCOGNITO - ADVENTURES IN BLACK SUNSHINE
Still Thinking Of You - Michael Lington - Everything Must Change
TERESA - PIECES OF A DREAM - PILLOW TALK
FREE - ALEX BUGNON – FREE
IF ONLY IN YOUR DREAMS - BILL EVANS – PUSH
MORNING, NOON & NIGHT - BOB JAMES - MORNING, NOON & NIGHT
Raise The Roof - Bob James - Joy Ride
ARE YOU MINE - PETER WHITE - CONFIDENTIAL
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED - JOE SAMPLE - ASHES TO ASHES

DD™

[AnotherCat]

They don't even have Danae Alexander who is the best SJ DJ I've ever heard.

Now that's what I mean by different strokes for different folks. The first time I heard her I totally couldn't believe it. She sounded like she should be working for a phone sex service. The guys probably really get into it though.

[Media_Maven]

Responding to this quote from AnotherCat:
As a business they are just doing their job and providing their clients with a service. What makes them scary is that they are such meglomaniacs. They want to control everything in all facets of the format and they will do whatever it takes to keep the marketplace closed down and competitors off the field.

The ONLY thing that can save Smooth Jazz on terrestrial radio in my opinion is for BA to have some REAL competition -- either from Jones acquiring more affiliates for its product, or some new & innovative consultant or station(s) having the courage and know-how to breathe badly needed new life into the format.  Otherwise, before the end of the decade, we'll all be saying goodbye (and good riddance) to the last-standing SJ station, which of course will be completely BA programmed. 

Just my take on the situation. 

Media_Maven in Michigan

[AnotherCat]

Very true. But what station is going to have the guts to let anyone else come in and program smooth jazz after BA has spent the last 13 years telling owners and managers that all the rest of us are "jazz afficianados who don't understand the realities of commercial radio" and will basically put self indulgent freeform radio on their signal.

[HadYourPhil]

Having dealt with the powers that be at BA, I couldn't agree more with AnotherCat! BA will absolutely kill the format if they keep up as they are. Just look at the growing number of format flips...

[Bill Harmonic]

BA has already killed the format! But that doesn't mean we can not plan for the future.This is where you come in with a business plan to present to ownership that outlines what you propose and you'll probably not going to take it to a group that's in distress right at this moment. But I also believe that it will be awhile until the landscape will be ripe for another attempt at the kind of station we talk about on these pages. I have been involved with BA on three different occasions with me winning the first two and them the last one. It was not pretty in all three but logic and patience were the deciding factors for the first two. I thought I had the time to wait them out for the third one but the network got in the way which made me expendable. Speak up with authority and facts about how their logic sounds because it is faulty. It will not relate to the audience you know so well in your market. Be smart how you do it. They recite chapter and verse and you speak "market" and emotion. Most important, have the patience to give them enough rope to hang themselves because they will. They sell the GM or owner a line of BS that what they do is the next best thing since sliced bread but if you're patient, it will come apart because what they don't tell the head honchos is that you also need to support this idea with marketing and promotional dollars that most of these yahoos don't have. They sell turn key without all the parts because they want to get the bucks they can which means if they have a contract for a year or two, they've done their job for the company. That's why they have been through so many groups over the years. The people who do well with them are the ones who do the research, take the advice and information, apply the market logic, throw out what doesn't work and then will tell them to get lost. Anything they control is a death sentence. A station that is live and programmed locally will do a lot more without the marketing and promotions than their flawed effort of low common denominator radio because the live and local will play to the P1's who have the passion while their effort to convert P2's will do it's usual nose dive sooner or later. Koz does well in afternoon drive in Chicago because the WNUA machine supports it. No other reason! It's certainly not his "Cookin with Koz" tips every day. If I hear Ramsey Lewis talk about bottled water one more time it might be worth a drive to Chicago to break a leg. I'll say it again in that we have to let them get on with their plan to turn their stations into smooth AC's and get them out of the way to make room for others. Bye-Bye and can you do it now? I believe we will have to go back to the weekends or 7-12pm weekday slots to get the format back. That's the way it started and we are now full circle. The path between A and B is not always a straight line. We are smart enough to be ready to fight another day because they are moving on. The format as we know it is not viable right now. The music is more than ever but the format needs to be examined and retooled. Get your plans ready and start looking for places to take it. It's the way we started and we can do it again.