Smooth Jazz lives in South Central PA
Paul Scott – PD/MD/Morning Host
WSJW - Smooth Jazz 92.7, Harrisburg, PA
Whoever thinks that Smooth Jazz as a format is dead or dying is wrong. The format and its wonderful music/musicians are not dead. The formula simply needs to change to make your radio station successful. Now, what I’m about to spell out isn’t anything new or earth shattering. It’s a pretty simple methodology. Let me explain.
Smooth Jazz 92.7 is now in it’s 7th year of operation and covers the Harrisburg, York, Lancaster, Lebanon corridor of Central Pennsylvania. Since day one, our enthusiasm for our music and our audience has never wavered. We continue to thrive by utilizing the best old-fashioned mentality when it comes to operating any radio station:
1) Play the music that your listeners want to hear
2) Be visible in your market all year round
3) Become deeply involved with your community
4) Always, always, always be loyal to your fans
Our success doesn’t always reflect in huge ratings and for most stations in this formats it won’t. But it certainly reflects in awareness and, most importantly, in our revenues. From sold out concerts and festivals that we sponsor (including the very successful Berks Jazz Fest) to listener involvement in contesting and community, our efforts continue to prove to us and our clients every day just how successful this format and our radio station is. Our fans’ unwavering dedication to the station and to our clients is endless. Ad agencies and other potential sponsors see these results and are coming on board, too. It’s become contagious!
Listen to the Listeners…Play what they want to hear
When it comes to our music, we “dare to be different.” We think outside the box: Breaking new artists and mixing up the genres from straight ahead jazz to R&B, funk and contemporary jazz. It’s a potpourri of music, current and fresh. But, before we act on this, we always ask our audience a simple question: “What would you like to hear?” By conducting online polling, on-air polling, asking for email feedback and talking face to face with our listeners when we’re out and about, we get answers that work for our station and our audience. Basing our playlist on a music survey done in another major city would not yield the results we’re getting now with our listeners or our advertisers.
Visibility and Involvement
We constantly strive to make ourselves visible in all of the markets we serve 365, 24/7. It’s very important to be out in the communities and visible to your listeners and potential fans too! Smooth Jazz 92.7 is the most pro-active radio station in our area in serving non-profits and our local communities-in-need. How does this add to our success? It’s two-fold:
1) It brings people together to help raise awareness for worthwhile causes, which help make our community stronger. In just the past 5 years, Smooth Jazz 92.7 has helped raise more than $2.2 million dollars for various local non-profits and national charities.
2) People then remember us for doing positive things in the community, which enhances our image and listeners’ perception of the station.
And how does this “pay us back?” The listeners that hear our PSAs or actually participate in the events we sponsor now want to be participate and come to us trusting that by advertising their business or community event/fundraiser that they will get results because they believe in who we are and what we represent.
Listener Loyalty
We always answer every phone call, email, snail mail or any other means of communication made to us. No one’s correspondence goes unanswered. It takes very little time to answer listener communiqué and is always appreciated, thus leaving a positive, lasting impression.
Clientele: We have clients that have been advertising with us since day one and have credited Smooth Jazz 92.7 with percentage increases in their business anywhere from 20-50%. Loyal listeners become loyal customers too! Now admittedly for everyone, the last year and a half has been a tough road revenue-wise; but for the past three months we have been practically sold out of our entire inventory--all day parts! And our revenue is up more than 15% compared to this time last year. Why? Because our clients are coming back based on their past experience which showed them that our product produced results!
There are more talented musicians in this format then any other musical genre on the planet. The musical offerings from these artists continue to provide us with more than enough great music to keep this format new, fresh and appealing. So to all you PDs and MDs that have felt like you must do as others tell you or do as others do, break free and get creative again! Follow the old fashioned formula of musically servicing your customers 110%, getting out and pressing the flesh as often as possible and getting involved with your community. If you do these things, you will be successful!
So let us once again open up the doors (that have been closed for too long) to this great music and make this the classiest and best sounding format on the airwaves! It’s worth it, don’t you think? I do.
Radio
Groove Jazz Music
STATION IDENTIFICATION
Groove Jazz Music Station Panel
STATION FEATURE
WJZR/Rochester, NY
WQOX/Memphis, TN
STATION CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to Groove Jazz Music in celebrating its one year anniversary. As a member of the Smooth Jazz community, it helps knowing that my involvement and participation as a reporter makes an important contribution to Groove Jazz Music, as it moves forward in representing the future of Smooth Jazz.
Jackie Anderson
WJAB 90.9 FM
Music Director/Host - "Midday Jazz"
"Of all the many, many formats that are available to each of us in this digital... It's very important to point out that Jazz is truly an American Institution... Thank You and Happy Anniversary from all of our listeners here in the Great Northeast at WVCR-FM!!!
Darrin Scott Kibbey, GM
Host of "The Morning Wake-Up Call"
WVCR-FM 88.3
I have found that the chart serves as a bench mark for me to maintain a perspective as to who is climbing or declining, and breaking new music especially indie artists is a passion, because without them, our format and the industry in and of itself would cease to exist. They all had to start somewhere!.
Scott Larson
KUDL Entercom KC
Host Smooth Sunday Brunch
Congratulations on your anniversary.
Typical of what’s been happening around the country, for us here in Chicago it was a roller coaster ride of a year for Smooth Jazz. We lost 95.5 and gained 87.7. That’s why it’s more important than ever that people with a passion for the music continue to blaze the trail. We applaud you and the Groove Jazz Team for all you’ve done. May year #2 be smoother and even better for you.
Rick O'Dell
Program Director / Middays
WLFM 87.7 - Chicago's Smooth Jazz
