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The Straight Skinny
Don't Forget to Breathe
Readers' passionate responses on a range of topics
By Carol Archer |
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On one hand, the loss of CBS Radio's WVMV(V98.7)/Detroit leaves a single top 10 market Smooth Jazz outlet: CBS' venerable KTWV(the Wave)/Los Angeles. Thus, the tumultuous post-consolidation epoch continues in Smooth Jazz. Apparently, my observations on anxiety in the workplace struck a chord, for they elicited vast amounts of feedback, much of it so impassioned (and angry) that it is unfit for publication; thus, a small, yet representative sample of your responses appears, below. On the other hand, Broadcast Architecture President Allen Kepler communicated on Oct. 13 with BA Smooth Jazz Network affiliates and non-affiliated format outlets. His memo outlines an impressive list of genuinely substantive shifts in the firm's programming approach, and suggests various real-world positive strategies regarding Smooth Jazz, which we will discuss next week.
Meanwhile, let's return to the topic currently at hand. After reading "Under Damocles' Sword" here two weeks ago, one Smooth Jazz programmer, who obviously asks for anonymity, commented, "We're still hearing daily and weekly rumors that management is going to flip [insert mystery call letters here], so every day I feel could be the last day. All my passion to 'fix' or 'save' us has been replaced with 'keep quiet and your head low.' It's so sad!
"Management won't even talk to me about [the station]. I think their mind is made up. I could be wrong, and I hope I am, but talk about fear! The sales staff doesn't want to approach new accounts with the fear that if they do, they’ll have to go back to their new clients and explain a format change. So they feel, why even try?" |
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The sales staff doesn't want to approach new accounts with the fear that if they do, they’ll have to go back to their new clients and explain a format change. So they feel, why even try? – a veteran format programmer |