SMOOTH JAZZ FORMAT TO HOPEFULLY SURVIVE?

Clear Channel continues to divest itself of their association with the Smooth Jazz format as they have announced that they are selling off its interest in research and consulting firm Broadcast Architecture to BA President, Allen Kepler. As of January 1, the company, which also operates its own Smooth Jazz network, becomes a stand-alone entity. In a recent statement, Kepler said, "I'm deeply grateful to Tom Owens, John Hogan and the management at Clear Channel for this extraordinary opportunity. While we'll miss being part of the Clear Channel family, we welcome the broad possibilities going forward with all of our radio partners, including Clear Channel. January 1, 2010 will mark my 20th anniversary with Broadcast Architecture. We're excited to be moving ahead with our current partners and making new friends over the next 20 years." Following this announcement, Broadcast Architecture revealed it has inked a deal with United Stations Radio Networks, Inc. The multi-year partnership makes USRN the affiliate relations and advertising sales arm for Broadcast Architecture’s Smooth Jazz Network throughout the domestic U.S. USRN President/COO Jim Higgins commented, "Our relationship with Broadcast Architecture goes back nearly 15 years, and we’re big believers in what they do. We also believe that there’s a fantastic opportunity in today’s radio climate to help them to expand the reach of their services as well as increase their revenue streams." Kepler added, "The team at United Stations completely understands our world both creatively and on the business side. Smooth Jazz remains the most unique format in radio and offers advertisers access to the most affluent and exclusive audience reached by the medium. We’re extremely excited about our future with USRN as our partner." Seems like there is some hope that Smooth Jazz will be around for some time, however, let’s keep our fingers crossed that going forward these programmers understand that the playlists need to be a lot broader and accepting of new and exciting music – which could be the only way to attract new listeners.