WSJT 98.7FM SWITCHES FORMATS

CBS has pulled the plug on Tampa Bay's Smooth Jazz radio station WSJT 98.7FM. CBS Radio changed the format of the longtime jazz station earlier in the month to Adult Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR) called "Play 98.7." Smooth jazz lovers will have to be content to listen to the station's high-definition (HD) frequency, 98.8HD2 - but you'll need an HD radio for this. The handwriting was on the wall last year when WSJT was shifted from it's longtime dial position 94.1 to the lower-powered 98.7 to make way for WLLD, which plays rap and dance music. We thought we would share some comments from irate smooth jazz lovers from the Tampa Bay area...

"I hate this I loved Smooth Jazz and miss Alicia Kay this really is awful"

"I agree with all the comments. Who needs one more station like this in the area. I don't have HD, but will certainly not be listening to this station any longer. Guess it will be CD's in the car."

"This new format is AWFUL!! Why did Tampa Bay need another Pop station?! Now 98.7 is playing exactly the same music that Mix 100.7 plays. That's 1 too many....if I wanted to listen to that kind of music, I'd tune into 100.7.....please bring back the old "Smooth Jazz" music!! My husband & I have been fans of this station for several years now and really enjoyed the variety of music/artists they played. We became fans of local artist, Eric Darius, because of hearing his music on this station & enjoyed a wonderful outdoor concert w/Eric a few months ago. (I even got his autograph & a picture w/him!) CBS has done the Tampa Bay area a terrible disservice making the decision to change the format. I will no longer continue to support this station.....bring back the wonderfully different SMOOTH JAZZ/ADULT COMTEMPORARY music we've grown to love & discontinue the repetitive CRAP you're now playing!!!"

"The new format will have listeners (tone deaf) but it will not include me . And I will not be playing this station in my office. Sorry guys.....you might be playing today's "music" without the rap but as for me listening to your station...well, "it's a wrap" for me!"

"This is terrible. We do not need another radio station like this "play" we NEED a great jazz station like we had. I will NOT listen to this - they need to bring back Smooth Jazz."

"So sorry to see that Smooth Jazz is gone. This station was on my car & home radio and not ever changed. Not all of us have or can afford to get an HD radio."

"Im mad, we have already 4 other stations in tampa bay that play sissy chick music all day so we need to add a 5th come ON!"

"SUCKS!!!! totally absolutely positively sucks!! and what sucks even worse is there are NO jazz type stations anywhere on the FM dial!!! it's back to 88.5 but their jazz is sporadic and never did fill the bill. i am heartsick over this. i went to sleep with 94.1/98.7, woke up to that station, drove to work, listened at work, etc. it was THE ONLY station as far as i was concerned. this is just terrible!!!!"

"This is bullshit! First they start to ruin 98.7 by reducing the number of actually jazz songs they played an that made me mad but now they completely get rid of it. Screw CBS and screw Orlando and crappy ass Wild 94.1!"

"I am deeply saddened.. I agree with others that their are more than enough of these types of channels available.. I really liked Smooth Jazz.. I too had noticed the format changing and playing less jazz in the past months and was about to email asking why the change.. but now it's too late.. My heart is broken!!! :o("

"I can't believe this!!! The only station I was listening to - is gone ?? WTF I don't have HD, wher do I find some jazz now?"

"I don't believe this!!! I am extremely disappointed! Needless to say, I WILL NOT be listening to the new 98.7. I guess I'll just listen to CDs in my car and stream WSJT.com from my computer at work!!! This really sucks!!! A new raido station that plays "today's best hits" is the last thing we need... I hope CBS realizes they made a horrible mistake!!!!"

"Smooth Jazz 94.1/98.7 was the best station in tampa ,I was listening to songs before my time and I loved it, others thought I had an old soul because I listened to this station; but what they didnt know was it protected me from horrible times,it took me to another world and made me very happy; Its very sad it had to end likes this, now I have no more smooth jazz to listen to, which will get me depressed all over again, TOO BAD!!!!!!!!"

"This really STINKS!!!!! I hope you enjoy your new fan base because it will NOT include me!!!! What do all of us fans do if we don't have HD radio???????? How do we find our favorite station????!!! You guys are a bunch of JERKS to take our station OFF without at least moving it to another location where we can access it!! We want great JAZZZ, not this JUNK stuff you call music!!!"

"I AM TRULY SADDENED BY THE ABRUPT CHANGE IN THE MUSIC FORMAT. THIS REALLY IS ABOUT THE ONLY STATION I TRULY ENJOYED. WOULD CBS HAVE ASKED ITS LISTENERS WHAT THEY THOUGHT ABOUT A CHANGE, THEY MAY HAVE FOUND ITS LISTENERS WERE CONTENT. I WILL NOT BE LISTENING TO THIS STATION."

"This is not only an lack of knowing what your listeners want in the Tampa Bay area but how out of touch CBS is in general."

"Main stream radio had only ONE decent station - SMOOTH JAZZ. CBS obviously has one concern - MONEY. I agree with comment above, CBS is out of touch. This is a real loss for those of us who love smooth jazz."

"Wow...I miss living in a city where one can truly indulge in listening to creative music. I suppose that's just reflective of the American nation...we're followers of rubbish as opposed to being creative leaders. Perhaps I'll begin BANGING out some noise to become famous!!!"

"One more thing...my radio was set to Maxima FM and Smooth Jazz; however, now it's back to my CDs since both stations have compromised for the lesser cultured listeners."

"I am very mad about this move bring our jazz station back NOW."

"The Jazz station format was the best format I have ever heard. CBS you really Screwed-up. I am calling for everyone to boycott anything to do with CBS. We want our SMOOTH JAZZ staion back. The people who made this decision are complete "IDIOTS".

"I agree with most other posts too. I will not listen to the new format. I'll have to pop cd's in now, and that will somewhat limit the variety that WSJT provided. I'm tired of most of the music formats in the bay area... Such a shame that the station owners (CBS) didn't let listeners know so we could have voiced our opinion BEFORE this happened.... No more CBS for me.. PERIOD."

"Ya know what really cracks me up is that CBS is so stupid. DO THEY NOT REALIZE TAMPA BAY HAS THE JAZZ FESTIVAL WHERE THEY ( all the musician Kenny g Mindi Abair etc...) come and play at Coachman park."

"THIS WAS THE ONLY REAL RADIO STATION AND NOW IT IS GONE. EVERYONE ALWAYS SAYS LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR VIEWERS WANT. WELL WE WANT OUR SMOOTH JAZZ BACK. THIS NEW RADIO STATION IS JUST AS BAD AS ALL THE OTHERS. I WILL NOT LISTEN TO MORE HEADACHE CAUSING GARBAGE! WE WANT AND NEED THE CLASS AND SOPHISTICATION THAT IS MISSING FROM TODAY'S MUSIC. SHAME ON YOU CBS FOR SUCH AN ABRUPT MOVE!!!"

"I cannot believe this I have been a loyal listener for the last 8 years since I moved to the area - I will not be listening to the new format - CHANGE IT BACK - NOW - WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING."

"Will not listen to this station any more, I think you have made a terrible mistake with that change. There is no jazz station in the bay area, almost make me want to move back to the real bay area on the west coast."

"I wonder how this will affect the jazz festival. WSJT seemed to play a large part in their marketing and providing their on air staff to host and introduce acts."

"CBS is totally out of touch with the market and the spin they are putting on it is absurd. HD radio is pathetic and does not work unless you are in the right location and hardly anyone has receivers. In fact there is a class action suit coming against Ibiquity-the creator of HD radio. The plan here for 98.7 is to try and cut the listener shares on Clear Channel's 93.3 and 100.7. It is sader yet becasue CBS has some of the best Urban adult stations in the US and Smooth was a major part of the community culture. The loss of ratings was directly proportionate to the loss of signal when it was moved to 98.7. At the least they could put the Smooth format on 1010-the 50,000 watt AM station that they own and don't care about. I think it is in the seriously bottom end of the Arbitron ratings if it shows at all..I would rather hear Smooth on AM than nowhere and that way the folks in Polk and Highlands and a bunch of other places would get Smooth again since they lost it when 94.1 went HipHop. Makes one wonder if CBS is going to flip KTWV, Los Angeles from smooth anytime soon."

"I think CBS seriously made a mistake by taking the only jazz station off the air. I like many others listened to this station it kept me calm and peaceful on the long rides home from work and throughout the day. Obviously they were only thinking of themselves and didn't bother to get the publics opinion about the station. Well you won't have to worry about me listening to this new mess to many stations out there like it same old crap. Hope you are happy CBS."

"Give me a break top 40 without the rap. I have gone away from this jazz station and went almost entirely to WDUV 105.5 better music and also sports talk radio."

"What are smooth jazz listeners going to do now? We seem left out in the cold for our genre of music. WSJT was the only radio station that satisfied my culturally diversified office. The music played agreed with everyone's musical taste. We are severely handicapped with trying to find a station that provides easy listening and is comfortable to listen to at work."

"I also agree with most of the prior comments. I am very upset, that the Jazz station has disappeared. and I will not listen to the current station. There is definitely a huge fan base for Jazz music and taking it away is doing a huge disservice to the Tampa Bay area. It was great listening music at any time, whether going to or from work or a lazy Sunday afternoon.

"Bring it back!"

"Totally agree with the other comments. We only had the ONE jazz station and CBS took it away just to add yet another station that plays the same stupid songs over and over. CBS SUCKS."

"BIG mistake!"

"Years ago we had The Wave which was a Smooth Jazz channel ahead of it's time,we lost it for years and then the time was right and WSJT was born and life was good again......... Now this?? Sorry but go to any other large metro area and there is a Jazz channel, this is all about the $$$ as usual! Public out cry or boycott is the only way to deal with this kind of BS!"

"That sucks!! I'm from Orlando where we have the best jazz station around I used to look foward to listening to wsjt when in town. What a dissappointment!!"