Thursday, October 12, 2006

107.5 FM: Movin’ In The Wrong Direction

By Andrew McElwee

It’s been almost two weeks since the demise of Smooth Jazz 107.5 The Oasis. I wish I could say I’ve accepted it and moved on, but no such luck.

Yes, we all know changes are just another part of life. But there’s also a saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

CBS Radio sure fixed up things real good last week, when they finally pulled the plug on the veteran jazz station. In its place, they’ve installed the new MOViN 107.5, a bizarre mix of predominately outdated R & B most in my generation has completely forgotten.

The decision was based on what CBS Radio perceived as a waning fan base. "While the Oasis had many loyal fans for many years, it simply wasn't reaching the audience we need to reach." said Kurt Johnson, vice president of programming for CBS Radio.

The new target audience includes women ages 25-40, and features continuous airplay of various artists such as Mariah Carey, Prince, and Christina Aguilera.

Obviously, CBS’s all-seeing eye has overlooked one crucial detail. Hmmm, let’s see. Who else plays a random mix of music spanning the last two decades, part of whose demographic includes women? Congratulations, CBS Radio! You’ve just successfully cloned a really bad version of Jack FM.

Given the network’s long-standing reputation, it’s hard to fathom the logic behind the changeover. It’s appalling to think how many loyal fans CBS has displaced with their sly maneuver. But negative sentiments have resonated to the furthest corners of DFW.

“There is obviously a hole left by their departure,” said Donna VanNess, event producer for Fort Worth Jazz. “I don’t believe the replacement format is representative of the majority of listeners. I’m not sure who they are trying to reach, but there is a huge population that is basically left to subscribe to XM or Sirius to listen to what they want.”

Ultimately, it’s the everyday listener who really suffers in all this. Steve Ermish, an Arlington resident and sax player, was strongly opposed to the Oasis’s departure.

“My reaction to the change was disbelief,” commented Ermish. “They just don’t understand that this area has a huge fan base for jazz music. CBS should seriously reconsider their decision.”

Just for laughs (and I do mean laughs), I switched over to the new MOViN 107.5, just to see how much I could endure. I forcefully shut off the car radio after hearing their nice little tongue-in-cheek jingle “The station that makes you feel good!”

Oh, please.

It’s bad enough, Mr. Johnson, that you’ve eliminated the most talented air staff DFW has ever seen. It’s bad enough, CBS Radio, that you’ve utterly destroyed the greatest commercial jazz station in North Texas and alienated an entire demographic in the process.

At least you could have done us the courtesy of coming up with better taglines.

This story was written by a member of the TexasGigs community

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Comments

Todd Maternowski Staff

I agree, 88.1 is one of my favorite FM stations. Great music, hardly any commercials or DJ blabber...great, great station.

2 years ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )