The Jazz Age is over. Swing isn't king any more at WVXU-FM (91.7).
The Xavier University station has canceled evening jazz and weekend big band music after 20 years. In its place will be national and local talk and information shows.
"The sound you hear on Monday will be nothing like you've heard in the past. This is the most radical change in programming we've made in 18 years," said James "Doc" King, WVXU-FM broadcasting director.
Only Charlie Carey's Story of Jazz and Bob Nave's Bop Connection have survived. They will air 8-10 p.m. Saturdays.
"We're getting rid of stuff that doesn't work any more. Certain programming elements don't have much appeal" according to the station's research, or don't fulfill the station's mission to provide alternative programming, Mr. King said.
Canceled from Saturday are the local noon-5 p.m. When Swing Was King, Bluespot, and the heavy-metal Saturday Night Loud, and the syndicated Book Guys show.
The changes were the result of a one-year study of audience comments and support from the past three pledge drives, and increased music competition from Cincinnati radio stations in recent years, Mr. King said.
Another factor was the realization that Cincinnati is vastly different from the rural communities served by WVXU-FM's seven "X-Star" network stations in Ohio, Indiana and northern Michigan (where jazz and swing will still be heard).
"Our network needs are different from our needs here. We're an urban market. Most of our network stations are in small towns," said Mr. King, 53, WVXU-FM manager since 1976.
All that jazz
Since 1994, all that jazz and swing heard on WVXU-FM has been found on four new competitors -- "smooth jazz" WVAE-FM (94.9), popular standards on WSAI-AM (1530), big band WMKV-FM (89.3) and WNOP-AM's (740) return to jazz.
"We were finding huge defections to WVAE-FM," Mr. King says. WVXU-FM's night jazz ratings were "statistically so low that we don't exist. A zero."
The Saturday noon-5 p.m. swing show, broadcast for 21 years, couldn't compete with WMKV-FM, operated by Maple Knoll Village and the Southwestern Ohio Seniors' Services Inc.
"Why would anyone listen to our little five-hour show on Saturday, when they could listen to it all day on another station?" Mr. King asks.
But swing and jazz will remain on the seven other "X-Star" network stations, in communities where that music isn't otherwise available. For the first time, XU will operate two program services -- one for WVXU-FM, and another for the "X-star" stations in Chillicothe, New Paris, West Union and Mount Gilead, Ohio; Crawfordsville, Ind.; and Manistee and Rogers City, Mich.
The switch to public radio talk shows was the same strategy taken in March by Miami University's WMUB-FM (88.5). However, WMUB-FM retained its popular Mama Jazz show 7 p.m.-midnight.
Veteran producer
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According to Mr. King, WVXU-FM's ratings dropped immediately following Morning Edition when local self-help shows come on. "It was our No. 1 stumbling block," he said.
In addition to moving the local X-Star Experts call-in shows to 5-10:30 p.m. Sunday, WVXU-FM has hired radio veteran Ann Haven Thompson, formerly of WKRC-AM, WCKY-AM and Metro Networks traffic, to produce the shows.
All local Sunday night shows will be taped in advance, so the content (topics, length of calls) can be edited. People who call during the shows will be asked to leave their name and number, so they can be called back when the programs are taped. NPR's award-winning Car Talk show uses the same system.
On Monday, even WVXU-FM's promotional announcements will sound different. Hundreds of new spots have been recorded by local personalities Joyce Wise, Mike Davidson, Maureen McCullough, former WGUC-FM DJ John Birge and public radio personalities.
Early next year, Mr. King's responsibilities will change at the university. He will devote full-time to the network, handing off day-to-day oversight of WVXU-FM to a manager-to-be-named-later. His goal is to improve the revenuefrom the far-flung stations, providing a financial safety net for the flagship station.
WVXU-FM actually has profited from operating four repeater stations in parts of Ohio not previously served by public radio, he said. The operating cost has been less than the amount the state of Ohio paid WVXU-FM for the service, he said.
The Indiana and Michigan stations, now operating at about a 30 percent loss, should be "totally self-sufficient by 2001, with sales support and membership," Mr. King said.
"Without my full attention to the network, it's not going to grow to its full potential," he said.
Until then, Mr. King and his 19 employees "are prepared for the onslaught" from angry callers about the format change.
"Hopefully, we'll only have about two weeks of damage control."
