Radio Today say the replacement will launch on there in February - that's consistent with Bauer taking a month to sort out the future of Absolute and their various other brands.
So Jazz FM has yet again gone from my DAB radio......I appreciate that they have more listeners in the London area, but there again there are more people in that area are there not? Many of the events / live music events were London based.
I have never been asked by any official listening body about my radio listening habits, I wish I had. For Jazz FM to come and go from analogue and DAB radio do they have a problem? With music format changes which lets be honest at times were not Jazz they have now decided to ignore the national listening population that were listening on DAB, I find it annoying and sad. Yes there are other listening platforms available but for many of us listening on the internet is not possible at times. My wife and I travel great distances to attend and see live music performed in the jazz genre, we are not on our own . Adios Jazz FM, don't let it fold altogether, but now with only a regional DAB outlet I really wonder about the decision.
So Jazz FM has yet again gone from my DAB radio......I appreciate that they have more listeners in the London area, but there again there are more people in that area are there not? Many of the events / live music events were London based.
I have never been asked by any official listening body about my radio listening habits, I wish I had. For Jazz FM to come and go from analogue and DAB radio do they have a problem? With music format changes which lets be honest at times were not Jazz they have now decided to ignore the national listening population that were listening on DAB, I find it annoying and sad. Yes there are other listening platforms available but for many of us listening on the internet is not possible at times. My wife and I travel great distances to attend and see live music performed in the jazz genre, we are not on our own . Adios Jazz FM, don't let it fold altogether, but now with only a regional DAB outlet I really wonder about the decision.
Was there enough jazz on Jazz FM to make it worth listening? Some posters here, myself included, have more-or-less abandoned the station in favour of other stations that do play jazz all day. You'd have to listen online, but you might enjoy the music more. Stations I like include DR P8 Jazz from Copenhagen and TSF Jazz from Paris. Others recommend WBGO from Newark, NJ but I can't get the stream to work at the moment.
Radio Today say the replacement will launch on there in February - that's consistent with Bauer taking a month to sort out the future of Absolute and their various other brands.
Jazz FM (and the others you mention) could be part of one or more of the Digital 2 applications. Digital 2 carriage is likely to be cheaper because it will use fewer transmitters than Digital 1.
I very much hope so because the recent station departures and the close down of the regional muxes has been a step backwards for DAB.
I gave up listening a couple of days ago. The constant interuptions on D1 to announce that Jazz FM was closing were driving me up the wall.
I had long since reduced my listening to the occasional Dinner Jazz and the Cutting Edge so ultimately did not feel nearly as sad as when TheJazz disappeared.
When I work at the computer I listen to WBGO. Knowledgeable presenters, no ads, no VT and, refreshingly, they play jazz music.
When Birdsong was on last time around, I used to turn up the volume so that my cat could hear it. She recognised that it was bird song but she just couldn't figure out where the birds were!
I would love to see another soul/jazz station , but with the amount Arqiva charge to be on there it is to much for the likes of Solar /Mi-Soul .Instead it will likely be another god awful rock station
Though it's doubtful that could survive unless being subsidised from elsewhere.
Whoever is running DAB into the ground will have to realise it will only succeed if the rates to broadcast are massively reduced. Otherwise it will end up as the BBC and a couple of radio jukebox style national stations.
I very much hope so because the recent station departures and the close down of the regional muxes has been a step backwards for DAB.
The variety of stations on DAB is worse than it was when I first had a DAB set ten years ago.
But then, commercial radio is in a race to the bottom. With more stations, hundreds of TV channels, and the internet, the advertising cake is spread increasingly thinnner.
Outside of niche stations that can survive in large metropolitan areas, the commercial radio scene will become dominated by national jukebox stations increasingly devoid of any personality.
The variety of stations on DAB is worse than it was when I first had a DAB set ten years ago.
But then, commercial radio is in a race to the bottom. With more stations, hundreds of TV channels, and the internet, the advertising cake is spread increasingly thinnner.
Outside of niche stations that can survive in large metropolitan areas, the commercial radio scene will become dominated by national jukebox stations increasingly devoid of any personality.
It feels as if now we have a two tier DAB system in the UK, Some variety alongside the usual jukebox stations in London, with everyone else outside of London getting a raw deal.
When JazzFM relaunched it was on a few regionl MUXs. IIRC, London, West Midlands, South Wales, Manchester and Glasgow and/or Edinburgh.
I wonder what the cost of delivery was on this network compared to D1 national. If this was still in existence and the station remained would this have been a more viable business model and we still have Jazz FM in these areas?
Back then it was in stereo and on a higher bitrate too.
Peter Young's last show of 2013 & his last on National DAB today. Already sounding good musically with more to come according to PY's Facebook page
"Today, it's my last show of 2013. Be great if you could join me at 2 for non-stop party flavours. Sorry, flavas! Including the return of 'The Mad Hour' between 4-5. A heady brew of anything goes. There's Ska from Prince Buster, The Upsetters and The Ska Kings. Latin from Santana. R'n'B from Bo Diddley, Fats Domino and Dinah Washington. Plus a very early Stevie Wonder record, recently used over the opening credits of the Great Train Robbery drama."
There's one word missing from that statement: 4 letters, first one is J !
Any change of format for a slot on Digital 1 has to be approved by Ofcom. There is some flexibility but I don't think they are going to allow another religious station.
Well, SouthCity, we now have the news that LBC are going to take Jazz FM's former national slot and here's what's happened:
Ofcom has agreed a request from Digital One to allow a change of service from jazz to speech. The description of the new service is “a speech service of news, views, discussions, phone-ins and entertainment catering for audiences across the UK”. http://radiotoday.co.uk/2014/01/5-live-welcomes-lbc-to-the-national-scene/
I assume that there was no interest in this slot from any minority music interest radio station hence the Digital One request to Ofcom which was duly granted. It's really sad that there'll be no dedicated jazz station on DAB for the foreseeable future although LBC at least adds some variety to the Digital One line up albeit of the talk genre. I guess the only jazz content on DAB now will be the few scraps on BBC Radio 3.
Well, SouthCity, we now have the news that LBC are going to take Jazz FM's former national slot and here's what's happened:
Ofcom has agreed a request from Digital One to allow a change of service from jazz to speech. The description of the new service is “a speech service of news, views, discussions, phone-ins and entertainment catering for audiences across the UK”. http://radiotoday.co.uk/2014/01/5-live-welcomes-lbc-to-the-national-scene/
I assume that there was no interest in this slot from any minority music interest radio station hence the Digital One request to Ofcom which was duly granted. It's really sad that there'll be no dedicated jazz station on DAB for the foreseeable future although LBC at least adds some variety to the Digital One line up albeit of the talk genre. I guess the only jazz content on DAB now will be the few scraps on BBC Radio 3.
We'll never see a national jazz station on DAB ever again, if it can't be made to work on Digital One, it isn't going to work on Digital Two. I always thought that it would have been nice to try a smooth jazz, nu-jazz, house, contemporary jazz, soul and funk output with a younger demographic (think Crooze FM in Belgium) but I suspect realistically it isn't going to ever happen on DAB in the UK. Not even the BBC plays a fair chunk of that style of music!
A mono London DAB station and whatever the BBC provides (if it doesn't reduce it) is the best we can hope for. For the rest of us, Internet radio is going to have to be mandatory. Even then, many UK artists are having to turn to overseas jazz stations for airplay outside of specialist shows.
I can't remember when I last used the DAB functions on my digital radios.
We'll never see a national jazz station on DAB ever again, if it can't be made to work on Digital One, it isn't going to work on Digital Two. I always thought that it would have been nice to try a smooth jazz, nu-jazz, house, contemporary jazz, soul and funk output with a younger demographic (think Crooze FM in Belgium) but I suspect realistically it isn't going to ever happen on DAB in the UK. Not even the BBC plays a fair chunk of that style of music!
A mono London DAB station and whatever the BBC provides (if it doesn't reduce it) is the best we can hope for. For the rest of us, Internet radio is going to have to be mandatory. Even then, many UK artists are having to turn to overseas jazz stations for airplay outside of specialist shows.
I can't remember when I last used the DAB functions on my digital radios.
Although that is a kind of pessimistic outlook, tghe-retford, I also happen to think it is a realistic one. If I recall correctly, Jazz FM did indicate that they might possibly be open to a limited re-expansion on a select number of local DAB multiplexes at some future stage. That said, it was so vague that I personally don't think it will ever happen.
This means now for my music listening, it's all done via wifi because of the limited, cloned and blandified (OK, so l made that word up) range of music on DAB. The days of Chill, Jazz FM and Red Dragon Radio on DAB have all gone the way of Dodo and that's unfortunate.
Although that is a kind of pessimistic outlook, tghe-retford, I also happen to think it is a realistic one. If I recall correctly, Jazz FM did indicate that they might possibly be open to a limited re-expansion on a select number of local DAB multiplexes at some future stage. That said, it was so vague that I personally don't think it will ever happen.
The most obvious cities for Jazz FM to return to next are Manchester and Birmingham, but withe the regional muxes closing to save Global money and help the local mux rollout, the Manchester and Birmingham local muxes are full.
The MXR transmitters and aerials which used to feed these cities are probably still in place and could be used to get D2 on air quickly when awarded? Hopefully if Jazz FM continues to make a profit in London it may go back to stereo and join D2 (which will be less cost than D1 as coverage will be initally less)if it ever launches?
Although that is a kind of pessimistic outlook, tghe-retford, I also happen to think it is a realistic one. If I recall correctly, Jazz FM did indicate that they might possibly be open to a limited re-expansion on a select number of local DAB multiplexes at some future stage. That said, it was so vague that I personally don't think it will ever happen.
True, but if there is one thing I don't like doing or other people doing, its giving false hope when reality paints a stark and different picture. I cannot see Jazz FM going back to national coverage having its fingers burnt even when Digital Two launches, no-one else will dare try it, I do think any jazz music on a UK radio will be provided by the BBC and Jazz FM in small doses (the PSB element seems at odds with many other European and Oceanic PSB's who provide whole channels dedicated to jazz) or by dedicated individuals in individual shows or by overseas stations who UK jazz artists are having to turn to in order to get their music out to UK stations. I find it utterly bizarre that a UK smooth jazz artist has to turn to an American owned radio station to promote their music - this should be done by Jazz FM and the BBC but neither will have anything to do with it any more. How absurd that British radio stations will not promote British music from some quarters.
the PSB element seems at odds with many other European and Oceanic PSB's who provide whole channels dedicated to jazz
The UK does seem to be out on a limb here. There are very good jazz stations in Europe, both public service and commercial; there are also very good jazz stations in the US and Canada, mostly PSB I believe. The UK has a lot of interest in jazz, not just Jazz FM's watered-down version, but there seems to be no way to get it on the radio at times of day when the average listener can tune in.
The only solution I can imagine - and it's highly unlikely to happen and would be hard work if it did - would be an FM community radio licence in London with crowd-funding for DAB. Forget about adverts, get as much sponsorship as (legally) possible and do the whole member-supported thing with CD/ticket giveaways etc to raise money to pay for the DAB slot.
(I'm not saying the community licence has to be in London, it was just an example of a place where a community licence might be viable)
It's a shame Jazz FM was not able to takeover ONFM and do something good with the rare London FM frequency, even if it is low power, but they do seem to surviving on digital platforms. The next rajar might not show the effect of dropping national DAB to see if just 150k listeners left the station, would leave about 400k total?
They were getting people to sign up online for Red, Blue and on demand but have removed it so look to be being supported by advertisers rather than subscriptions
I find it utterly bizarre that a UK smooth jazz artist has to turn to an American owned radio station to promote their music - this should be done by Jazz FM and the BBC but neither will have anything to do with it any more. How absurd that British radio stations will not promote British music from some quarters.
Jazz FM are promoting Smooth jazz Citrus Sun at the moment!
Apologies for perhaps going off on a tangent, but I have a problem with Jazz FM on DAB and have not been able to find any relevant info elsewhere.
Both prior to January 1st when Jazz FM was on national DAB and also since it switched to London only, there are intermittent breaks/silences of several seconds (I'd say anywhere between 1 and 15 seconds). Some days there are no problems but on others it happens so frequently I give up and switch off! When each of these brief silences occurs it happens on both my Roberts pocket DAB and my Yamaha DAB mini system at exactly the same time, so I don't believe either device is faulty. But this happens only on Jazz FM, no other DAB station. Consequently I don't believe it can be due to local interference.
Has anyone else experienced this problem with Jazz FM? Does anyone know why happens?
Weekly hours stayed constant over the last year,
each listener tuned in for 4.5 hours per week and a total hours of 3m which probably kept advertisers happy.
Had 681k listeners, up from last quarter of 666k, but still down from the peak of 758k last June.
It made a small profit.
I must admit I have not listened enough to hear any dropouts, sounds like it could be a new line to the new DAB mux? Have you let Jazz FM know?, is it online as well?, or one time of day when the output could be from another studio?
Former Planet Rock boss Jonathan Arendt has been appointed Managing Director of Jazz FM.
Jonathan said: “This is an exciting but challenging time for Jazz FM. The plans that the company has will see a step-change for the business and whilst there is a long road ahead, the opportunities are numerous and attractive.”
He’s been in commercial radio for over 25 years, and is founder of marketing and research agency Hallett Arendt. Jonathan has also been a director of Planet Rock, LBC, XFM, NME Radio and a number of independent stations across the UK. He left Planet Rock in January 2012 to set up his own digital media firm.
Richard Wheatly, Chairman Jazz FM said “We are delighted to have been able to attract someone of Jonathan’s calibre and experience to join us. We have big plans for the brand and Jonathan is the right person to deliver them. There’s a lot to do, and we believe Jonathan’s energy and skills will allow us to move things forward at pace”.
I wonder what he means by "the opportunities are numerous and attractive".
He doesn't appear to have a great track record. Was he involved in the original NME Radio, which sounded good but lasted less than two years, or the later version which sounded bad but lasted a little bit longer?
What's up with Jazz FM today? The playout system seems to have lost the plot and is playing out commercials over the news, then playing the news jingle as the news ends, leaving a just few seconds of sports news audible before the music kicks back in.
Comments
I have never been asked by any official listening body about my radio listening habits, I wish I had. For Jazz FM to come and go from analogue and DAB radio do they have a problem? With music format changes which lets be honest at times were not Jazz they have now decided to ignore the national listening population that were listening on DAB, I find it annoying and sad. Yes there are other listening platforms available but for many of us listening on the internet is not possible at times. My wife and I travel great distances to attend and see live music performed in the jazz genre, we are not on our own . Adios Jazz FM, don't let it fold altogether, but now with only a regional DAB outlet I really wonder about the decision.
I very much hope so because the recent station departures and the close down of the regional muxes has been a step backwards for DAB.
I quite like Jazz FM 91.1 Toronto.
When Birdsong was on last time around, I used to turn up the volume so that my cat could hear it. She recognised that it was bird song but she just couldn't figure out where the birds were!
Though it's doubtful that could survive unless being subsidised from elsewhere.
Whoever is running DAB into the ground will have to realise it will only succeed if the rates to broadcast are massively reduced. Otherwise it will end up as the BBC and a couple of radio jukebox style national stations.
But then, commercial radio is in a race to the bottom. With more stations, hundreds of TV channels, and the internet, the advertising cake is spread increasingly thinnner.
Outside of niche stations that can survive in large metropolitan areas, the commercial radio scene will become dominated by national jukebox stations increasingly devoid of any personality.
I wonder what the cost of delivery was on this network compared to D1 national. If this was still in existence and the station remained would this have been a more viable business model and we still have Jazz FM in these areas?
Back then it was in stereo and on a higher bitrate too.
There's one word missing from that statement: 4 letters, first one is J !
Well, SouthCity, we now have the news that LBC are going to take Jazz FM's former national slot and here's what's happened:
Ofcom has agreed a request from Digital One to allow a change of service from jazz to speech. The description of the new service is “a speech service of news, views, discussions, phone-ins and entertainment catering for audiences across the UK”.
http://radiotoday.co.uk/2014/01/5-live-welcomes-lbc-to-the-national-scene/
I assume that there was no interest in this slot from any minority music interest radio station hence the Digital One request to Ofcom which was duly granted. It's really sad that there'll be no dedicated jazz station on DAB for the foreseeable future although LBC at least adds some variety to the Digital One line up albeit of the talk genre. I guess the only jazz content on DAB now will be the few scraps on BBC Radio 3.
I think it's a fantastic show. He plays jazz, soul, latin, blues, r&b and makes it all blend together. Perfect for me.
A mono London DAB station and whatever the BBC provides (if it doesn't reduce it) is the best we can hope for. For the rest of us, Internet radio is going to have to be mandatory. Even then, many UK artists are having to turn to overseas jazz stations for airplay outside of specialist shows.
I can't remember when I last used the DAB functions on my digital radios.
Although that is a kind of pessimistic outlook, tghe-retford, I also happen to think it is a realistic one. If I recall correctly, Jazz FM did indicate that they might possibly be open to a limited re-expansion on a select number of local DAB multiplexes at some future stage. That said, it was so vague that I personally don't think it will ever happen.
This means now for my music listening, it's all done via wifi because of the limited, cloned and blandified (OK, so l made that word up) range of music on DAB. The days of Chill, Jazz FM and Red Dragon Radio on DAB have all gone the way of Dodo and that's unfortunate.
The MXR transmitters and aerials which used to feed these cities are probably still in place and could be used to get D2 on air quickly when awarded? Hopefully if Jazz FM continues to make a profit in London it may go back to stereo and join D2 (which will be less cost than D1 as coverage will be initally less)if it ever launches?
The UK does seem to be out on a limb here. There are very good jazz stations in Europe, both public service and commercial; there are also very good jazz stations in the US and Canada, mostly PSB I believe. The UK has a lot of interest in jazz, not just Jazz FM's watered-down version, but there seems to be no way to get it on the radio at times of day when the average listener can tune in.
The only solution I can imagine - and it's highly unlikely to happen and would be hard work if it did - would be an FM community radio licence in London with crowd-funding for DAB. Forget about adverts, get as much sponsorship as (legally) possible and do the whole member-supported thing with CD/ticket giveaways etc to raise money to pay for the DAB slot.
(I'm not saying the community licence has to be in London, it was just an example of a place where a community licence might be viable)
They were getting people to sign up online for Red, Blue and on demand but have removed it so look to be being supported by advertisers rather than subscriptions Jazz FM are promoting Smooth jazz Citrus Sun at the moment!
Both prior to January 1st when Jazz FM was on national DAB and also since it switched to London only, there are intermittent breaks/silences of several seconds (I'd say anywhere between 1 and 15 seconds). Some days there are no problems but on others it happens so frequently I give up and switch off! When each of these brief silences occurs it happens on both my Roberts pocket DAB and my Yamaha DAB mini system at exactly the same time, so I don't believe either device is faulty. But this happens only on Jazz FM, no other DAB station. Consequently I don't believe it can be due to local interference.
Has anyone else experienced this problem with Jazz FM? Does anyone know why happens?
TIA,
Si
Although I believe the survey period covered the time when they were still on Digital1.
each listener tuned in for 4.5 hours per week and a total hours of 3m which probably kept advertisers happy.
Had 681k listeners, up from last quarter of 666k, but still down from the peak of 758k last June.
It made a small profit.
Jazz FM said on Radiotoday it expects next rajar to be 150k down, but still viable.
http://radiotoday.co.uk/2013/12/jazz-fm-leaves-national-dab-digital-radio/
They must have taken relief that the D1 slot was taken by LBC rather than a new Jazz/Soul startup?
I must admit I have not listened enough to hear any dropouts, sounds like it could be a new line to the new DAB mux? Have you let Jazz FM know?, is it online as well?, or one time of day when the output could be from another studio?
Former Planet Rock boss Jonathan Arendt has been appointed Managing Director of Jazz FM.
Jonathan said: “This is an exciting but challenging time for Jazz FM. The plans that the company has will see a step-change for the business and whilst there is a long road ahead, the opportunities are numerous and attractive.”
He’s been in commercial radio for over 25 years, and is founder of marketing and research agency Hallett Arendt. Jonathan has also been a director of Planet Rock, LBC, XFM, NME Radio and a number of independent stations across the UK. He left Planet Rock in January 2012 to set up his own digital media firm.
Richard Wheatly, Chairman Jazz FM said “We are delighted to have been able to attract someone of Jonathan’s calibre and experience to join us. We have big plans for the brand and Jonathan is the right person to deliver them. There’s a lot to do, and we believe Jonathan’s energy and skills will allow us to move things forward at pace”.
He doesn't appear to have a great track record. Was he involved in the original NME Radio, which sounded good but lasted less than two years, or the later version which sounded bad but lasted a little bit longer?