Firm signed to deal to run KKJZ
Press Telegram 3/28/07
The California State University Long Beach Foundation, which holds the license to KKJZ (88.1) FM, finalized terms of the operating contract with Global Jazz Inc., an affiliate of Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasters, Inc.
KKJZ will remain a not-for-profit blues and jazz station, focusing on classic jazz by artists such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane as opposed to "smooth" jazz, said Saul Levine, president of Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasters.
Mt. Wilson, which will take over the jazz station April 21, owns the for-profit stations KKGO "Go Country" 105 (105.1) FM, which is simulcast on XESUR (540) AM, as well as classical music station KMZT K-Mozart (1260) AM, which is simulcast on a digital radio channel.
In tapping Mt. Wilson's Global Jazz, the university foundation opted to discontinue its relationship with current KKJZ operator Pacific Public Radio, which has managed the station since 1987.
Foundation officials cited the station's poor financial condition and what they saw as insufficient promotion of the university.
The station has lost more than a quarter of its audience over the past few years, as the number of weekly listeners has declined from about 400,000 to 300,000, Levine said.
CSULB President F. King Alexander said Global Jazz's management will "provide K-Jazz listeners with the quality of sound and service they expect.
"We also are confident that Saul Levine has gone out of his way to ensure that the university's students, academic interests and broader public outreach are well served by the radio station," Alexander added in a statement.
Levine has previous experience operating a jazz station. His 105.1 FM station had a jazz format for 29 years before it converted to classical in 1989. (In February, the station changed to country.)
"Our goal is to make (KKJZ) the number-one public provider of mainstream jazz in the United States," Levine said.
He said he has no plans to drop the classic jazz format or to significantly reduce the music in favor of news or talk. Many jazz stations have struggled as the music genre has waned in popularity.
"Jazz is being dropped by public radio stations," Levine said. "It's a very serious problem. And this is not going to happen at 88.1."
Levine said he hopes to retain as many PPR employees as makes sense organizationally. The station will also continue to offer the annual Long Beach Blues Festival, he added.
Under its relationship with the university, Global Jazz also will absorb any financial losses from the station and share part of the revenue surplus with the university, Levine said.
Levine declined to offer details of the surplus-sharing agreement.
"The reason (for that financial arrangement) is that very simply we love jazz, and the station needs help," he said. "And we can do it. And hopefully we're not going to lose any money. It's going to be a labor of love. We are not going to get rich off this."
Global Jazz each year will provide four $5,000 scholarships to CSULB students and offer four students paid internships, officials said. It will make additional efforts to have students serve as interns, volunteers or paid employees.
Global Jazz will make a greater effort to promote the university on the air, Levine added.