WSMJ Baltimore Becomes “Channel 104.3″
The 104.3 frequency in Baltimore has been in a continuous loop of format changes since the demise of CHR “B104″ WBSB in the early 90’s. There was Hot AC “Variety 104.3″ WVRT, Soft AC “Soft 104.3″ WSSF, All 70’s and later Classic Hits “The Colt” WOCT, Classic Rock “Baltimore 104.3″ which later brought back the “B104″ name under the call letters WXFB. Since 2003, the station had found some stability with Smooth Jazz WSMJ.
With the format dying off in many markets, it was expected that WSMJ would eventually change formats. That change eventually happened on May 23, 2008 as WSMJ became Modern Rock “Channel 104.3″. The launch sequence includes a nice montage of airchecks taken from BostonRadio.org as well as some site called FormatChange.com.
Not only is it a sad day for Baltimore, it’s also a sad day for Smooth Jazz as a whole. In the last 12 months, we’ve lost stations in Houston, Indianapolis, Denver, Portland, New York and Washington DC. Thankfully, there are still lots of great stations to choose from, like WJJZ Philadelphia, KKSF San Francisco, KTWV Los Angeles, and my hometown station, WNUA Chicago! And you can listen online, so that’s a big plus. Anyway, as a former Baltimore resident, I express my condolences to the jazz lovers in town, and I hope that somebody else brings this wonderful format back someday. Sure, Smooth Jazz is currently on life support, but it’s certainly not dead yet! Just ask the fans in Philly. After all, WSMJ was owned by the same idiots who killed off the old WJJZ. Well, there’s hope for Baltimore, because if it could happen in Philly, then why not here? This is yet another great station that will be terribly missed.
What is going on? Why are all these Smooth Jazz stations throughout the country being eliminated? First in DC, Houston, Denver and now Baltimore. There is an audience for smooth jazz and now we must bombard and over-populate the market with all these similar competiting radio stations of rock, alternative and the like. This further gives me a reason to not listen to radio at all. This is awful!