Thanks to an alert poster on the Radio-Info.com Smooth Jazz message board, we've discovered that Broadcast Architecture™ has quietly done a name change switcheroo with their inaccurately labeled "Chillout Radio Network™."
It's now the "Bright Radio Network™."
On a page loaded with frequent "™" symbols on the United Stations Radio Networks site, we find that little else has changed: "This NEW format will focus on MUSIC THAT FEELS GOOD™ from artists like Sade, Michael Jackson, Alicia Keys, Jason Mraz, Earth Wind & Fire, Norah Jones, George Benson, John Mayer, Phil Collins, Beyonce, Maroon 5, Seal, Colbie Callait, Kenny G, Kool & The Gang, and Corinne Bailey Rae."
The baby network signed on March 29, and there is an affiliate...a rimshotter in Oklahoma that hits most of Tulsa and Oklahoma City, KOCD/Okemah. You can listen live on their site. You'll hear that music™ that feels™ good™ between CBS News, spots for livestock feed and the National Cowboy Museum, and local weather advisories provided by tornado-chasing TV stations in the area. A complete package, tailored for rural and urban Oklahomans alike who want to feel™ good™ and crave a place to "just BE."™
Aside from fewer instrumentals, the format is nearly indistinguishable from the Smooth Jazz Network™ which KOCD used to run. Smooth Jazz Network™ talent (Dave Koz™, et al) have been repurposed on the Chill...er, Bright Radio Network™ so effectively they're voicing two 24/7 syndicated nets. And if KOCD doesn't have enough spots to play, you'll hear those instrumental tunes anyway as interludes in place of the would-be spot breaks.
It's expected that more Smooth Jazz Network™ affiliates will gradually convert to Bright Radio Network™ affiliates as time goes by and the S-™ and J-™ words become even more poisonous than they already are.
No official reason has been given for the network's name change, but we can come up with one in three words: Horrific marketing blunder...from people™ who should know better.
