12-28-15
Three years after launch, Rick O’Dell says he’s shutting down the online radio station. According to the Chicagoland Radio and Media Blog, the recently announced higher royalties were the main factor, but O’Dell’s full-time job as PD for WRME-LP//87.7 MeTV FM was also getting in his way of keeping the station alive.
In O’Dell’s announcement this past weekend, he wrote: “Sadly, when you combine the two factors, the diminishing amount of available time to maintain the quality of SJC at a level I feel our listeners deserve and the increasing expenses related to performance royalties, there is no longer any uncertainty about the decision I have to make. I cannot continue to operate SmoothJazzChicago. With a heavy heart, I have decided to shut down the station on December 31, 2015.”
