From ABBA to ZZ Top: ‘SAM’ Joins Westwood One, Promising No Jocks

‘Jack’ got people’s attention. Now Westwood One is employing ‘SAM.’
The syndicator says it is “capitalizing on one of the hottest format trends in radio: 100 percent music with no disc jockeys.” In June it will launch a music format it calls SAM Radio – SAM for “Simply About Music” – targeting adults 25-54.
“Unlike existing formats, SAM playlists are meticulously researched to deliver the highest familiarity with the least amount of repetition and burn,” it stated in its announcement.
“SAM will feature only select songs from its large and diverse library of familiar music spanning four decades, including hits by such artists as ABBA, Ace of Base, Aerosmith, Billy Joel, Blondie, Boston, Bruce Springsteen, Genesis, George Thorogood, Parliament, R.E.M., Rod Stewart, The Pointer Sisters, The Police, ZZ Top, among others.”
Charlie Cook is VP of programming. He said the format “promises to pack more music per hour than any other national music format in America” and said it will have fewer commercials and no “downtime.”