Schwartz worked at New York's
WNEW-FM from 1967 to 1976, followed by stints at
WNEW,
WQEW and, between 1999 and 2017,
WNYC-FM. Schwartz also served as programming director for
XM Satellite Radio Frank's Place, named in honor of Frank Sinatra. Following XM's merger with Sirius, the name was changed to
High Standards channel from 2001 to 2008, and appeared on Sirius XM's
Siriusly Sinatra and
'40s on 4 channels from 2008 to 2013. Schwartz is best known for
The Jonathan Schwartz Show, which aired Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons on WNYC-FM, and was about half talk and half an eclectic mix of music. In his talk during the shows, Schwartz would hold extended monologues concerning famous pop songwriters and singers, and jazz artists. His music selections incorporated
pop jazz,
pop standards,
big band and
Broadway show tunes, augmented by music of nearly any popular style that has influenced twentieth century American tastes. His playlists reflected the "
Great American Songbook" or, as Schwartz described it, "America's classical music". Traditionally, Schwartz opened each broadcast with the same secret snippet of music which he had always refused to identify until 2014, at a show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music: slightly more than a minute of "a lilting woman's voice, wordless and yet evocative, over an acoustic guitar." In 2013 WNYC launched The Jonathan Channel, a 24/7 streaming
Internet radio station programmed by Schwartz and dedicated to American songs selected by him. The channel also featured live programming hosted by Schwartz, along with simulcasts and replays of his Saturday and Sunday WNYC shows. On December 6, 2017, as the
MeToo movement gained momentum, WNYC announced that Schwartz and longtime WNYC host
Leonard Lopate were being put on leave "pending investigations into allegations of inappropriate conduct." On December 21, 2017, WNYC fired both Schwartz and Lopate, stating that "investigations found that each individual had violated [WNYC's] standards for providing an inclusive, appropriate, and respectful work environment". The station's Jonathan Channel stream was concurrently renamed American Standards, and as of 2020 is known as New Standards. On June 17, 2018, Schwartz began broadcasting on an internet radio station, The Jonathan Station, that was created for him a few months before by Bob Perry of Big Sticks Broadcasting. It is a live streaming station that presents the American Songbook twenty four hours a day with live programs with Jonathan Schwartz on Saturdays and Sundays. The long tradition of presenting a Christmas Show, something that Schwartz started in 1971 while at WNEW, continues at the new station. In February 2021, Schwartz announced that he was retiring from radio. His final show aired in early March and continues to be repeated on his channel. ==Other works==