I was talking to a black radio legend who made me swear I would not reveal who he is.. but when I mentioned the need to have radical talk shows on the urban side to compete with the Rush Limbaugh’s and other conservatives, this executive told me, and this is a black man…. “As a rule urban radio does not hire intellectuals but ignorant niggas who just like music who are glad to have a job.” OH NO, I exclaimed there are some intellectuals in urban radio and he agreed and disagreed. He said “If they are intelligent, it would benefit them tremendously not to reveal it on the air.” I called a program director that I know and thought that he would disagree but he actually agreed. He stated we have been dumbed down to such a degree we don’t even realize it. He agreed that corporations on the urban side have no interest in losing the few ad dollars they have now and even if we had a number 1 talk show on, we will still only get 25% of the advertising the top white shows get. What do you think? Are urban radio announcers collectively stupid?
Do Urban Radio Announcers Lack the Intellect to do Talk Shows?
– September 20, 2009Posted in:
In a word, “YES.”
Now, there is intellect, MUCH intellect in the black community, but the media (((and I must say led by BET))) has both dumbed down the the content AND convinced too many of us that This is what we WANT.
So now, whenever we get something both intellectual and uplifting, the creators have to do it against the wishes of many in the community.
A campaign like “No Snitchin” was absolutely insane. It should’ve been squashed BEFORE made it into the first studio production room.
Yet, via the “skreets” and hip-hop bilge water, passing as radio, “no Snitchin” became marching orders for many a thug and thug wannabe.
THAANXX Black radio !!!
It has been my experience for the past 20 years that I’ve been in radio and television that advertising dollars are the key and advertisers call the shots. I think that to present a talk radio format that would appeal to urban audiences you would need not only need to appeal to issues that they (in the Black Community) face on a regular basis, but you have to balance it with opposing political viewpoints that reflect what is real as opposed to what is imagined or propagandized in the community. That would be just controversial enough to lure listeners because of their approval or their outrage.
That is what has been the motivating factor for sponsors to pay for your programming.
It has been my experience that urban audiences tune in to talk radio that provokes them one way or another.
The only real talk radio that appears to provoke those with the intellectual moxy that it takes to have a serious conversation with hysteria or name calling is conservative talk radio. the only other talk radio that is of any consequence is “Air America” which continues to be on the verge of bankruptcy every 18 months because sponsors back out due to sagging numbers. The numbers are as low as they are because of the content of the conversations.
I mean really.
People get tired of hearing the same old attacks on the “evil republicans” … that they are responsible for all of the ills of the world and that the democrats are the people who can really get things done that will benefit everybody. The fact is that although the dems won in the last elections there has been very little “change” and there still is even less “hope”. Therein is a good enough start for anyone with the professional courage to go for it. Anyone willing to put dollars up to do it, call me(323) 954-1750.
I do jazz radio and discuss jazz stuff on a regular basis on the air with my listeners. I’d love to do the same with urban issues.
Kev, I HOPE that mine was one of the names you mentioned !! I’ve always said that Talk Radio is the next phase in my career and you KNOW that it would be easy for me to do it !!
One of the reasons why B-96.5 has been so successful since my days of programming it was because I REFUSED to dumb it down and it’s a philosophy that’s still in play to this day.
The secret to a GREAT radio station is what you’re able to do in between the songs. How many of you have been able to explain the President’s Health Care Reform Bill to your audience ? How many of you have even TRIED ?
NOW ID THE TIME THAT BLACK RADIO get out of it’s Steppin’ Fetch It state and get back to REALLY being about something !!
Madison Ave ad houses will tell you black people don’t listen to talk radio, that has been the defacto standard since the days of NBN trying to get sponsors for night talk. What the ad houses said back then and will continue to tell you now is that black people want the jive talk and the boogie, but lets be clear on somthing here, what are the few black owned radio corps out here doing when they are contiually told that from madison ave ad houses—> n-o-t-i-n-g!