Bob Slade of 98.7 Kiss FM WRKS Says Black Radio Needs More Talk Programs
"Someday, black radio is going to wake up and realize it has to do more talk programming," says Bob Slade, news director of WRKS (98.7 FM)."I know that the listeners are ready for it. But sometimes black radio, all across the country, lags a little behind." Slade is doing his part. Every Sunday he co-hosts "Open Line," 10 a.m.-noon, with James Mtume and Bob Pickett, then "The Week in Review," 11 p.m.-midnight, with Peter Noel and Charles Etheridge.
"Open Line" is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary, which just led the City Council to issue a proclamation honoring and thanking both shows for their public service. Read full story from New York Daily News
Bob Slade is right, Open Line was spunn out of the need for black talk on radio in nyc 20years ago, at that time wlib only offered talk monday thru thrusdays, but fast forward from 1989 to 2009, and black talk radio has been relegated to sunday only in nyc, wlib is praise formated now, and gave up on black talk a few weeks prior to 911, sister station wbls does offer gary byrd, but if u put a gun to inner city broadcasting upper managments heads they would dump it, so all in all bob slade the last remaining original kiss fm voice from it's inception is right, black radio "needs" more talk programs and local, and not relegated to sunday morning, nor sunday early evenings. But this time machine chronical does show somthing some may not want to stomach, and that is the state of todays black owned and black oriented radio 20 years present.
ReplyDeleteFast forward to 2014 and the situation is even worse!
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