Philly Talk Station 900 WURD Launches Membership Drive

In a style that is reminiscent of the membership drives that have fueled public radio stations for years, 900 AM WURD has launched their own campaign to keep the urban talk station a viable force in the African American community of Philadelphia.

The campaign ask listeners "to help protect, preserve and build the only media outlet that gives voice to the issues that matter most in our community."

WURD is only one of a handful of talk stations that gears its programming to African American audiences across the country. That other handful would include in major markets: WVON Chicago, WAOK Atlanta, and a number of Radio One talk stations in various cities led by their Washington, D.C. flagship station WOL. There are none in New York or Los Angeles.

The membership campaign is called “900 In 90.” They're asking all of their friends, listeners, and supporters to help them achieve the goal of getting 900 members to contribute $90 in 90 days. More info on the membership campaign here.

In light of the recent format change at Radio One's WILD AM in Boston from African American talk to Chinese language programming; it's good to see that the management of WURD is being aggressive in building listeners with mostly local programming. The station does feature syndicated programs from Al Sharpton and Bev Smith as well.