The Michael Baisden Show is Out at WDAS FM
Here is Michael Baisden's announcement via Facebook following WDAS FM and Clear Channel Media + Entertainment's decision today to go into a different direction regarding their afternoon programming. WDAS FM is currently looking for a permanent afternoon host. The afternoon drive shift for the time being is being held down by the familiar voice of veteran 'DAS weekend personality Mimi Brown.
"To my listeners on WDAS in Philadelphia, when you turn on your radios today at 3pm ET you will no longer hear the Michael Baisden Show. The powers that be at Clear Channel have decided that music is enough in the afternoon to achieve their ratings goals. Although we were consistently in the top 5, and beating our nearest Urban Adult competitor by 10 positions, the decision was made to remove The Michael Baisden Show. While I am excited about adding Columbus, OH, last week, and I appreciate my other 78 affiliates, there seems to be a disturbing trend in urban radio to opt to give the black community less information about what’s going on in our community, even when my program is competitive, and in some cases winning in it’s time slot.
Who is going to sound the alarm in Dallas, St Louis, New York, and now Philadelphia when the next election comes around, or when the next Trayvon Martin or Jena 6 happens? The Mornings Shows do a good job, but the influence of The Michael Baisden Show has been critical to bringing social awareness to our communities.
But I don’t blame the radio networks that remove my program; I blame us as a community. The main objective of these companies is to make a profit for their Share Holders. I was told by an radio executive many years ago, “This is an advertising business first and the people business second.”
Now, the question we have to ask ourselves is, what’s in our best interest? Ask the listeners in New York, Dallas, and recently St. Louis how it feels to be divorced from the rest of the country. Because that’s what it feel like, an unwanted divorce. There has never been and will never be another program like this when it’s gone. We’re either going to fight for what we value or accept what is handed to us, and go quietly into the night.
I need your support so that I can continue to sound the alarm for the next child who is missing or wrongfully accused, or to raise the issue of Domestic Violence, Living Your Dream, and the next election.
Thank you to the listeners of Philly and all of the other family members who no longer can hear the information, passion and energy I put out everyday. And thank you to all the affiliates, including WDAS for giving me a chance to be heard. They are doing what they believe is in their best business interest, now we must do what’s in ours… otherwise we deserve the treatment that we get.
See you on the radio at 3pmET. For those of you who can no longer hear me on the radio, go to BaisdenLive.com and click the “Listen Live” button or download the TuneIn Radio App and Search The Michael Baisden Show. As always, I’ll give you one thousand percent every day as long as you continue to fight for me the way I’ve been fighting for you!
-Michael Baisden
P.S. Please, Do not call WDAS being disrespectful or mean spirited. Vote with your support or lack of support for their choice of programming. Conduct yourself with class and dignity reflected by this show and our President. We will be back on in Philly, hopefully with WDAS, we don’t want to attack them, just demonstrate that we value our personalities. It’s not just business with us…it’s personal!"
I was so happy to turn on WDAS on Monday afternoon and hear one of my favorite personalities in the 3-7 time slot. I will not miss Michael Baisden's show at all. I felt that he disrespected black women too much for me to ever be loyal to him and the women of Philly deserve better. Good riddance.
ReplyDeleteYou are so pathetic! How can you say that about Michael Baisden when all that is heard out of the mouths of these low life 'rappers' is disrespect for African American women?! I don't see anyone like you voting to get rid of stations like 96.5 fm who consistently blast the awful lyrics of Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, etc. but yet you come on here and try to disrespect someone like Mr. Baisden who talks about stuff that is important to the African American heritage! go lay down somewhere because you are clearly TIRED!
DeleteGet a life person! There will never be a resource like Michael Baisden, not a voice for the urban community. His show brought us detailed information concerning our urban world that no one else had before him, and countless few will after Sure he played a bit too much at times, but all that aside, he was a strong and viable vehicle of information that our community needs to fight to keep.
ReplyDeleteWake up People! They got rid of him in New York before the election. That didn;t work. It's all about politics. The mega- radio corporations can't control Baisden or Sharpton or Joyner or Steve Harvey. They get ratings but they also have power. Conservatives don't want the liberals to have power anymore. Baisden was talking the other week that the election was a BROWN election. (Blacks, Latinos, and Asians.) Now he's gone. And now we know why.
ReplyDeleteYou can't mix information and nonsence and try and pass it off as information, michael baisden is not the only one guilty of that, joyner, harvey, even wendy williams too, but some folk have brought into it and take it as their information, where baisden is right is here ->"there seems to be a disturbing trend in urban radio to opt to give the black community less information about what’s going on in our community, even when my program is competitive, and in some cases winning in it’s time slot." But again baisden forgets that even before he became a household name in black america... cities like he named dallas,nyc,philly etc already had long standing driving forces of information radio, without the nonsence and the boogie, but those stations and local information were undercut and then gone and replaced with the likes of a baisden, harvey, joyner, williams. Michael Baisden if u are serious about the business of information and media in general, then u and ur listener's need to start challenging the fcc and madison ave.
ReplyDeleteMichael Baisden is arrogant. He thinks that Black radio didn't exist before him. He needs to study radio history. Sometimes what is happening in your own hood is just as important as Trayvon Martin and Jena 6.
ReplyDeleteI'm going crazy...my 3 o'clock is not right without Michael Baisden while I'm at work... He and George make my afternoon go fast because the entertainment and information that is given on the show... They are the highlight of my radio time throughout the day (Well them and Steve Harvey). My mother, my sister... ME!... WE need Michael Baisden on for that drive home from work..for news and advice.. Like Michael Baisden said people would go ANYWHERE to hear just music... if I can't hear Michael Baisden on WDAS then I should look to my iPod for JUST music...
ReplyDeleteTime 2 get serious? Mike. U been on the fence 2 long. Anyway I'm sure you'll b alright. Good things 2 come.
ReplyDeleteDear Michael Baisden
ReplyDeletePlease excuse me if I don't echo your feelings about the recent programing change that has affected your show but here is a little truth for you. The lack of African American owned radio stations and big corporations (IE Clear Channel, Cumulus Media, Ect) has help cripple the image and growth of African Americans. There was a time when Urban Radio was dominated by LOCAL personalities that lived in the community, who's kids attended the schools, who people trusted to keep the informed about there community as well as national headlines. I know you came from Chicago and I also know how many of those "Local" personalities you took ideas from and copied there blueprint for your success. Men and Women who's dream as a child was to be on the radio and who furthered there education to achieve that dream found themselves replaced by Comedians, Authors and Musical Artist who's time has past. You have 78 stations that broadcast your program so that means 77 African Americans Radio jobs have been lost. Just because you write a book or tell a few jokes or know some hit songs don't think that LOCAL personality that are just as passionate about there community and residents as well as national headlines cant do the job. The industry has destroyed a once rich talent pool of broadcasters and communicators and replaced them by people who got a little fame to there name. I hope you understand that there IS room in the world for everybody and some National programs have been extremely successful but there is a price and unfortunately the black community is suffering. Jena 6, Tryvon Martin, Al Sharpton nice but nothing a good local personality cant inform there audience about, and actually being visible in the community is also intangible. In closing continue doing what you do but please remember the people who's dream it was to be a broadcaster and now they find themselves out of work or working at a job that has nothing to do with what they inspired to be........A DJ
Sincerely
Mr R. Black
Folks can go on and on about him being gone from philly, but he is gone from Philly, Jersey and Delaware. Two densely populated by us and one not so much but enough. They are trying to lock us up and leave us out. No matter what anyone saids. had it not been for him, you would not have heard about half of the urban issues that we heard about. We probably would have done very poorly in the Election, myself, I was reminded by his show to check my voter status when I found that I had none because I had moved. You can talk all day long about what you don't like about him or his playing around but who you gonna call when your child comes up missing or shot or convicted for a crime he did not commit. This is America, if you are a person of color, you are at risk. We need his voice. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteCome on people, like anything in life you eat the meat and spit out the bones. Michael should not have been taken off. Even though I didn't like everything his show did or said, it gave a lot of good information at times to the community and during the most important election he stood strong and didn't worry about what media thought to get the black community out to vote as well as kept us informed. His show dealth with health, finances, politics and religion in a way that some wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. We don't need more music you can get there anywhere anytime. But for the 4 hours he was on the air it was substance and foolishness like all the other radio shows. If you don't like the subject you turn the channel for that day.
ReplyDeleteTruly disappointed Mike is off the air in Philly. His show was entertaining and informative at the same time. He's improved as a host over the years mixing in more serious issues.
ReplyDeleteWas not a big fan anyway! Buh bye!
ReplyDeleteyou got to be kidding me 105.3 fm .they took him off so wrong.people every day from 3pm to 7pm turn your radio off.i am going to tell all my face book family. to tell tell their face book family. to tell their face book not to listen to 105.3 fm between 3pm and 7pm.until mike is back on.i see they waited until after the election. they think we just want music we don't want to know whats going on in the world they are wrong. and we have to let them know. so turn your raido off.
ReplyDeleteWhether we liked him personally, or not...is a ridiculous argument since we only knew of the personality and not the private person anyway. It's the message, not the messenger or the personality of the messenger. I don't care who provides information, accept it for what it's worth to you, or share it with someone else who may be able to use it. Problem is too many people don't know what's important period...to themselves, let alone to society or the nation. I listened to Mr. Baisden cause of a need to be informed more than to hear any music. His show served everyone across cultures, age spans, medically needy etc., and thats just the tip of the actual iceberg. You cannot make someone appreciate information just because it's important (ridiculous but true). Honestly, some people want to turn on the radio and hear..."call in if you know someone cheating"... that b.s. gets too many people's ears ringing and fingers moving. Between Steve Harvey in the morning, and a heavy reiteration of Michael Baisden's broadcast - with numerous professionals on the air with him - not giving opinion, but actual facts, one cannot argue the necessity of the type of information system that he provided. Steve Harvey better look out - because he may be next. Steve pushes but Michael pushed harder. Divide and conquer.
ReplyDeleteYou're missing the point. It had nothing to do with the election or content of his show. It's about what it costs to run the show. WDAS has to give a certain amount of commercial minutes to the owners of Baisden's show, Cumulus. Cumulus goes to advertisers and tells them the show is in x amount of markets reaching x amount of people. The amount of commercial minutes WDAS gives up to air the show probably translates into 7 figures. Obviously Cumulus isn't paying Michael that kind of money. That's how Cumulus turns their profit. Letting the show go gives WDAS back those minutes to sell. That ad money goes to their bottom line. They can pay a local announcer $100,000 a year and save a ton of money. Steve Harvey doesn't have that problem, although the same formula applies. Steve's show is owned by Premiere Networks, a Clear Channel company. If Clear Channel cared about the content of Mr. Baisden's show it would've been yanked in all of the cities Clear Channel airs it in a long time ago. It's purely dollars. Michael Baisden knows that. He may spin in his favor but I just told you the truth. Clear Channel, like other broadcasters, cares about profit, not content. They also own Rush Limbaugh's show. They get heat for the content but it makes them an obscene amount of money. I hope this helped.
ReplyDeleteThe listeners in Philly are very upset about the Michael Baisden show being removed! Whatever the political, monetary or personal reasons are, it's not fair to the Black listening community who enjoyed key information regarding important African American issues, good music and many good laughs. Bring the show back; afternoons are not the same and the Baisden show is missed!!
ReplyDeleteI think we're living in the last days. Black radio stations going out of business. Corporate companies pushing music with negative stereotypes. I bet you that a urban station in philly will go out of business just like here in ny.
ReplyDeleteApril 9, 2013 10:44 A.M.
ReplyDeleteI am in North Carolina and I looked forward to every afternoon on my ride home from work to turn my radio on to 104.3/107.1 to listen to Michael and George. After a miserable day at work they would make me laugh. I miss hearing them and have decided to listen to my satellite radio instead.
Same thing they did to Mary Mason in Philly when they took her of the air on WHAT radio. You can play foolishness and comedy all day, but no political ensight for community upliftment? Sad!
ReplyDelete