Tom Joyner Exit Interview: 'Radio Is Not Relevant Anymore' We Did It to Ourselves

"Whatever happens to newspapers and magazines — I'm sorry to say it, but I think radio is next on the list. And we've done it to ourselves. We're not relevant anymore."

These are the comments from recently retired radio host Tom Joyner. After 25 years of listeners waking up to the Tom Joyner Morning Show, the first music formatted syndicated morning show ended its run on December 13, 2019. Joyner himself had been on the radio for just over 50 years when he began broadcasting on a local AM daytime only station in his hometown of Tuskegee, Alabama. In the Billboard Magazine article Exit Interview: Radio Pioneer Tom Joyner On Why He Signed Off After 50 Years Behind the Mic, Joyner talks about career in radio. 

In the article he comes to terms in regards to his retirement from radio.

Why are you retiring now?

"When I came along, you didn't have a lot of listening choices. Now you can get anything you want, anytime you want, anywhere you want — and you don't have to wait for radio or television to do it for you. That's why I decided to retire. Whatever happens to newspapers and magazines — I'm sorry to say it, but I think radio is next on the list. And we've done it to ourselves. We're not relevant anymore. That's across the board. Black radio has probably been more relevant than any other format because we concentrate on informing and empowering our community."

Joyner has stated in recent comments elsewhere that he was not ready to retire. However the downsizing in radio over the last few years is the main reason he is retiring. At one time was pulling in $14 million annually. Now the the money that was once there is not there anymore.

Tom resides in Florida and had been doing the show from Hot 105 in Miami for the last few years, while the TJMS producers, Reach Media,Inc., and co-host Sybil Wilkes were based in Dallas.

Tom and the TJMS will be missed.

More on Joyner from Billboard Magazine.