Is Radio One Dead Yet?

[oolong tea]

I remember a while back, Radio 1 was being coerced into relinquishing its radio waves to the government in lieu of digital broadcasting. Whatever became of that? And some Radio 1
trivia

As of 2010, Radio One operates 53 radio stations in 16 markets.[3] The stations and markets are listed below:

* Philadelphia (WRNB 107.9; WPPZ 103.9 FM; WPHI 100.3 FM)
* Baltimore (WOLB 1010 AM; WERQ 92.3 FM; WWIN 1400 AM; WWIN-FM 95.9 FM)
* Boston (WILD 1090 AM)
* Washington, DC (WOL 1450 AM; WKYS 93.9 FM; WMMJ 102.3 FM; WPRS-FM 104.1 FM WYCB 1340 AM)
* Atlanta (WPZE 102.5 FM; WUMJ 97.5 FM; WHTA 107.9 FM; WAMJ 107.5 FM)
* Richmond (WTPS 1240 AM; WCDX 92.1 FM; WKJM 99.3 FM; WKJS 105.7 FM; WPZZ 104.7 FM)
* Cincinnati (WDBZ 1230 AM; WIZF 101.1 FM; WMOJ 100.3 FM)
* Charlotte (WPZS 100.9 FM; WQNC 92.7 FM)
* Houston(KBXX 97.9 FM; KMJQ 102.1 FM; KROI 92.1 FM)
* Dallas (KBFB 97.9 FM; KSOC 94.5 FM)
* Detroit (WCHB 1200 AM; WDMK 105.9 FM; WHTD 102.7 FM)
* St. Louis (WFUN-FM 95.5 FM; WHHL 104.1 FM)
* Indianapolis (WNOU 100.9 FM; WHHH 96.3 FM; WTLC-FM 106.7 FM; WTLC 1310 AM)
* Raleigh/Durham (WFXC 107.1 FM; WFXK 104.3 FM; WNNL 103.9 FM; WQOK 97.5 FM)
* Columbus (WCKX 107.5 FM; WJYD 106.3 FM; WXMG 98.9 FM)
* Cleveland (WERE 1490 AM; WZAK 93.1 FM; WENZ 107.9 FM; WJMO 1300 AM)

 

[Heist]

Relinquinsh their radio licenses? Where the hell did you read that?

They weren't going to have to turn over their bandwidth or being pressured by the gov't to do so.

But I can tell you that they are doing a slow death march (same as all radio).

Stock is down. Ad rev is down. Listenership is down. The TVOne cable network isn't really doing too much to add substantially to the bottom line and Comcast owns 50% of it.

Cathy Hughes is all over the radio doing her reality radio spiel trying to say it's unfair for Terrestrial radio to have to pay artist/record labels performance royalities, which is currently a HR Bill being passed around Congress.

(Terrestrial radio has never had to pay royalties to the artists and labels - while Sat and Digital/Internet Radio did).

Once that bill is passed, that'll pretty much put the knife in a majority of her smaller stations. They'll have to change formats to talk radio or be sold off.

And frankly, I couldn't be happier if that did happen because she was one of the biggest proponents along with her cohort of NAB and NABOB lobbyists for Sat Radio having to pay MORE ROYALTIES to all the music publishing and industry agencies (BMG, RIAA, SGA) and she sat there scott free snickering about having to pay nothing.

I remember being in Conyers office with council arguing the merit of Sat Radio having to pay but Terr radio having to not pay a cent beyond the annual BMG fee.

Gravy train is over, Cathy. Time to pay up.

 

[oolong tea]

Reliquinsh their radio licenses? Where the hell did you read that?

I can tell you that they are doing a slow death march (same as all radio).

Stock is down. Ad rev is down. Listenership is down. Cathy Hughes is all over the radio doing her reality radio spiel trying to say it's unfair for Terrestial radio to have to pay artist/record labels peformance royalites, which is currently a HR Bill being passed around Congress.

(Terrestial radio has never had to pay royalites to the artists and labels - while Sat and Digital/Internet Radio did).

thats what it was. my bad.

 

[TheBigOne]

Cathy Hughes? You mean the former fine sister/freedom fighter that endorsed John McCain the last time around...? ...For The Love Of Money...

Radio One founder Cathy Hughes has perfected the “woe is me” — meanwhile, she’s sharpened her knives to put a hurting on anyone who dares to support paying musical artists royalties for playing their songs on the radio. Hughes loves to lament her emerging poverty: she’s had to lay off 400 people, she moans to Essence Magazine, and her company has gone from owning about 70 radio stations to 52 in just a couple of years — hasn’t stopped Radio One from forking over a $10 million bonus to her son, Alfred and 70 percent and 75 percent raises for baby boy and mama, respectively, in 2008, despite their stock plunging by around 80 percent that same year. Fast forward to today, and Ms. Hughes can be found on the pages of Essence, this time lashing out at black elected officials, the NAACP and anyone else who supports the Performance Rights Act, which will close a major loophole for massive corporations like … Radio one. And when she’s not savaging John Conyers (and his wife,) over the PRA, she’s slamming what she deems as spoiled, rich artists who have the audacity to want to be paid when her stations play their songs. Snaps Cathy to Essence:

We keep hearing that these entertainer need to get paid. Oh, so Chris Brown needs another Lamborghini to beat up a girl in? No! The artists who they are talking about like Martha Reeves and the Vandellas aren’t going to get a penny. Nobody is playing Dionne Warrick. When was the last time she had an album. That’s what’s stupid about this.

Uh-huh. Well it probably wasn’t a good idea to mention Dionne. She can get gully, too. And she does, via the Huffpo:

I was surprised when Radio One’s Cathy Hughes added my name to the list of African American artists and civil rights activists she’s attacked in her vicious campaign against fairly compensating musicians for their work. Then again, since smearing African American leaders to protect her profits has become Ms. Hughes siren song, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised at all.

… In defending her refusal to fairly compensate the artists on whose back she earns her living, Ms. Hughes now claims poverty, which is pretty amazing considering Radio One owns 54 radio stations and reaped $316 million last year alone. She even paid her own son, Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins, a $10 million bonus. Far from a struggling company, Radio One sounds more like one of those Wall Street rip off firms where executives pay themselves big bonuses while they rip us off and throw their workers in the street.

If their profits and the bonuses Ms. Hughes has paid her son are any indicator, Radio One is hardly struggling. But there are small stations, especially gospel stations, in our communities that we love and that deserve our help. That’s why the Civil Rights for Musicians Act protects these truly small radio stations while insisting even a big corporate radio firm like Radio One would only pay roughly what they earn off of about five commercials each day.

You can begin to understand Ms. Hughes’ willingness to rip off black artists when you take a look at who she attacks and the kind of company she keeps. During the last presidential campaign she repeatedly attacked Barack Obama, calling him “a dazzling deception” and implied that we supported him because black people are easily fooled. She has even supported the current chairman of the Republican Party, Michael Steele, who said he would attract more African Americans to his party by offering “fried chicken and potato salad.” This is hardly a woman who is looking out for what’s best for the African American community.

The struggling musicians who need the Civil Rights for Musicians Act don’t want a handout from Cathy Hughes or Clear Channel or the National Association of Broadcasters, which is the mouthpiece of big — largely white — corporate radio. They just want to be paid for their work. This legislation would make sure that these artists are directly compensated, not the recording executives who may have stolen from them much as Ms. Hughes and Radio One steals from them now.

Ouch! Now, I once witnessed first-hand Ms. Hughes disdain for Barack Obama back in 2007, when she visited the then Radio One station in Miami, where I was working at the time. But in case you don’t know of what Dionne Warwick speaks, here’s a taste of a February 2007 interview Ms. Hughes gave CNN’s Tony Harris:

HARRIS: I’m curious as to what you think, talking about presidential politics now, of the candidacy of one Barack Obama.

HUGHES: He feels like a Hollywood movie. The movie “Wag the Dog.” Norman Lear is one of his big supporters, I understand. And I think that we’re watching Hollywood the same way — I think it’s a Hollywood ploy.

I called it a dazzling deception. And black folks have historically gone for dazzling deception.

African-Americans, if it looks good to us, we’re like, OK, well, let’s give it a try. I’m not going for this dazzling deception, because I think this election is too critical to the future of America. Not just African-Americans, but all Americans. I want someone in there who knows what they’re doing, who’s qualified for the position, and who has done more than taken photos, waved at the crowd, and kissed babies.

Not that Ms. Hughes’ distaste for President Obama is relevant to her vicious reaction to what strikes me as a very sensible, and fair, piece of legislation. But what is relevant is that Ms. Hughes, who if she isn’t a right winger (and for the record, I’m betting she is…) sure cleaves to the right’s golden calf: the almighty dollar, just like one.
http://blog.reidreport.com/2009/07/ouch-dionne-warwick-back-slaps-cathy-hughes/

 

[wildlover85]

Fuck radio!

Every hour on the hour the play the same shit!

They play about 30 R&B and 18 RAP artist every single got damn day.You look BET you will see the same videos for 3 weeks strait.And for black talk radio.Thats like TMZ on crack!

When radio one dies i will go the grave and piss on it!