Here is somthing that struck me on a couple of levels. Reported by the Washington Post and seen on Yahoo is this article: Radio One Plans Black Talk Radio Network.
Now initially I thought, 'Why just target black african american radio listeners?' and 'Please not another all about hiphop all the time station'. While the second is not a fair statement to make, the first seemed to be. But as I read on I learned something that previously I had assumed incorrectly. According to ARBITRON, 90+% of talk radio listeners are anything but black or african american, which was a shock to me. With over 2,000 talk stations nationwide only 7.6% of talk radio listeners are black and that's it. Even giving a healthy 10% differential to the numbers, it is incredibly disporportionate.
The question is what is not being said by talk radio to involve black african american listeners. Radio One believes that politics from a black perspective may be part of the answer. On that I agree. There are few political analysts that are black and/or speaking on issues that directly affect the lives of the average Black/African American. More discussion and involvement in politics is needed desperately. Government, especially one based on representative democratic rule, cannot address problems of its constituents without being told what those problems are. To address this they have chosen Reverend Al Sharpton??
Why him? Well, Rev. Sharpton did start the National Youth Movement in 1971. In his bid to run for president in 2004 he campaigned on issues such as: Increase political consciousness and awareness, affirmative action and anti-death penalty policy, economic justice at home, and others. These are great reasons to listen to the man, who spent 2 years at Brooklyn College and worked with Reverend Jesse Jackson in 1969 on Operation Breadbasket. The Rev. Sharton is not known for these things though. The Tawana Brawley case of November 28, 1987 is what made him a national figure. He is also known for his slurs to Jews, Koreans and Whites in general. Is this the best that Radio One could find? Aren't there more qualified and dignified commentators? While he may be good for ratings, doesn't an under-served (or not served seems more accurate) market deserve quality as opposed to a flashy and questionable voice in an arena as important as politics? I'll save my remarks on the further political ramifications for my other blog.
Additional planned programming includes a Hip-Hop/sports talk program (you can get an idea of my feelings about rap/hiphop in my post Rating Rapper Movies and More old thoughs). While sports talk fills the AM and talk airwaves, the inclusion of Hip-Hop does give it a spin that will make it more marketable to the target black audience. Overall I would prefer more dialogue on serious issues by respected and reputable individuals, and less on pampered millionares that play games and acting badly (see my post on NBA dress code), but that's just me. The best case would be that this is a successful endeavour, so that the media giants will rush to capitalize on this untapped market. The worse case is the same scenario, but rather than getting diversification there will be a flood of trendy and 'pop culture' influenced noise that some marketing team will have determined is what the Black community wants. Historically they won't have a clue as to what they (the marketing team) are talking about and then the giants will cut their losses and a vaccum will be reformed.
Perhaps discussion of this here and in other places will filter not only to Radio One, but the other broadcasters and we can get more of the quality we deserve rather than the 'hype' some would like to sell us. What do you think?
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