More Marvin Gaye, Earth, Wind & Fire, Patti LaBelle and Teena Marie on the way
If you go to the website RNBPhilly.com and look under the section for DJ’s you’ll find none.
That’s because they have fired their entire air staff in anticipation of an announcement coming Monday, April 1st. The Radio One Urban AC station is expected to tweak their format of R&B music and feature more 70’s and 80’s”Old School” music as “Old School 100.3.”
On air hosts Lady B and Dyana Williams are expected to return to the airwaves at some point, however if they will remain in their present time slots is not known at this time. WRNB will become Radio One’s fourth “Old School” station across the country joining stations in Charlotte, Dallas, and St. Louis.
As far as the impact on the industry goes, WRNB has been hammered in the ratings in Philadelphia when compared to heritage station 105.3 WDAS. Clear Channel station ‘DAS has been a ratings winners even in a PPM environment by have low turnover in hosts and playing the same type of R&B favorites from the last 30 years. WDAS has ranked third consistently only behind the all-news station and the Mainstream AC station that gets a boost whenever it plays Christmas music. Steve Harvey of course leads in the morning, however before Harvey; Tom Joyner was featured on WDAS and he was Number 1 in the mornings too. You have to point to the music the stations plays as one of the main reasons why it has done so much better than WRNB, which played a newer mix and a wider range of R&B music (think Ledisi, Kem, and Maxwell). The Radio One station usually comings in at around 14th or 15th ranked.
African American Adult listeners who grew up on radio have proven time and time again that they are not really interested in listening to newer artists. They much rather listen to a radio station that plays the R&B artists they know well.