Urban Radio Nation Wins BLOG ENTRY OF THE YEAR....

URN wins. You were SO ON POINT with your latest blog entry, I felt compelled to share it with the world. If your post were a sermon in church, I'd have the holy ghost. In fact, I was in the middle of writing my next blog when I decided to check you out. You messed me up. I lost my train of thought and everything.

WBLS, New York's Urban AC Radio Continues it's Search for Wendy Williams' Replacement

Is 107.5 WBLS running a contest that never ends? A better question might be what's the point of all of this?

So far WBLS listeners have heard on the air the last six weeks: Jeff Foxx, Osei the Dark Secret, Chubb Rock, Adimu and this week the afternoon airwaves are being graced by Egypt Sherrod. Oh and let me mention the leading vote getter is none other than Salt N' Pepa. Hey it's what the people want...

Maybe a name from the past such as this famous New York disc jockey might be on the air next week. Well that's what they use to call them.

Which one of those two men pictured here am I talking about? It has to be Ken 'Spider' Webb, (on the left) the former morning man on WBLS and 98.7 Kiss FM, who currently host mornings on Soul Town on Sirius XM radio. Not likely... The other guy of course is Frankie Crocker, who unfortunately died in 2000 and is credited with coining the phrase and the format known as Urban Contemporary in the late 1970's. However today we call it Urban "Adult" Contemporary.

Now if Frankie was still alive he'd probably die all over again and spin in his grave over what the format has evolved into. I turn on Urban AC radio nowadays and I almost have to scream at what I'm listening to. I always thought contemporary means modern and current. (Think of furniture. Urban AC radio is like a combination of Early American, Colonial and Pennsylvania Dutch.)

I'm sure that relatively "new", "cool", and "hip" was the essence of the format when Frankie developed it. Frankie Crocker received a lot of industry buzz for incorporating a mass appeal format. He was crazy enough to put Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" in rotation at the station. Of course that would only work in NYC, but at the time Sinatra's song was "current." So that type of out of the box programming with a strong roster of talent led to WBLS soaring to the #1 spot in New York until 'KTU and Kiss FM came along.

But now we have an over researched format that continues to push music from the likes of Luther Vandross, Patti LaBelle, Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston, Sade, and most recently, thankfully Maxwell. All in all there's nothing wrong with these artists, but the continuous dose of this ballad laden music is monotonous. Meanwhile we see the rise of the Rhythmic AC format, also known as "MoViN" in various cities around the country. That format has seemed to tap into something that can be regionalized to the taste of the audience.

For my money I need a jock who shares his musical taste with me as the listener. The same corporate playlist emailed to program directors all over the country each week has taken a toll on radio listeners. I say leave the programming to the on-air personality. That of course is heresy. But if music radio wants to get out of it's dwindling and eroding listener base; then a return of the local DJ who is allowed to share his musical taste with his or her listeners is the way to go.


For the most part WBLS does a more than average job of staying out of the Urban AC programming rut and they sound like "New York." WHUR does a good job also for what they are- "Sounds like Washington." But in all honesty I still appreciate Donnie Simpson at WPGC, who programs his show with such songs as Kool Moe Dee - How Ya Like Me Now, Maxwell - Pretty Wings, Jay-Z - Run This Town (w/ Rihanna & Kanye West), Mary Mary - God In Me, Anita Baker - Sweet Love. It works for me and many other Washington area listeners. I would love to hear Donnie on an Urban AC station.

Now WBLS just remember you're not a reality TV show, a talk/celebrity gossip show, or a refuge for Old School Hip Hop artists. You're "in a class by itself", a radio station that plays music. Maybe the contest will continue until they find a radio personality that can get more votes than Salt N' Pepa...

An Epiphany...

Dear Andreas:

Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your letter let me know that I am NOT alone. Damn. I had the double check your e-mail to make sure that it wasn't written by me. It is EXACTLY what I went through during my last years in radio. I'd also like to thank you for NOT being silent. A girlfriend of mine told me the following during a radio industry conversation:

It hurts to be vocal. It hurts to be the squeaky wheel, because everyone else is going along to get along and Its hard to understand why the rest of the world is raging against the same machine. Story of my life.

So, so true.

Although I'm unemployed, Andreas - - YOU are EXACTLY the type of person that I'd like to work with. I pray that the opportunity will present itself....one day.

Thank You,

The jobless one aka ImOffTheAir

To friends, colleagues and those that should know,

As of today (September 8, 2009) I am no longer the Executive Editor of Music at BET.com.

Upon entering the position at BET I said that I needed one year to see what really went on inside the belly of the beast. I needed 365 days to sleep with the enemy and infiltrate the system. One year to see if they REALLY wanted change at BET.

As someone who has been critical of BET for many years, it surprised many that I would leave my post at HipHopDX last year to take a position at BET. But it was an opportunity I absolutely had to take. I could no longer be critical of this company without accepting the opportunity to change it when given. Although I was hired to bring about change, I was systematically shut down. I wasn’t hired to make noise, I was hired to be silenced.

The truth of the matter is that everything that you thought was wrong with BET is true.

Over the past year I’ve seen a lot to reinforce my position that BET is too far gone in the negative to turn into a positive. We have all always thought the worst, but to actually see it in action is another thing in its entirety. The unprofessionalism, the tom foolery, the favors, the misappropriation of resources, the bad ideas that reinforce negative stereotypes, the emasculation of men, the meetings that break down in full fledged cursing battles, the unpaid overtime, the tears from employees scared for their underpaid and overworked positions and ultimately the unwillingness to change are all harsh realities that I’ve witnessed firsthand.

That is not to say that there aren’t some good people who have sat in the offices of BET. Unfortunately, the good people are not in positions of power to instill any change. Instead, they work their fingers to the bone just to keep their jobs in this harsh economic climate. The other good people ran out of the door as soon as an another employment opportunity presented itself. To say BET was a revolving door would be an understatement.

I came in with a plan to provide balance and to deliver good music to the masses and help make BET relevant again - at least in the dot com world. Those attempts were shut down by out of touch executives who run a dot com but could barely turn on a computer. By those who judge their metrics by page views over absolute unique visitors (that‘s ad sales talk). By those who simply don’t understand the internet.

They brought me in because of my track record but never once took a look at my body of work. If they did, they would have known that I was the pen behind editorials such as “BET’s Coon Picnic” or were aware of the many times I have been critical of their award shows and programming. All they knew is that I played a major role in making a once unknown website into a online media outlet that surpassed theirs and they wanted a piece of the action. Too bad they never researched who I really was.

During my tenure I worked long hours and sometimes succeeded at bringing in decent content to try to reflect the change I wanted to achieve. But it wasn’t without opposition. While some interviews and content initiatives were able to make it through, many others were either shut down or met with ridicule. I offered ideas to incorporate the blog world and to spotlight new talent before MTV did. Those ideas were met with comments such as “This isn’t HipHopDX” or “You don’t know what you are talking about.”

BET is not about the quality of your work. Rather, BET is about the relationships you have with powerful people within the company. BET is not about challenging. Instead, BET is about accepting and saying “yes.” If you have known or followed me over the years, you would know that these are things that simply are not in my character and ultimately resulted in my removal.

For the artists and labels that I have worked with for years, I tried. I did whatever I could to achieve that balance many of us wanted to see happen. To the writers who wanted to writer for BET, I made an attempt but was never given a budget to work with.

Upon my arrival, I was told I would be given a staff. Not true. I had a staff of one to carry out daily operations on a website. I fought tooth and nail to accomplish the minimum (an embeddable player and a site people could navigate) and was constantly brushed off. It was a position that was set up for failure. But I endured as long as I could.

Alas, I have been removed from my position after infiltrating the system and the timing was perfect. I wasn’t let go because the site’s numbers were down. Not because I didn’t work hard. Simply because of a personality clash with an individual whose proverbial ass I didn’t kiss enough. Again, not about the work you do but about the relationships you keep and the sides you take.

I’d like to thank BET for covering the cost of my relocation to bring me to the great city of New York/New Jersey. I’d also like to thank them for putting me in close quarters with people who think like me and will hopefully work with in the near future. I’d also like to thank them for providing me enough controversial content that I observed firsthand and will make for many tales to be told.

I said it and I meant in: One year to either make changes or move on. I left HipHopDX on September 16th 2008. Today is September 8, 2009. Eight days short of a year. Most thought I wouldn’t even last that long. But in that year I’ve had my greatest fears about Black Entertainment Television affirmed.

There is so much wrong with BET that I’d rather not break it down in a single email.

It is pretty good fodder for a book don’t you think?

As of today, Andreas Hale is a free agent.

By George...I Think He's Got It!

"...Remember black and white TV? Color came along, and now only those that WANT a black and white TV have one. Remember boradcast (sic) networks on TV? Cable brought the big 3 down. They still have not quite recovered, but the money is too big to just go away.

Remember good radio? Upbeat, positive, local and interactive? Well, computers, Ipods and the internet came along, and the industry has not countered. It cannot. It is full of linear thinking, INSIDE the box executing, "talent" and "management", and will falter because there is no true leadership. 

The fact is, radio will NEVER be what is WAS, and may not be much more than what it is at any point in the future. Mass programming syndication and the general flooding of the talent pool has made it impossible for really talented people to excel, or even be able to work long anough to learn their craft. After all, who can survive on $15K a year?"

-Voxianguy

Sidebar - Different wording, same message.  (Click HERE)

Radio Is Dead..Dead...Dead...

I think that our fundamental belief is that for us growth is a way of life and we have to grow at all times.
~Muskesh Ambani

If you aint growing, evolving, expanding or improving, you're dead.

~Me

And this my friends, is my assessment of the state of radio. Radio has actually been on life support for the past 10 years...and I have finally come to the realization that radio is dead. This reality check may very well change my life.

I will NEVER forget the anger that I felt when I heard Alfred Liggins say (with my own two ears) that he didn't think that radio stations should waste money on building or maintaining websites. This was back in 1995. I sat in that conference room in complete and total awe. No one understood why I sat there with my mouth wide open in a no-his-dumb-ass-did-not-just-say that kind of way. Perhaps I'm just an overly-sensitive type of chick...but I was livid. I hate closed minded individuals. I really do. I remember being infatuated with the internet back then..and although I never had formal training, I loved surfing, discovering new websites and I even tried to self educate myself on HTML so that I could eventually attempt to build a website. It was fascinating to be able to instantly access information within seconds. I saw HUGE opportunity for a medium such as radio to capitialize. But here I am, with my $9.00 an hour makin' azz, listening to this self made millionaire COO say out loud that it's a waste of time and money to invest in a internet presence for the station that I was working for.

It's hard to explain...but I've been frustrated my entire career. I love radio…but the people who are in charge have made me hate radio. I've never been the type of radio personality simply to do my shift..and simply go home. I always, always attempted to come up with ways to make my show more successful, more compelling, more interesting and more relatable. I have been faced with more opposition than not. At my last job, I was adamant about doing an interactive hour with my listeners once a week via webcam. That was my way of attempting to connect with my audience. Deep down inside, I felt that I could actually change the way radio was being done. The station could have monetized the opportunity as well. I got into a HUGE argument with management because they refused to allow me to do it. Their reasoning for not allowing me to do it was RIDICULOUS. I fought and fought...and eventually lost. That argument created a stressful relationship between me and 'them' from that day forward. Like I said earlier, I hate closed minded people...and my hate erupted like Mount St Helens that day.

Unfortunately, Al isn't the only idiot out here who failed to comprehend that in order to keep radio as a relevant medium for music, information and entertainment – you must evolve it. Radio has REFUSED to respond to a wide variety of demands that have been put in place for the past 10 years. They refused to grow during the internet explosion. They wouldn’t listen. And now the consequence is death. Perhaps radio won’t become extinct, but it will certainly become irrelevant. I’ve read at least a dozen different articles last week about internet radio listening. The numbers are amazing. They had a 10 year headstart to figure it out…but they chose to sit back. And now they’re all blaming the diminishing radio revenues on the economy…but it’s bullshit. Don’t believe the hype. Radio is dead. And they killed it. So now they struggle to stay afloat by cheapening it by hiring kids off the street with no experience and by syndicating every daypart imaginable.

And so, here lies radio. He lived an amazing life…but got sick, refused to grow and eventually gave up the will to live. May God rest his poor soul.

Maybe God hasn’t allowed me to obtain my next radio job because terrestrial radio isn’t where I belong anymore. I am talented and the world is about to become my oyster. I need to define where my opportunities are and then I must learn how to exploit them. I know it’s going to be frustrating…especially when I need money so badly..but today I am making the choice not to give up because when you give up…you can’t grow. And when you don’t grow, you die. I’m not dead yet bitches.

Today's Sermon

"...It pains me to say this but almost everyone on-the-air is mentally disturbed in one way or another. It may be slight - possibly even undetectable to the human ear - but the only reason anyone chooses to work in a business that chews you up and spits you out like the Slap Chop is because they have a brain defect. Nothing else explains why a human being would want to subject themselves to such pressure and competition.

Many don’t do it for money. They’re on the radio either because their ego is bigger than Rush Limbaugh’s formerly nicotine-stained jockey shorts or they are suffering from a personality disorder which they feel can only be treated by subjecting the rest of us to their neurotic nuances. They crave adulation and adoration and are attracted to fame – even if it means working the overnight weekend shift on AM 1030 in Cow Nuts, Iowa. They are the "weirdo-wacko-wannabes". (By the way: that’s a medical term.)..."

-Corey Dietz

As of 11:39AM this morning, payroll still refuses to pick up the phone. I'm officially freaked out. Like seriously. This doesn't feel right.

This Is My Prayer

Dear God,

Please make it possible for me to cross paths (at least ONCE) with Robin Bertolucci or Corny Koehl. I am confident that they would be able to see past a 2:30 minute aircheck and would give me an opportunity to do great radio once again. Just when I thought that there were no intelligent, progressive thinking radio professionals left, I read the following quotes from the R&R Talk Radio Seminar:

“PDs are chicken shits about trying new things. Not always, but generally.”

-Robin Bertolucci

"Radio management generally has no vision, which puts programmers in a bad position because they are not given the time to develop a show and the talent. Programmers ought to have a minimum of three years to develop top flight talent. I've worked with both Suzy Orman and the Satellite Sisters, and neither were given enough time to develop their radio programs. Orman went on to become a huge hit on cable news television and a bestselling author and is now fielding offers to do more radio. Terrestrial radio is toxic."

-Corny Koehl
Executive Producer for Harpo Productions Oprah Radio

"What we are doing on weekends, that’s toxic. It’s fundamentally destructive. If we can get management to not make us focus on crunching numbers or why there are so many part-time board ops working on Tuesdays. We’ve just got to get on good programming and people will listen, it’s as simple as that.”
-Robin Bertolucci

“The most wasted thing on this planet is talent,” Salley observed in his criticism of programmers and management who rush to pigeonhole a performer. Do what Paul Harvey said: ’Close your eyes and listen. Managers need to look beyond the obvious and find a performer’s hidden talent and exploit it."

-John Salley

So in closing Lord, I really need a job and I'm confident that Robin or Corny would hire me. Can you make that happen? Please?

Amen.