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Y100 was the highest billing station for Radio One
- Thread starter nd2023
- Start date
No, it was not.
Urban One's top billers are the two urban variants in Houston, WKYS amd WMMJ in DC, WWIN amd WERQ in Baltimore and a bunch more.
He was talking about when Radio One blew up WPLY in 2005, but never have I ever seen any proof that WPLY was the company's top biller then.
Y100 billed well, but Preston & Steve were departing for WMMR and after supposedly being in talks with Opie & Anthony, Radio One determined that the loss of the morning show revenue was not enough to keep the station financially viable and decided to move 103.9 The Beat to 100.3 and launch Praise and have an Urban wall with Hip Hop, the just launched 107.9 WRNB, and Gospel.
As far as I remember, it billed respectably back before it was flipped in 2005, but yeah, was not one of the company's top billers.
I'd like to assume it billed better than (then) 103.9 the Beat and 107.9 WRNB though.
The Preston and Steve situation is something I've always wondered. Did Radio One say "You guys can go at the end of your contract" because they corporate knew Y100 was going to flip, so they signed with WMMR, or did Preston and Steve actively seek out WMMR and Radio One decided to dump the format after the loss of their successful morning show.
And I've also heard the rumor that Dan Lerner had a 5 year "no flip" clause in the sale contract to Radio One, and that's why the format lasted as long as it did.
There are 4 markets that have historically carried Radio One from a revenue perspective. Houston, Atlanta, DC and Baltimore. Radio One has never been competitive in Philadelphia, even though it is one of their largest markets. The format flip was in the plans when they bought the Philly stations. They were an urban only company back in 2005.
They've since changed that strategy and gone after general market stations. I haven't seen any recent revenue reports, but I'd assume a station like WBT in Charlotte is one of their larger revenue generators. It has been the highest billing station here for years.
They've since changed that strategy and gone after general market stations. I haven't seen any recent revenue reports, but I'd assume a station like WBT in Charlotte is one of their larger revenue generators. It has been the highest billing station here for years.
Radio One originally sued to delay Preston & Steve's arrival on WMMR by enforcing their non-competes. Press release from 2005 quoted then Radio One VP/Operations Zemira Jones, "This decision is ironic in that it was Preston and Steve's decision to depart Y100 that led Radio One to change Y100's format and that change now serves as the basis for the judge's decision to bar enforcement of the non-competes. Contrary to press reports, Radio One made every effort to renew Preston and Steve's contracts with Y100 beginning last fall. In spite of our efforts, Preston and Steve made a decision to leave for a competing station. In January, they announced their intent to depart Y100 upon the expiration of their contracts in February. Radio One attempted to find replacement talent, but ultimately made a business decision to introduce a contemporary inspirational format in the market."
A message to listeners attributed to Steve the day Y100 flipped says:
Now, on the other hand, we are profoundly saddened by the ending of Y100. The truth is Preston and I loved Y100 and all of the creative and talented people we worked with over there - the list of names is too long to mention. Prior to making the painful decision to leave, we had begun to see some troubling signs which brought into question the longevity of Y100. Unfortunately, the disturbing feelings we were having turned out to be all too accurate. In the end, we know the spirit of Y100 will continue and everyone will go on to bigger and better things - they are all just too good not to.
Wondering if this was referring to Radio One’s highest billing station in Philly.
What possible relevance does that have?
Another fact is tbis
Radio one sneakily had a meeting behind the backs of the y100 djs the people from the beat and WRNB and what would become praise where at this meeting to discuss the changes that would be made February 24th 2005 103,9 stunted with a message that the beat had moved till Easter Sunday 2005
Radio one sneakily had a meeting behind the backs of the y100 djs the people from the beat and WRNB and what would become praise where at this meeting to discuss the changes that would be made February 24th 2005 103,9 stunted with a message that the beat had moved till Easter Sunday 2005
wibgradio99
Banned
Don't they have a history of blowing up every Rock, Top 40, Contemporary, Mom and Pop, Mass Appeal or Alternative station they buy (check out Baltimore, Richmond, Bridgeton and Washington station history), to name a few, just say'n.
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Radio One is a black owned company going after black audiences. That's not a secret. There are some non-urban stations in Indianapolis, and now in Charlotte. They also tried a Jack FM format in one of their Ohio markets, and a news/talk format on 92.1 in Houston, which were both short lived. Outside of that, I can't think of any other times where they have operated a non-urban station.
No, it is a Black managed company whose majority shares are owned by private investors, mostly mutual funds and similar accounts. Only 17% of shares are owned by insiders.
However, the founding family owns "super shares" that control voting.
Urban One, Inc. (UONE) Stock Major Holders - Yahoo Finance
Find out the direct holders, institutional holders and mutual fund holders for Urban One, Inc. (UONE).
finance.yahoo.com
But indications are that they are trying to broaden the focus, including the initiative to get a license in Virginia for a casino.
Y100 PD Jim McGuinn said it was urban one's top biller (In Philadelphia), but yes havning P&S was the #1 reason for that. Alt 104.5 would bill good if they had P&S.
If Urban One had wanted to pay the big $$$ they probably could've kept P&S. Considering Stern was a few months away from leaving ysp, and they were already the top biller for them (In Philly), and considering what that frequency has been through since....I think they should've really tried.
More on that last line. I know they said they did, but radio one at the time was known for being pretty cheap, so I doubt they offered anything near what MMR did. Steve says they saw troubling signs beforehand, so I think it was clear they wern't making any real effort to keep P&S.
If you're paying the big bucks, as phrased, does the billing increase attributed to that show make more financial sense? Not always, by a long shot. A big morning show is great; no one disputes that. But without the rest of the day pulling its respective weight, your balance sheet isn't going to look so pretty in the end.
I am simply curious.
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