Sometimes I just have to say things.

I fell in love with radio about 51 years ago when I first heard WVON 1450 AM. From 1963 to 1977 that was my station. Herb Kent, Richard Pegue, Lucky Cordell, Wesley South, Roy Wood, E. Rodney Jones the list of personalities goes on. Today, I know GOOD radio when I hear it because I LIVED THROUGH IT listening to WVON, WJPC, WGRT, WBMX, WGCI and WKKC.

The presentation of what is called Radio in 2016 sucks and it pains me to say that.

A great radio legend told me that WVON during its time was the Greatest station in the Nation. And I asked myself,  What made WVON so great? And the only thing I could come with is the fact that WVON had personalities - I remember many things about WVON but what I remember most are the personalities- The Good Guys" and of course the powerful ladies too (Bernadine and Isabel). WVON cared about the community. The station provided news and editorials. Who can forget WVON News with-- Roy Wood and his editorials, Jim Maloney, Claire Nelson(who were white) and Don Cornelius before Soul Train fame were news anchors.

The personalities were touchable. Pegue and Herb were always spinning at a High School affairs (Sock Hops). I know because I traveled by CTA

to Lindbloom, Phillips, Dunbar and on the west/north sides to go and see them perform. WVON with its public affairs programs like "Hot Line" with Wesley South and "On the Scene" with Bernadine with fashion and society tips for women and the family. Operation Crime stop was a regular feature telling the community what to do about crimes in their areas. WVON radio had a heart and soul for the people it served the programming was eclectic.

Now WVON was not the only radio station on the block playing "Black Soul" music there was WGRT, WJPC, Johnson Publishing Company with the Real Richard Steele, Tittle in The Middle, BBD Banana, and a guy by the name of Tom Joyner. Tom Joyner when he arrived in Chicago, worked at WVON first and left the station after 3 months. WJPC AM was Black Owned and WVON was owned by the Chess family/then Gannett but run by Blacks. When WVON took to the airwaves in April of 1963 it took only 3 months before WVON captured the #1 spot in Chicago radio. The African American community abandoned other radio stations immediately when WVON 1450 AM began broadcasting. Chicago had the "Voice of the Negro." Owned by the Chess family but operated by Black. E. Rodney Jones was the program director and Pervis Spann was the first announcer to play music on the new WVON. Pervis Spann and Wesley South would later buy the station. Nobody does radio better than Black folk doing radio for themselves.

And when I think about the economic flow that WVON helped to generate in Chicago, (The Collins Brothers stores, Roberts Motels and show lounge, Pekin Cleaners (advertising on radio since Al Benson), the Burning Spear and so many other businesses on both the south and west sides, money stayed in the community. Who can forget those "crazy" Rib Supreme Commercials on WVON.  Black Radio was an economic engine in Chicago. The success of WVON probably signaled something else too?

 In the late 70's, radio changed more African Americans were able to purchase stations because of a couple policies by the government through the Distress Sale and Tax Certificate programs radio ownership went from about 50 to 300. The government provided incentives to majority owners to sell their properties to minorities This lasted until the mid 90's and was discontinued by the Republicans led by Newt Gingrich. This is not to say that at the time that the Republicans were anti-minority, anti-Black or anti-Female. Both the Distress Sale and Tax Certificate policies was being misused by those in the majority who could afford to do so. Instead of fixing the program and calling out the cheaters the Congress chose to close the door of opportunity in 1996 for minorities and females.

During in the 80's up to the early 90's Radio in Chicago radio was really good. The AM stations WVON and WJPC faded but were replaced by FM stations WBMX and WGCI both at the time were White owned and Black operated until New Yorker, Barry Mayo, put together an ownership group to buy WBMX. Those FM wars in Chicago were great. Lee Michaels on one side and Graham Armstrong on the other. White guys made it back to Black radio I mean Urban radio with the like of Bob Wall and Evan Luck in the 90's. The Programming wars lasted until the passage of 1996 Telecom Act and within a few years both WBMX and WGCI were owned by the same company. There will never be those programming wars again. Radio companies don't compete against themselves. And there are not any Black Owned stations to compete with each other especially in major metropolitan areas where many African American live. Today Black Ownership of media properties is probably less than 150 of some 13,000+ stations and who knows how many of those stations are licensed but not broadcasting (dark) and part of Local Market Agreements.

Radio has changed all the things I stated about the AM stations WVON and WJPC are memories and won't ever happen again. Why? because the business of radio has changed. Advertisers run the industry, Advertisers are paying the money to keep radio free. Radio is all about sales and making more money for the owners. Now it's nothing wrong with sales and making money for the owners but radio is also about the public interest and serving the community. And it's a complicated thing to combine commercial interests and public interests when the owners of the company believe in neoliberalism and profit at all costs.

Now ownership that's another issue. In 1996 the Telecommunications Act changed the landscape of radio and media when the ownership limits of radio changed. A company could own 1 AM and 1 FM in the same market. Today a company can own up to 8 in a market and as many as they can afford nationally. This change in the law created a free fall of buying and selling. The only black radio owners in Chicago, sold the properties right away as radio companies began buying and selling one another. The clear victors were the Mays brothers of Texas owners of Clear Channel and The Dickey Brother owners of Cumulus. And to think that the Telecommunications Act started out as a back room favor between politicians.

Now let me get to the why I wrote this. I attended a conference and I always listen to my professional colleagues tell of "strength" and "viability" of the industry as if nothing in the industry has changed. Now here I am looking at these young people who desire to be on microphone and make a career out of radio. Its fascinating, I remember myself feeling the same way. I hear all these stories of how professional X started in radio blank years ago in "little town America" working at WBBB for little or nothing and stayed there for X years until "I was fired" and then the professional states "I moved on" to medium size town America and was fired there too, it took me X years before I made it to a major market X. The only common thread in the stories from professionals is that everyone gets fired in RADIO!

Then the professionals passionately say "you can travel this same road, to get that first job, do an internship and make yourself ready. Free labor right? They leave out the facts that three corporations that cater to black music two of them are owned by private equity and heavily syndicated. They leave out that most Black Owned station have syndicated programming. Syndication eliminates at least 8 persons. So where are the jobs? Oh that's right in promotions and sales. Now 30 years ago these stories would be the way.  Before the Telecom Act a talent could get fired from one job and go to work for a different owner in the same town. Today the road to employment in radio is not the same because the business model of radio is not the same. Can we say deregulation, consolidation, corporate ownership and private equity firms.

According to the bureau of labor statistics competition for jobs as announcers will be keen because the broadcasting field attracts many more jobseekers than there are jobs. Employment of announcers is projected to decline because of the lack of growth in the number of new radio stations and the consolidation of existing stations. Because competition for ratings is so intense in major metropolitan areas, large stations will continue to seek announcers who have proven that they can attract and retain a sizable audience (syndication). Improving technology and consolidation of radio will limit the employment growth for radio announcers. Many stations are able to do more tasks with less staff.

In addition, radio stations use voice tracking, which allows radio announcers to prerecord their segments rather than air them live. This technique allows stations to use fewer employees, while still appearing to air live shows. It has eliminated most late-night shifts and allowed multiple stations to use material from the same announcer.

Now after I read facts like that my response is to tell a young person who wants to be in RADIO the realities of the industry and ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN B. Don't give up your DREAM just make sure you have a PLAN B. The road to success is less direct.

It takes will to persevere and travel down the road called radio broadcasting today. Now if you have a job connection make it work for you but don't expect big bucks get in where you can fit in. The mom and pop individual ownerships of radio stations are GONE. The bigger and better stations are probably owned by a corporation or private equity investment firm and are probably running syndicated shows and voice tracking. Corporations and Private Equity Investment firms have different agendas. And you have to make sure you are a part of that agenda because the jobs are just not there anymore and owners are steadily downsizing. Radio jobs are now MORE political than ever today. You must know somebody in the industry.

And if you attend a conference or job fair and hear, an industry professional tell you "How Sweet it is" ask yourself isn't that what the professional is supposed to tell you in order to GIVE YOU HOPE!!! For me, I would rather have both the good and the bad so that I can make an informed decision.

RADIO - BLACK RADIO excuse me, Urban Radio is in a struggle to survive because of the DECLINING REVENUES of the industry. Radio has known about DECLINING REVENUES for quite some time and is trying according to the NAB to get FM radio as part of cell phone technology. This is supposed to breathe new life into the industry, It's all about spectrum space NOW. I translate that to mean that the industry is looking for news ways to monetize radio. Any new technology that the industry pays for that cost will ultimately be passed on to the consumer. It's just the way it is. A corporation will not do something for nothing PLEASE !!!!

What we now have with terrestrial radio is FREE radio. People expect radio to be free. And as for paying for radio, research already indicates that nearly 90 percent of people are not willing to pay for RADIO something that has been enjoyed freely. And the smartphone manufacturer Samsung states, "Our studies show a trend shift of interest to digital broadcasting - namely, the focus on listening to music content on social networks or on YouTube. The flagship model of our devices is targeted at customers who use digital content, modern formats and channels of information consumption." Truth is radio is still the cheapest way to communicate to the masses.

Young people today don't listen to radio like I used to and that problem was brought on by RADIO itself through its programming.  The complaint by most young people is "They play the same songs over and over!" RADIO has always been arrogant with an attitude that radio knows best for its listeners, featuring homogenized content, voice tracking, the same songs every 4 hours, and same jocks syndicated in cities. Radio forces it agenda on the listeners and now listeners have more choices,  listeners choose not to put up with radio's sameness.

Let me add though that young people have not abandoned radio they are just listening less nowadays. Radio is a medium that has always been favored by the older generations however there has always existed an expectation that people will grow into radio. The big unknown today about radio is whether the lower radio consumption of the younger generation will be maintained, as they get older. People have the more choices to entertain and inform themselves through other outlets. Music and information is available everywhere through the Internet. Radio needs to make a self examination and leave the product and commodity research alone.

Radio now radio wants to find solutions in the wireless and broadband spectrum connecting with the rise in  "smartphones" those personal computers in your pockets. The NAB wants the telephone manufactures to install FM receivers in the smartphones.  Google "Next Radio" and check out the pitch but remember that it won't be free. Data usage rates may apply.

Seriously, radio should take a look back at what made it popular years ago. It was the local personality; community service and connections to the community that made Radio great. Will radio be great like that again. I don't know but history tells us that radio has fought threats to its existence before like when television arrived on the scene and radio went local. Think about this when you travel do you want to hear the same things in the town that you are visiting that you hear at home? I surely don't.  Back in the day, I enjoyed traveling to different parts of the country and hearing the local flavor. As a DJ, I couldn't wait to get back to Chicago with some new discoveries and play the music that I heard. DJ's always feel credible when they can break new songs. When threatened by television Radio went hyper local playing the best music from the area, and DJ's became more personal and communicated to its local listeners. Can localism return in the age of "computers in your pockets? I don't know.

What I do know it that in Black culture we like to be talked to. We enjoy the great talkers and personalities. "The brother who decided that "More Music and Less Talk" was a good idea" is not happy with that decision and admitted that was a mistake. Black folk are an aural people we love to tell stories and talk. Just think about RAP MUSIC - stories with a beat- and who started RAPPING - No it wasn't RAPPER"S DELIGHT !!!! or some other guy from New York. It was the rhyming DJ's in a city that played BLACK Soul Music.

I don't know what Black radio or Urban Radio is doing today and I don't think Urban radio knows what they are doing either. Yet. I am hoping for the best that Urban Radio will find a way to make money,  entertain, inform, serve the public interest and employ more  people. I am holding out on hope because I still love radio...