UPDATE: No talk for WLIB - will be full-time gospel music

[FightingIrish]

After 29 months as the flagship station for the progressive talk network Air America, WLIB will become a full-time black gospel music station on Sept. 1.

It will be "music-intensive," says Vinny Brown, operations manager of sister station WBLS (107.5 FM), "but will not exist in a vacuum, just playing songs. It will be heavily involved with the community, because in many ways the church is the community."

Vice president/general manager Deon Levingston says while the "Praise and Inspiration" format will not have talk shows "per se," some shows "will focus on issues in a way that's compatible with the music."

(snip)

"This will be a 24-hour gospel format," says Brown.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/445270p-374953c.html

[tbetz]

Placeholder? Or is Percy Sutton just going for the gold?  Dollar-a-holler can make a lot of money.

[Phillip Dampier]

AM gospel music?  Oooh... there's a ratings winner.  I smell placeholder format.  Does anyone listen to AM for music anymore?  Can people in downtown NY actually hear AM radio signals? 

[Scribbler]

AM gospel music?  Oooh... there's a ratings winner.  I smell placeholder format.  Does anyone listen to AM for music anymore?  Can people in downtown NY actually hear AM radio signals? 

AM reception is lousy in much of NYC (with the exception of flamethrowers like WABC, WOR, and WFAN), but at least you have some chance of being heard clearly in parts of the city if you have WLIB's signal,  but little chance of being heard clearly in most of the suburbs.  That's one of the reasons Air America got mediocre ratings on WLIB.  And since most (but not all) of the African-Americans in the market live in the city rather than the suburbs, it makes sense to adopt a format that appeals to African-Americans if you have such a signal.

[fred flintstone]

AM reception is lousy in much of NYC (with the exception of flamethrowers like WABC, WOR, and WFAN), but at least you have some chance of being heard clearly in parts of the city if you have WLIB's signal,  but little chance of being heard clearly in most of the suburbs.  That's one of the reasons Air America got mediocre ratings on WLIB.  And since most (but not all) of the African-Americans in the market live in the city rather than the suburbs, it makes sense to adopt a format that appeals to African-Americans if you have such a signal.

Amen.  The Class A AM flamethrowers are the only AM stations that have ever succeeded in reaching a mass or mainstream audience in New York.  And even the flamethrowers have reception problems.  Many of AAR's "affiliates" would do better with Syndication One or some Urban-targeted format.  AAR does OK with a decent signal; it does not do well without a decent signal.  This isn't rocket science.

[Radio_Realist]

I read somewhere that some members of the Black Community are not happy about this development.