Early Black Radio

  The first African-American to have a commercially sustained radio program was Jack Leroy Cooper, a former vaudevillian and  entrepreneur who began announcing on Washington, D.C.'s WCAP radio station in 1925. Later, in Chicago, Cooper worked at WSBC, where he started the All Negro Hour in 1929. Among Cooper's many accomplishments were hiring African-Americans to work as announcers and salespeople, playing gospel music, broadcasting sports, and developing a missing persons program to help individuals find loved ones. Moreover, Cooper created the concept of the disc jockey when his studio musician walked out: Cooper began playing records and talking between them when a local musician's union demanded that his pianist go on strike. In 1947 Ebony Maga­ zine called Cooper the "Dean of African-American Disc Jock­eys." By that time he was responsible for more than 50 programs broadcast on four Chicago radio stations.

     Early network radio developed programs that included black characters; however, these were often in stereotypical roles. On some shows, such as Amos 'n' Andy, whites por­trayed blacks on the air in stereotypical fashion, and in other programs African-Americans portrayed themselves in this manner. Most often, African-Americans were featured as maids, butlers, and gardeners and in other vocational or domestic-helper roles.

     Amos 'n' Andy became one of the most popular radio pro­ grams of all time. African-Americans listened to the show and probably laughed at the antics of its characters, even though the program often portrayed blacks in an unfavorable light. Nevertheless, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and some other organizations believed that the program demeaned African-Americans and urged the Colum­ bia Broadcasting System (CBS) to cancel the show.

     In the many comedies broadcast on network radio, African­ Americans played key roles in the success of the programs. Eddie Anderson earned fame as "Rochester" on the Jack Benny Show. Hattie McDaniel played "mammy" roles on the Optimistic Doughnut Hour and in the radio series Showboat. Later, McDaniel played the lead role in Beulah.

     During the early years of radio, black music such as jazz and blues was often heard on network radio. Bessie Smith's live blues performance was broadcast from a Memphis radio station in 1924. In addition, groups such as the Hampton Sing­ers performed on radio in that same year. Jazz, especially, received a great deal of airplay through the 1940s. Bandleaders such as Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Thomas "Fats" Waller were among the many African-American musicians who made regular broadcasts on early radio. Marian Ander­son, Roland Hayes, and Paul Robeson were among the Afri­can-American vocalists heard on early radio broadcasts.

     Early non-entertainment programming such as public-affairs programs reported on the status of the black family, educa­ tional activities in the black community, farming techniques, and occasionally racial issues. In 19 33 CBS broadcast John Henry, Black River Boat Giant, a positive drama featuring Afri­ can-Americans. By the 1940s the National Broadcasting Com­pany's (NBC) Freedom's People, an eight-part series featuring dramatic vignettes by African-Americans such as Paul Robeson, Joe Louis, and A. Philip Randolph, was broadcast. Non-net­work radio broadcasts included Roy Ottley's New World a'Comin' and Richard Durham's Destination Freedom, which focused on historical treatments of African-American experi­ences. These programs provided positive portrayals of African­ Americans to radio audiences. In addition, radio stations began gospel music and church-service broadcasts in the 1940s.

     NBC's Blue network broadcast America's Negro Soldiers in 1941. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of War, America's Negro Soldiers included patriotic vignettes that highlighted the ​​historical contributions black soldiers made to the U.S. Army. Other program components included music, singing, and tap dancing, but the program omitted references to racial discrimi­nation in American society. CBS's Open Letter on Race Hatred, however, examined the causes and consequences of the Detroit Race Riot of 1943. Other radio programs developed for African-American listeners during World War II were "Judgment Day" (1942), "Beyond the Call of Duty" (1943), "Fighting Men" ( 1943 ), "Gallant Black Eagle" (1943 ), and "The Negro in War" (1945).

Postwar Rise of Black-Oriented Radio

     By the late 1940s radio began to broadcast programs targeted directly to predominantly African-American audiences. For example, in 1946 CBS and NBC produced specials that high­ lighted significant events in the African-American community. The CBS program shed a spotlight on "National Negro News­ paper Week," and the NBC program focused on Nat King Cole, the famous singer. Two major factors had an impact on the networks' attempts to reach African-American listeners. First, national advertisers recognized African-American eco­nomic power. Thus, companies that produced products such as canned milk, flour, and lard directed their advertising messages directly to black consumers via radio.

     Second, television began to siphon off advertising dollars, audiences, and top-name performers from network radio. Aside from the money involved, radio performers soon real­ized that they would also receive greater exposure to larger audiences on television than on radio. Station owners responded to these developments by changing their formats and playing jazz, rhythm and blues, blues, rock and roll, and other black musical forms to appeal to African-American lis­teners. They also hired disc jockeys whose words, personali­ties, and music dramatically increased the number of black listeners. When first introduced, radio stations broadcast rhythm and blues, blues, and other black music formats in seg­ ments. A few hours during the day was set aside for these broadcasts. Eventually, stations began to build their entire for­ mats around "black-appeal" programming.

     In 1948, for example, WDIA in Memphis, Tennessee, broadcast its first program to black audiences. Nat D. Will­iams, pioneer black disc jockey at WDIA, hosted this show and many others for years to come. Soon after the initial broadcast, WDIA began an all-black programming format. Prior to WDIA's efforts, few black-appeal radio stations or programs existed. Notable exceptions included Cooper's All Negro Hour and Chicago disc jockey Al Benson's programs. WDIA's pro­gramming included public affairs, news, public service announcements, and other community service announcements and promotions.

     Radio stations across the United States quickly imitated WDIA, which also became known as the "Mid-South Giant," because of its broadcast signal. The station reached audiences in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Other black-oriented stations hired flamboyant black disc jockeys such as "Jockey" Jack Gibson, also known as "Jack the Rapper"; Maurice "Hot Rod" Hulbert; and Peggy Mitchell Beckwith to play music, advertise and promote products, and especially to communi­cate with African-American listeners. Their unique personali­ties and knowledge of black music and recording artists catapulted black-appeal radio stations to unprecedented popu­larity among listeners.

     Black disc jockeys in northern urban areas performed a number of other functions at the radio station. They often pro­vided useful public service advice and served as counselors to many of the newly arrived migrants from the South, informing them about where best to shop and how to avoid the dangers in their new urban environments.

     The popularity of their radio presentations, sometimes referred to as "personality" radio, began to decline in the late 1950s, mainly as a consequence of the payola scandal and the movement toward formatting in radio. Payola, or the payment of unreported money to play records, was legal but became rampant in the industry. The U.S. government outlawed the practice in the late 1950s. Thus, disc jockeys lost the opportu­nity to play records they deemed popular or attractive to lis­teners. Instead, that role eventually became one for program directors and other managers to take over.

     Moreover, black-oriented radio stations began using a more tightly controlled music format, which did not allow disc jock­ eys to express themselves as they had in the past. Instead, black-oriented radio stations began to promote call letters, dial positions, and themes, such as "The Quiet Storm" and "the Black experience in sound."

     In addition to the disc jockeys who worked for black-ori­ented radio stations during these years, African-American news reporters and public-affairs announcers also found jobs. Eddie Castleberry and Roy Woods, Sr., became well known for their announcing and reporting skills.

     Throughout the civil rights movement, black-oriented radio stations assisted in the struggle for African-American human rights. Broadcasts from these stations provided listeners with accounts of newsworthy events, such as marches, boycotts, and voter registration drives. Additionally, black-oriented sta­ tions were often in the forefront in bringing attention to soci­etal ills suffered by African-Americans, including police brutality and violence directed at them. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.'s sermons and speeches were widely broadcast on black radio stations. Message music from black recording artists such as Curtis Mayfield and Little Milton found airplay on black-oriented radio stations.

Black Music and Black Ownership

     Although hundreds of radio stations played black music, hired African-American announcers, and used promotions that appealed directly to black listeners, few of these stations were actually owned by African-Americans. J.B. Blayton bought WERO in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1948, becoming the first Afri­can-American to own a commercial radio station. WERO played black music and employed disc jockeys such as Jack Gibson, "Joltin' Joe Howard," and Helen Lawrence to appeal to African-American listeners.

     By 1970 African-Americans owned only 16 stations out of more than 7,000 commercially operated facilities. Throughout the 1970s, the number of black-owned radio stations increased to 140. During the late 1980s and 1990s, the number of black­ owned radio stations further increased but then started to decline to levels approximating those of the late 1970s.

     Several factors contributed to this decline, among them greater consolidation in the radio industry, broadcast deregula­tion, and advertising practices that had a negative impact on the overall dollars generated by black-owned stations. The combination of consolidation in the radio industry and group owners' greater control over the advertising dollars in local markets left the often poorly financed black-owned radio sta­tions unable to compete economically in today's marketplace, forcing many owners to sell.

     In addition, some studies have cited the lack of access to investment capital and the lack of policies and incentives that promote African-American ownership of radio stations. One change adversely affecting black ownership was a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision not to "extend enhancement credits" for African-American ownership. Enhancement credits helped make African-American applica­tions more competitive in comparative hearings. Other deregu­latory actions adversely affecting black radio station ownership included the relaxing of ownership caps. In 1992, for instance, the FCC relaxed national ownership limits, allow­ ing a broadcaster to own up to 18 AM and FM stations nationally.

     Moreover, in 1995 Congress repealed the FCC's tax certifi­cate program. This industry incentive had provided tax bene­ fits to the seller of a media property that was sold to a minority broadcaster. Finally, the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 further deregulated the industry. The act removed all national caps on radio station ownership. On the local level, ownership restrictions were considerably liberalized, allowing increased ownership of stations, up to 50 percent of stations in a market, up to a maximum of eight, depending on market size.

     The combined impact of these changes has made it difficult for African-American owners to generate revenues to compete successfully with group-owned stations. These changes, how­ ever, do not necessarily affect advertising revenues for all black-oriented radio stations, because many are owned by con­glomerates and use scale economies to achieve efficiencies and revenue generation.

     Finally, African-American ownership, or the lack thereof, does not affect the number of black formats available to listen­ers. Black-oriented radio stations play music that African­ Americans expect to hear. Many of these stations developed into outlets that emphasized music programming and used pro­ motional slogans such as "Soul Music" stations, "The Total Black experience in Sound," and "The Quiet Storm" to appeal to listeners. Non-entertainment programming on some of these stations, however, suffers when local ownership disappears.

Black-Oriented Radio Formats Today

     There are nearly 500 black-oriented radio stations operating in the United States today. The most popular format on these radio stations is urban contemporary. This format plays music from several genres, including rhythm and blues, urban adult contemporary, dance, urban gospel, rap music, and jazz. Fifty­ seven percent of all African-Americans aged 12 and older listen to urban contemporary formatted radio stations. Moreover, black-oriented radio has popular appeal among other ethnic groups, including Asians, whites, and Hispanics. The majority of its listeners, however, are African-Americans-indeed, 90 percent of the listeners to black-oriented stations are minori­ties. Eighty percent of listeners to the urban contemporary for­ m at are  minority group members. Other black-oriented formats include "black talk" and blues. General market radio stations attract a 21 percent minority audience.

     Whether black-owned or not, most black-oriented radio stations attempt to establish ties with the local communities in which they are licensed. In addition to the music these stations play, they also offer public-affairs programming, news, and public service announcements.

     Black-oriented noncommercial radio stations also play an important role in entertaining and informing the African­ American community. Sometimes called "community sta­tions," these stations schedule programs with the idea of help­ ing communities create strong identities. Most of these stations allow the public access to the airwaves, especially those who may not otherwise have an opportunity to play their styles of music, such as jazz, reggae, or other Caribbean sounds. These stations also give individuals an opportunity to voice controversial and unpopular opinions.

     For example, noncommercial stations provide forums to discuss issues such as police brutality, racism, disparities in incarceration rates, poverty, and other forms of racial discrimi­nation. Moreover, black-oriented noncommercial radio sta­tions are often staffed and operated by "activists" who argue that "mainstream" commercial black-oriented radio stations fail to adequately educate and inform African-Americans on such issues as AIDS, the U.S. legal system, and racial discrimi­nation. Thus, black-oriented noncommercial radio stations provide news, public affairs, and other information often excluded from black-oriented commercial radio stations.