There is a petition going around Western New York to remove the newly added Steve Harvey Show from WBLK, a station owned by Townsquare Media in Buffalo, New York. Harvey’s show started March 1st and listeners are already responding with a petition to bring Tom Joyner back (>>link<<) the show he is replacing. Sources state the station’s management decided to remove Tom Joyner after being approached repeatedly by Premiere Radio Networks. [We need to look at the station’s ratings in the coming week to see why the change took place but industry sources state Joyner’s show was actually doing quite well]
WBLK was started in 1964 by local pop DJ George “The Hound Dog” Lorenz. For over 50 years the station has enjoyed a rich history as a successful behemoth outlet for Buffalo and several parts of Western New York. The station’s signal also bleeds into nearby Niagara Falls. Some of the nation’s greatest jocks and the most respected programmers worked for the station in the past like WBLS’ Skip Dillard, the late Byron Pitts, Carol Blackmon, Chuckie T and many others.
Harvey’s show is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks a Sherman Oaks, CA based company affiliated with iHeartMedia. Premiere Radio also syndicates shows like: Ryan Seacrest and shows with the deeply controversial hosts Rush Limbaugh and Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
Tom’s show is owned by Tom’s own company Reach Media and the largest black owned radio corporation Radio One which syndicates urban radio shows like Yolanda Adams, The Rickey Smiley Morning Show and DL Hughley. Joyner’s Fantastic Voyage Cruise, “the party with a purpose” is about to sail at the end of April. The cruise helps raise money for historically black colleges.
Harvey’s radio show has recently been involved in a controversy when he gave questionable advice to a black female listener whose letter was featured on a segment of the Steve Harvey Morning Show “Strawberry Letter.” The woman indicated that she thought she may have been sexually assaulted by her boyfriend while asleep after he had sex with her and she was unaware of it.
Source: Radio Facts
