Starting Tuesday, XM will produce The Power, which is on Channel 169, in-house. The arrangement ended because Radio One made the decision to syndicate all its programming for the channel, according to XM spokesman Chance Patterson. XM will keep some of the more popular programs produced by Radio One such as shows headlined by Joe Madison, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Warren Ballentine.
The new arrangement allows XM to bring some new personalities to the show that it was unable to do when Radio One was producing it, due to contract conflicts, according to Patterson. XM will announce new programs for 169 this month.
Radio One did not return calls seeking comment Thursday.
“In some sense, this is Radio One trying to capitalize on the increased attractiveness of urban talk,” said Mark Fratrik, vice president of BIA Financial Networks in Chantilly, of the company’s push to syndicate. “Urban stations have been doing better than they have done in the past.”
Radio One, which has been struggling with profits and revenue due to a lagging Los Angeles station, sold off a number of its radio stations last year that were not in primarily urban markets.
It’s unlikely the move will hurt XM, a company accustomed to producing new content in-house, Fratrik said.
“Given the vast number of stations, I don’t think this will matter very much to the bottom line of XM,” he said.
melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com
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