This is not a drill ladies and gentleman! Urban Syndicated radio will make a seismic shift in 2020! It was just announced on the Tom Joyner Morning Show that Rickey Smiley will be ending his hip-hop based show to take over the time slot that Tom Joyner has held down for the past 25 years. The audio is below! This news is a shocker to me because I assumed that RadioOne would go a different direction with the host of the show and get someone that didn’t presently have their own show. Now, a lot of questions have arisen that I believe affect HBCUs and our students.
Rickey Smiley is an HBCU Alumnus (Alabama State) and reps the HBCU and college experience any chance he gets! However, will he be as big of an on-air advocate as Tom has been all these years? Rickey says that he’ll continue the legacy of HBCU advocacy that Tom has created but we’ll see what it looks like under Rickey. One thing is for sure: the Tom Joyner Foundation will continue its work so maybe we can expect the new Rickey Smiley Morning Show to work in tandem with them.
What about the affiliates that currently carry the current hip-hop version of Rickey Smiley Morning Show? It’s been reported that Headkrack, the anchor of Rickey’s current show, is going to hop out with his own syndicated show. It’s great to finally see such a talented personality like Headkrack getting his own shot at leading his own show. However, a part of me wonders if every affiliate that carries Rickey’s current morning show is gonna hop on the Headkrack wave. Some iHeartRadio stations carry Rickey Smiley. Will they choose to go with The Breakfast Club instead? The Breakfast Club is already on in some of the cities that carry Rickey’s show. Maybe they’ll decide to go local in the morning.
But, what if they do? Will that mean that Mass Communication graduates that want to get in radio get a shot? How about those Mass Comm. graduates that were blessed with an opportunity to host their own radio show and are looking for a come up. This is the perfect opportunity to work their way up the chain and make their own name. How about the students that wake up to hear Rickey Smiley and his crew’s jokes and antics. I know I often gave them a listen when I was walking to the Cafe!
All I know is that this is a gamechanger and a crazy start to the 2020s! I wish the best for the OG Tom Joyner and for Rickey in his new posistion. The new decade can’t get here fast enough!
