Is Radio One changing its programming to gain money from the RNC?

By Robert "Rob" Redding Jr.

Publisher

Aug. 6, 2007, 3:30 a.m. - Top officials at Radio One held a money meeting with members of the Republican National Committee just before canceling the shows of its progressive XM talk hosts, according to sources.

Alfred Liggins III, the company's president and chief executive officer, recently met with RNC officials, according to two sources, who asked not to be identified.

The meeting happened just before XM 169 The Power, which is run by the Lanham-based company, cut the shows of black activist Mark Thompson and Ambrose Lane on July 26.

"No meeting such as that occurred," said Shannon Reeves, the RNC's director of state and local development and chairman of its African American Leadership Council.

"It can not happen without me knowing about it, because that's my job," Reeves said. He said he had a meeting at the end of June with a local salesman to talk about the company's new gospel radio station in the District, but could not remember the salesman's name.

Liggins did not return a call to comment.

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The company has had some financial difficulty lately, losing close to two-thirds of its value in the past two years, according to a Washington Post report.

Radio One programs XM 169 for XM Satellite Radio, which is in the process of merging with Sirius Satellite Radio.

Lane, host of "We Ourselves," is a long-time Pacifica Radio personality with a penchant for blaming the ills of the black community on "the corporate plutocracy." Thompson, host of "Make it Plain," has been a key speaker for the Nation of Islam's "Million Man March" and "Millions More Movement."

Lee Michaels, national program director for Syndication One News/Talk and XM 169 The Power, has declined to comment about the dismissals of Lane and Thompson.

Michaels has said in March he had tried to hire Sheryl Underwood, a conservative talk show host with a background as a comedian, but she had failed to come to terms with the company after starting a show on XM 169.

Meanwhile, Thompson and Lane have been replaced by conservative host Raynard Jackson for the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. time slot on the network.

Company officials have said Jackson will eventually be replaced by its Syndication One lineup, which includes Al Sharpton, the civil rights activist, "The 2 Live Stews", a sports show, and a legal show hosted by Warren Ballentine.

Syndication One, a joint venture of Radio One, Inc. and REACH Media, Inc., airs on 25 local news/talk stations across the country, according to the news release.

(Disclosure: RCI's content was heard on "We Ourselves")

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