This week's sign that the apocalypse is upon us.....

Okay, so maybe it's not that serious. I don't know if they still do it, but Sports Illustrated used to have a funny blurb in the magazine with that title, and I borrowed it here.

Have a look at this press release, which I saw on http://www.urbaninsite.com

Starting Monday, January 4, 2010, Keith Sweat - legendary R&B singer/songwriter, music producer and host of the #1 nationally syndicated Urban AC evening radio show The Keith Sweat Hotel - will join the 107.5 WBLS-FM lineup as host of The Quiet Storm. Airing Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. - midnight ET, the New York native will take the reins of the tri-state area’s #1 nighttime music radio program. The Quiet Storm with Keith Sweat will be produced by Premiere Radio Networks. Sweat will continue to host The Keith Sweat Hotel, which is nationally syndicated by Premiere on nearly 50 radio stations.

Sweat commented, “I couldn’t be happier to be heard in my home town on the station I grew up listening to. WBLS is the must-listen-to station for R&B fans in New York, and I want to thank them for this tremendous opportunity.”

Skip Dillard, WBLS-FM operations manager/program director stated, “From the first time I put ‘Make It Last Forever’ on the turntable at my college radio station back in the mid-‘80s, I knew this man would have a lasting impact. From Harlem, to the world, Keith Sweat is truly one of the best in R&B.”

Uhhh....okay. I will move past the fact that of the two adult R&B stations in New York, WBLS is actually behind WRKS in the ratings. WBLS just hired him, so what else is he supposed to say?

The part of this release that jumped out at me is what OM Skip Dillard had to say. Do me a favor and reread that paragraph. Notice anything missing? Pat yourself on the back if you noticed that Mr. Dillard didn't say one word about the QUALITY of the radio program that will be airing on his station. He referenced Keith Sweat's career as a recording artist, which is in fact, pretty damn stellar.

But Sweat has been doing a syndicated love songs show for several years now; surely Mr. Dillard has SOMETHING positive to say about Sweat as an air personality....doesn't he? I can't be the only one who finds it curious that he didn't.

Now in the interest of full disclosure, I have not had a chance to do much more than sample "The Sweat Hotel" on several brief occasions. My work schedule pretty much precludes me from being able to spend a lot of time listening and analyzing nighttime radio shows. What I can say is that the reason my rare opportunities to sample Sweat as an air personality were brief was because I didn't think much of what I heard.

For everyone involved, I hope he's stepped his game up since the last time I had a chance to listen to him. As far as Skip Dillard is concerned, I hope he thinks Sweat is great. Even though I would argue that, I would hate to think he was forced to air a show that he doesn't believe in by those above him on the Inner City pay scale.

That thought brings me to my soapbox issue. There's just too much of that going on in radio today in general. Programmers being "forced" to run voicetracking or syndicated programming by those above them on the corporate food chain. Among the many problems with that strategy is that those above programmers on the corporate food chain rarely have programming backgrounds of their own to lean on in order to make intelligent decisions on the product. Worse yet, there are some programmers today who are more concerned with saving their own jobs and looking like heroes to those above them on the corporate ladder. Some of these PD's are actually volunteering the voicetracking/syndicated programming idea to their bosses so that they are "saving" the company money...thus looking good to their bosses at the potential expense of the product.

Where are the PD's and OM's who are willing to stick their necks out and stand up for the product and station? Hello? As the PD, IT'S YOUR JOB to put quality product first. Yes, there is certainly some compromise involved; you can't have everything, and you do need to make some sacrifices in this economic enviroment. But someone has to stand up and draw a line somewhere. Someone has to be able to put up a coherent enough argument about the need for talented live and local personalities being worth more money in ratings/revenue than it would cost to pay them...or worth more than the company would save by not having them.

Please note, I did say TALENTED live and local; I can't sign off on anyone hiring a bunch of hacks just because they're local. And to be fair, there are plenty of hacks on the air while real talent is on the beach or pursuing other avenues because of the state of the radio business these days.

In my opinion, it's the guy or girl who's willing to stick their neck out for the betterment of the product who will help get radio out of the predicament it finds itself in today.