New York is getting a new urban radio station and Tom Joyner is back in town with it.
Radio 103.9, which broadcasts from the Westchester area and has long had the call letters WFAS, will launch the new format July 7.
Cumulus, which owns the station, says its signal reaches 80% of the New York area.
Tom Joyner, the syndicated host who did two stints as morning host on the late Kiss-FM, will be the morning host, 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Joyner has never made any secret of his desire to have his show heard in New York — and it also could rekindle his sometimes-friendly rivalry with fellow syndicated morning host Steve Harvey on WBLS-107.5 FM.
Comedian D.L. Hughley, who also was heard years ago on WRKS, will be the syndicated afternoon drive host, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Sharon “LaLoca” Montero will come up from Orlando to do middays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Marc Clarke from Washington will host “Hanging Downtown” in the evenings. Montero and Clarke will be local, not syndicated.
Radio 103.9 reverses the recent shrinkage of urban stations in New York after WRKS was folded into WBLS and WWRL switched to a Hispanic format.
WBLS, which now has the adult urban market all to itself, has become one of the top two or three stations in the city.
There have been complaints that community voices are now rarely heard on commercial broadcast radio, however, and Cumulus is promising the new station will address that.
A statement from Cumulus says Radio 103.9 “will include a heavy focus on community engagement, with the station’s on-air talent participating in local events and collaborating with leading community service organizations.”
The new format was unveiled Wednesday night with a party at Sylvia’s in Harlem.
