The ''Tom Joyner Morning Show'' is an American nationally syndicated radio program, hosted by veteran broadcaster
Tom Joyner
Thomas Joyner (born November 23, 1949) is an American retired radio host, former host of the nationally syndicated ''The Tom Joyner Morning Show'', and also founder of Reach Media Inc., the Tom Joyner Foundation, and BlackAmericaWeb.com.
Early l ...
. The program, which aired on
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban conte ...
- and
Urban adult contemporary
Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music ...
-formatted stations across the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, ran from January 3, 1994 until December 13, 2019.
Overview
The program aired live Monday through Friday for four hours, beginning at 6:00 AM
Eastern time
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...
and was based in
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, where Joyner was previously the local morning host at
KKDA-FM
KKDA-FM (104.5 MHz), known as K104, has been a leading radio station in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex for 46 years. It is a longtime heritage urban contemporary formatted station. It is owned by Service Broadcasting Corporation alongside K ...
. The program remained in Dallas until the mid-2010s, when Joyner began hosting remotely from
South Florida after relocating to that area. The show's format featured Joyner and various contributors reporting and discussing the latest news and sports of the day alongside popular
R&B songs from the 1970s through the present-day. The weekly best-of compilation was offered to affiliated stations on weekends under the title ''Tom Joyner's Right Back at 'Cha''.
Southwest Airlines was a prominent sponsor of the radio show, especially Joyner's on-site remotes (called "Sky Shows"), and offered free round-trip airfare to any destination that Southwest flew as a recurring giveaway on the show.
Joyner attributed the national show's success to his complete refusal to serve non-black audiences. He stated in 2000: "We do a show for African Americans. That's what we do." In 2019 he stated: "Don't worry about crossover. Just super serve, super serve, super serve. Anything that affects African Americans, that's what you do."
History
Joyner, who was perhaps best known for commuting daily by plane between Dallas and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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while simultaneously hosting local radio programs in both cities, and as the first host of the syndicated television series ''
Ebony
Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...
/
Jet Showcase'', was signed by
ABC Radio Networks ABC Radio may refer to:
Australia
* History of ABC Radio (Australia), the division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) responsible for:
** ABC Classic, a classical music radio station
** ABC Classic 2, an un-presented streaming-only c ...
in 1993 for a new national show to be distributed to Urban contemporary stations. The ''Tom Joyner Morning Show'' premiered on January 3, 1994. Joyner gained ownership of the program in 2003 when he co-founded his own company, Reach Media. The Black-owned media company Radio One (now
Urban One
Urban One, Inc. (formerly Radio One) is a Silver Spring, Maryland-based American media conglomerate. Founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, the company primarily operates media properties targeting African Americans. It is the largest African-American- ...
) acquired majority ownership in Reach Media in November 2004, and took over syndication rights to the program in a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...
.
In 2017 Joyner announced that he would retire and that the show would end in 2019, its 25th anniversary in syndication. In the summer of 2019 Joyner announced that
Rickey Smiley
Broderick Dornell Smiley (born August 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, television host, actor, and radio personality, known for his prank phone calls. The calls feature Smiley disguising his voice and carrying on a conversation with th ...
, who was hosting a competing syndicated morning program on Urban contemporary- and
Rhythmic adult contemporary
Rhythmic adult contemporary, often abbreviated as rhythmic AC or RAC, is an adult contemporary radio format. The format focuses primarily on rhythmic hits aimed towards an adult audience, often resembling a mixture of the classic hits and hot adul ...
-formatted stations, would succeed him on Joyner's Urban AC affiliates. The final live episode of the ''Tom Joyner Morning Show'' aired on December 13, 2019. Joyner stated on his last program that his decision was made because of repeated salary cuts (claiming that successive cuts had reduced his salary nearly 90 percent); acknowledged that cultural changes and radicalization among black audiences ("I think we were more woke then than now") had reduced his influence and thus his listenership and affiliate count; and further stated that his own financial greed—about which he was unrepentant—drove much of his radio career.
[
Following Joyner's sign-off, Reach Media and Urban One offered "best of" compilation programs until December 31, 2019. On January 2, 2020, many of Joyner's former affiliates began airing the reformatted ''Rickey Smiley Morning Show''.
]
Featured personalities
*Tom Joyner
Thomas Joyner (born November 23, 1949) is an American retired radio host, former host of the nationally syndicated ''The Tom Joyner Morning Show'', and also founder of Reach Media Inc., the Tom Joyner Foundation, and BlackAmericaWeb.com.
Early l ...
*J Anthony Brown
James Anthony Brown (born November 16, 1945 in Columbia, South Carolina) is an American comedian, actor and radio personality. He received the Peabody Award and the NAACP Image Award.
Biography
Early life
Brown started his career in Atlanta ...
(1996-2016)
*Sybil Wilkes
*Tyrell Zimmerman (On A Roll Catering, Newport News, VA)
*
Others featured on the show
*Jacque Reid
Jacqueline Elaine "Jacque" Reid (born January 31, 1975, in Atlanta, Georgia[ ...]
* Roland Martin
*Kevin Frazier
Kevin Timothy Frazier (born May 20, 1964) is an American television host, widely known as co-host of ''Entertainment Tonight'' and the founder and owner of the urban entertainment website HipHollywood.com.
Career
Frazier was the first to host both ...
*Jeff Johnson (BET personality)
Jeffrey Johnson is a communications specialist and journalist. He appeared on the TV show ''Rap City'' on the BET cable network in the United States, where he spoke about such issues as violence and voting.
Early life
Born in the UK, but raise ...
*Jawn Murray
Jawn Murray is a Washington, DC-based American TV host, commentator, executive producer, pop culture expert, media personality and social media influencer best known for hosting TV shows for Travel Channel, EPIX and NFL Network, as well as app ...
(2006-2011)
*Sheryl Underwood
Sheryl Patrice Underwood (born October 28, 1963) is an American comedian, actress and television host. She first rose to prominence in the comedy world as the first female finalist in 1989's Miller Lite Comedy Search. Currently, Underwood is one ...
(2006-2010).
*Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley (; born September 13, 1964) is an American talk show host and author. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, and grew up in Bunker Hill, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to ...
(1996-2008)
* George Wallace
*D.L. Hughley
Darryl Lynn Hughley (; born March 6, 1963) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Hughley is best known as the original host of BET's ''ComicView'' from 1992 to 1993, the eponymous character on the ABC/ UPN sitcom ''The Hughleys'', and as ...
*Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...
* Nikki Woods
*Myra J
*Damon Williams (comedian)
*Dominique (comedian)
*Huggy Lowdown (celebrity snitch)
*Chris Paul (The Morning Minute, The NFL Rap-Up, and The Cowboys Wake Up Show)
*Shaun King
Jeffery Shaun King (born September 17, 1979) is an American writer, civil rights activist and co-founder of Real Justice PAC. King uses social media to promote social justice causes, including the Black Lives Matter movement.
King was raised ...
References
External links
Listen online on TuneIn
{{Citadel Media
American variety radio programs
1994 radio programme debuts
2019 radio programme endings