B.E. and Clear Channel forge on-air partnership: radio report unlocks pathway to new audience

Black Enterprise, August, 2005

BLACK ENTERPRISE and Clear Channel the largest owner of radio stations in the country, recently signed a deal to produce Black Enterprise Magazine's Keys to A Better Life radio report. Using well-known talent including Cedric the Entertainer and R&B singer Alicia Keys to host the show, BE editors will provide advice to help listeners live a healthier and more prosperous life.

The new report will air on 60 Clear Channel stations across the nation, including its flagship station, Power 105.1 in New York City. The report features health news and timely advice from BE editors as well as business professionals and financial advisers. Launched July 1, this new venture gives BE an opportunity to reach more than 4.5 million listeners each day, with greater access to the hip-hop community.

"It's a great business venture among two companies that have found great items in common," explains Earl Jones, Clear Channel's regional vice president for the Kentucky and Indiana region. "The stations that we own in urban markets and the content that BLACK ENTERPRISE brings to the consumer on a daily basis created a pretty good business model for the two."

The deal, according to Derrick Godfrey, vice president of business development for Earl G. Graves Ltd., has been a little more than a year in the making. Talks began at the 2004 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference, hosted by General Motors. A year later, the new radio report team put together a successful pilot. "We're trying to incorporate sound programming with a financial theme on stations that have in the past focused solely on entertainment," says Godfrey. "You're going to get the personalities on your radio every morning and every afternoon and evening, but what we're hoping to do is sprinkle intelligent content that will provoke or encourage listeners to act in areas that have a direct tie to their financial well-being, whether it's homeownership, health, or financial wealth building."

"There are a lot of people within the hip-hop community who are reaching out to find ways to get into business for themselves, or to find out ways to save money or how to buy a home," explains Martha Buckner, the program's producer. "They want to be educated on consumer issues, health issues and small business issues, and they want to know how to save for retirement. All of these topics come across the board to adult contemporaries and the hip-hop community."

The Keys to A Better Life report will air twice a day, Monday through Saturday, during the morning and evening commutes. Log on to blackenterprise.com for broadcast.--The Editors

Black Enterprise Unlimited is a division of Earl G. Graves Ltd. dedicated to the creation of products and services designed to meet your business needs. We can be contacted at B.E. Unlimited, 130 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10011-4399; fax: 212-886-9509; e-mail: BEunlim@blackenterprise.com. The following is contact information to help you learn more about the programs and products of B.E. Unlimited:

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