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“If you could figure out where he [Robert Moses] got the power, and I could write about it, I’d be explaining something new about urban power.” Robert Caro. Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Power Broker C-Span 5/13/2003

Perhaps one of the best-kept secrets in the history of radio has been the power of urban radio. Despite it’s enduring presence as both an American media and business model -- through good economic times and bad, urban radio’s true power has been long shrouded in mystery, hidden from view, and locked away for now over 60 years.

One of the major contributing factors has been a lack of true insight around the perception and prowess of urban radio. As a consequence, urban radio uniqueness and ‘power’ have far too often been misunderstood, underestimated, and undervalued in both the radio and advertising communities.

Another contributing factor has been urban radio’s uncanny ability to continuously evolve and expand throughout its history. For example, starting in the 1990’s urban radio began to dramatically grow in audience size, share and ratings, and even became dominant stations in many markets.

But ironically, its growth and success started to reveal stark disparities between what mainstream radio stations were able to garner in the marketplace in terms of advertising dollars versus urban stations. Urban radio soon began to reposition and re-brand itself around its power, but one major aspect was missing – what was the source of its real power?

W.G. Smith has recently announced the upcoming release of its groundbreaking report on urban radio: Urban Radio: The Power Unlocked! The forthcoming report is the culmination of a far-reaching media study that delves deeply into the mindset and psyche of urban radio audiences, professionals, and the advertising community to unlock the code behind urban radio’s power and to bolster its ad value proposition.