Sale of WVIP, 93.5 FM will adversely impact Jamaican/Caribbean businesses in New York

An emotional question hanging over the Caribbean/Jamaican diaspora community in New York is what will happen to radio broadcasters who brooker time on WVIP, 93.5FM, now that the station is sold for US$8.15 million to Hope Media Group, owners of the Christian AC “Way FM” network and Spanish Christian “Vida Unida.” WVIP was owned by the late Bill O’Shaughnessy, who died in May 2022 at age 84.

WVIP is the most prominent Jamaican/Caribbean radio station of its kind in North America. The Westchester County station (Class A FM license), reaches thousands of Jamaican/Caribbean nationals who reside in Mt Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains, Ardsley, Elmsford, Yonkers, Bronx, Queens, Nassau County in New York and Bergen County, N.J. According to a 2021 U.S. Census Bureau/American Community Survey, approximately 1.3 million residents in the USA are Jamaicans. In New York, Jamaican Americans comprise about 1/2 a million residents, which is approximately 1.6% of the state’s population.

An email being circulated last week bearing the NuSpecies logo stated, “The station has been bought. NuSpecies tried to buy it, but they’ve sold it to a conservative, Christian media company. We don’t know exactly when we’ll be off air, but it’s likely very soon.”

WVIP remains a strong player. Any attempt to change its format would likely trigger public outcry from listeners and radio brokers at the station who have called it home for almost 40 years.

Una Clarke, who served in the New York City Council from the 40th district from 1992 to 2001 is the first prominent JamaicanCaribbean politician to comment on the sale of the station. The community is hoping others will step up to the plate and let their voices be heard.

“In as much as America is about corporate greed and money, we are in a time when black ownership is under great stress just based on how America is going right now. We have to remember the environment we are operating in, especially as it affects people of colour, black immigrants in particular…When WLIB was sold, that was a sign that black ownership is hard to survive because of the marketplace. When you are not an owner but a tenant you are at the mercy of owners,” she opined.

In 2012, Emmis Communications which owned WQHT (Hot 97) purchased WBLS and WLIB for $131 million in cash. For WBLS and WLIB, the sale marked the official end of an era as one of the most prominent African-American-owned media entities. In 1997 WNWK 105.9 FM closed its doors on reggae and the Caribbean community when a change in FCC regulations allowed its then founder and chief executive Arthur Liu, to sell the station (along with another smaller station) to Heftel Broadcasting, the nation’s largest Spanish language radio group, for $135 million. The station reportedly was bought for $5 million. Proceeds from the sale were used to purchase radio stations on the West Coast.

Jamaican-born democrat Jaevon Boxhill, who was recently elected Mount Vernon city councilman, gave an interesting perspective on the WVIP sale.

“As millennials, we hardly listen to the radio, but at the same time it would be very sad to lose any of our voices,” he shared.

“When I look at the recent elections that I won in Mt Vernon, so many Jamaican, Caribbean people live in my community who are not part of the process. Our voice is not being heard as it should. This would be one more blow to that voice.”

Una Clarke shared that “The church group that bought the station (WVIP) is one of those groups that is behind the Republican Party…It is to get poorer white folks to line up behind Trump. You can figure it out in the final analysis based on who the purchasers are and based on what their goals and objectives are. At this point they don’t see value in the black vote” she stated.

A recent article published in the The Milwaukee Independent talks about the political agenda that Clarke alludes to, stating that “The White vote in America is split, leaning 53%-42% toward the GOP. The Black vote is reliably 83 percent Democratic. But the Hispanic vote is up for grabs: they represent the second largest and fastest growing demographic group in the country at 13.3 percent of the 2020 electorate (Blacks were 12.5 percent, Whites 66.7 percent) and, as conservative Spanish-language radio proliferates, they’re shifting to the right. If Republicans can pull just a few percent of the Hispanic vote their way, they can hold the House, retake the Senate, and seize the White House in 2024. Not to mention flipping multiple purple states red.”

Miss Pat Chin, co-founder of New York based VP Records, expressed concern about the economic impact the sale of WVIP would have on her family business.

“Reminds me of when WLIB was sold some years ago. Our sales dipped” she informed.

“Listeners could not hear our music and the latest news out of the Caribbean. When we live abroad, our music, our food, our sports and our culture, reminds us and keeps us connected to our birth place…We can build a station for ourselves! That’s what we need to do,” she suggested.

Kemar Blake, founder of Bellyful Restaurant in Brooklyn and a broadcaster at WVIP radio lamented what he says is the failure to give someone from the community an opportunity to purchase the station.

“The focal point is that part of our culture, which is connected via WVIP radio, is being taken away from us. Our people look to the radio station for information, music, business knowledge, entertainment and more. We have built this station for decades and it is being taken away from us without the opportunity to purchase it. This is definitely a slavery mentality. It is like black people being used and abused” he shared.

Purchasing time on WVIP is not cheap. Independent broadcasters reportedly shellout between US$500-$1,000 per hour and upwards of US$4 million annually to purchase time at the station. Bobby Clarke (no relation to Una Clarke), CEO of Irie Jam Media group which has been broadcasting on the WVIP platform for the past 30 years said, “The sale leaves a major void in the community…We are hoping that there might be a way to continue our services to our community here but right now we are not sure” he shared.

A few days ago, the Irie Jam Media headhonco announced plans to reduce on air hours at WVIP.

“Irie Jam Media will immediately reduce its 58 hours of airtime devoted to Caribbean news, entertainment, and lifestyle on WVIP 93.5FM effective Tuesday, July 11, 2023, in light of the recent sale.  The program, in its 30th year of existence, will now channel its resources and efforts elsewhere in hopes of acquiring a new platform. The broadcast entity, the largest Caribbean content provider in New York, will now operate 22 hours of programming to honor its advertising obligations while maintaining a smaller on air presence until WVIP officially changes hands, saying goodbye to its loyal Caribbean listeners and advertisers” the release noted.

Among the popular Caribbean personalities who will be impacted by the sale of WVIP are DJ Roy, Dub Master Chris, Irwine Clare, Killa Boo (Irie Jam Radio); Squeeze (Linkup Radio); Conroy Allison (Winner’s Circle Radio); Ras Clem (Groovin Radio); Carl B Moxie (Wake Up Radio); Avril (ER Radio) among others.