Ken Johnson

37 POSTS
Ken Johnson is an Urban/Hip-Hop columnist for Barrett Media. Born and raised in Washington DC, his career experiences include serving as VP of Urban formats for Cumulus Media, holding the Director of Urban Programming post at ABC Radio Networks, and programming stations in Birmingham, Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City. He has also managed affiliate relations for the Nick Cannon show, and worked as the Executive Producer of The Hughley Truth Podcast hosted by comedian DL Hughley. Ken currently runs Mean Ole Lion Media, a content creation company and podcast network. He can be reached by email at ken@kenjohnsonmedia.com.

Reflecting on Radio, Accountability, and Change As I Sign Off

"Outside of the use of AI, there is almost nothing truly new in all radio and music."

Christmas in Focus: What Radio Programmers Should Know About Serving Black Audiences

"You don’t want to have your station's head in the sand."

Urban Radio Stations Can’t Ignore the Most Important Issues Affecting Their Communities

"I’m not advocating for turning your music station into a talk station. However, you can’t keep your head in the sand and ignore the elephant in the community."

What Urban Radio Listeners Should Expect From The Format’s Best

I’m comfortable making an educated guess about what listeners want from their adult urban station. But what they expect and what they deserve are not necessarily the same thing.

AI Music in Urban Radio Lacks Passion and Soul

In case you missed my disclaimer in last week’s article, let me say it again: that piece was written entirely by AI. Its purpose...

Breaking

Evan Roberts Suggests Howie Rose’s Final Call Be Opening Day 2027 if Sunday Has Weather Delays

"You'll get plenty of more opening days. Let Howie and Keith Raad finish it the right way with 40,000 people, with optimism, hope, and then Howie can drop the mic and say I'm out."

Major Garrett’s CBS News Podcast ‘The Takeout’ Adds New Election Segments with VoteHub Partnership

CBS News is expanding The Takeout with Major Garrett...

SubmitHub Bans AI Music From Its Promotion Services

"We want to build a platform that actually helps people promote real music."

Xperi Data Shows Radio Listenership More Than Doubled On NFL’s Opening Sunday

"Overall Sunday audience share jumped 60% on average. Pre-game listening rose 111% heading into kickoff, and post-game audiences grew 152%."