100.9 WNOU-FM in Indiana and WAKS-FM 96.5 in Cleveland decide not to play Chris Brown's music until the case involving him and Rihanna is settled.
- Feb 12, 2009
AceShowbiz - Several U.S. radio stations decide to pull out Chris Brown's songs from their playlists after the R&B singer is accused of attacking a woman, who is strongly believed to be Rihanna. One of the radios which has publicly dropped his music is pop-radio station 100.9 WNOU-FM, which is located in Indianapolis, Indiana.
"The audience of RadioNOW 100.9 has requested that temporarily suspend the airplay of songs by Chris Brown," so the WNOU site announced. "We do not take domestic violence allegations lightly. Domestic violence, battery and assault are serious issues on our society."
WNOU program director Tim Rainey further claimed that the decision is based on "listener criticism of the singer after his arrest in connection with the assault of a woman." He was also said to have polled his audience for feedback, and 52 percent indeed voted to drop Chris' music.
Another radio which has deleted Chris' songs from its playlist is WAKS-FM 96.5 in Cleveland. Its nighttime DJ, Java Joel said, "After the alleged incident, the phones exploded. It's all that people wanted to talk about. They were outraged at this alleged behavior and wondered why we were continuing to support his music. I agreed, and immediately pulled all Chris Brown songs from my show until this thing shakes out in the legal system."
Kiss FM program director Bo Matthews also supported Java's decision, noting that "Chris has made some poor choices." He added, "We are following the lead of our listeners, and we will not be supporting Chris Brown on 96.5 Kiss FM in Cleveland until the alleged situation gets resolved."
Though the two radios have come out announcing not to play Chris Brown's music, Bob Burke, vice president/managing director for the radio-industry trade magazine Friday Morning Quarter Back, said that everything can happen. Stating "some [program managers] might play it safe," he was quick to add, "people stop playing his [Chris] music for a while or possibly drop it forever? It remains to be seen. Like R. Kelly, it's innocent until proven guilty."
