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Tuesday, June 17, 2008
6/17: Talking with Leslie Fram, Atlanta’s Gospel Music Channel expands
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Leslie Fram’s foray to the Big Apple starts Thursday.
In an interview today, Fram expressed excitement and anticipation taking over a new rock radio station, WRXP-FM in New York, formerly a smooth jazz station.
“I’m very excited,” she said. “This is another opportunity to build a brand from scratch, like 99X.” Fram, one of the most respected female rock radio programmers in the country, helped form 99X in 1992 and shape it into a new rock powerhouse throughout the 1990s. The station’s influence waned this decade and she was pushed off the FM airwaves in January, along with the station itself, which lives on at 99x.com.
WRXP launched in February and sounds like a mix of Dave FM and Rock 100.5, with plenty of deep cuts and new music mixed in with Led Zeppelin and AC/DC classics. (Ratings have been anemic so far, but Fram said the station hasn’t really started marketing.) Fram won’t be on air in New York but will work her magic behind the scenes. She hopes to tap into the passion some New Yorkers have in rock music with a deeper, broader playlist than heard on most stations. You can check it out here.
Fram’s husband Lanny will continue to run her two Atlanta area boutiques and she’ll travel back to Atlanta for charity commitments. “I’m going to get myself a cubby hole of an apartment in Manhattan and live at the radio station,” she said. She plans to hit New York Thursday to “get the ball rolling and meet with the sales department.”
She already knew the general manager Dan Halyburton, who had worked at Susquehanna while she was there. And consultant Mike Henry used to do work for 99X. And naturally, she is well connected in the industry and the management at RXP obviously saw her track record and hopes she can resurrect some of that 99X magic in New York.
Will any of her expats at 99X end up at RXP? She’s not sure yet but a few might be available, if not already, but soon. Her former 99X colleague Steve Craig, for instance, is doing 99X.com but his contract is up in a few weeks. And former night-time jock Dekker is already there doing weekends though she’s not sure where he’ll ultimately end up. (RXP still has some openings in afternoons and nights.)
So rumors of Fram going to Dave FM have not come to pass. She said she had braced herself to leave Atlanta after all these years if the right opportunity came up. And this one, in her mind, obviously is.
-Gospel Music Channel, the Atlanta-based cable network, is just a couple of years old, but it’s already planning a scripted show. Most cable networks start with reality programming because it’s cheaper before moving to scripted options. (See BET and TBS.)
According to Mediaweek,, in the works for the first quarter of 2009 is “Gospel Playhouse,” a weekly musical dramedy series from playwright J.D. Lawrence. Gospel Music Channel is now seen in 40 million households.
-And check out “America’s Got Talent” at 9 p.m. tonight on NBC. I watched the first two hours and there is indeed some fun talent out there. There’s a cool pair of hip-hop violinists, an incredibly cute four year old who sang “Somewhere Out There” skillfully and a male baton twirler who was teased as a child and is now getting his comeuppance. Sadly, the 80 year old tap dancer? Not so good. But sweet.
I wrote this story about the show.. The Atlanta auditions will air next week.
