By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Friday, May 15, 2015
R&B/hip-hop station V-103 and sister talk station 1380/WAOK-AM are ending their signature annual event For Sisters Only this year after an impressive 23-year run.
For Sisters Only, which ran for two days many years but was cut to one in 2013, featured live music from big name acts such as Ciara, Kelly Rowland, Future, Brandy and Tamar Braxton along with vendors, talks and giveaways from sponsors such as McDonald's and Verizon.
Rick Caffey, who runs the stations, declined to comment except to say they are planning another type of event this fall but haven't finalized the details. Elements of For Sisters Only may be used in the future.
V-103 - which finished No. 1 in the Nielsen Audio ratings last month for the third month in a row with an 8.5 share - is celebrating its 40th year on the air so whatever event the station chooses to do this fall may be tied to that.
Former V-103 executive Mary Catherine Sneed created the event in 1992 before she left to start Hot. I spoke with her about FSO in 2013 and she was amazed the event lasted as long as it had.
In texts this morning, Sneed felt V-103 failed to energize the event in recent years and let it go stale. The result: smaller crowds. "Looks more like a flea market now," she wrote. "You have to reinvent FSO every year. There always has to be a new ride... like Six Flags. They haven't done that in years."
Sneed feels radio - like what IHeartRadio has been doing - needs to focus on creating big, buzzy events to stay relevant. She thinks Radio One or Cox (which owns Kiss 104.1) should "immediately rename it and steal the concept."
Some of For Sisters Only's thunder may have been stolen by national talk show host and comic Steve Harvey. The syndicated radio host heard on Majic 107.5/97.5 began producing his annual Steve Harvey's Neighborhood Awards in Atlanta last year, moving from Vegas. The multi-day event, which includes comedy shows and concerts, is set for August 6 to 9 and features a big three-day expo at the Georgia World Congress Center in August that targets a similar audience as For Sisters Only: black women.
Harvey's crew will be announcing the entire slate of celebrities who will appear that weekend soon.
V-103's annual Car and Bike show, which targets men, is still on for July 25 at the GWCC.
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