KJLH in Los Angeles is one urban AC station whose playlist heavily emphasizes current material.
Although African Americans are the primary audience, radio stations playing this type of music often attract White listeners because R&B is one of the roots of rock and roll.
In December 1994, Emmis Broadcasting transformed Kiss FM into the first station to play urban oldies music on a regular basis.
The format was an instant hit with black and white listeners around the Greater New York area, reaching to number two on the Arbitron ratings.
Primary artists included The Isley Brothers, McFadden & Whitehead, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, and The Temptations.
WDGS neatly substituted jazz, blues and urban/soul gold for the 35% of the playlists that were rap/hip-hop at the time, while playing 65% non-rap urban currents, to wide acclaim.
Many of these were affiliates of the Satellite Music Network format Urban Gold, which had 27 stations six months after starting October 1, 1993.
Consultant Tony Gray said older adults did not like contemporary music, which had few tunes that had proved they could stand the test of time.
Hurricane Dave Smith of WJJJ in Pittsburgh, which had switched from smooth jazz, doubted the format would succeed on FM radio, but he believed listeners who enjoyed older songs were used to AM.
[4] In addition to WRBO, urban oldies stations include WATV (AM) in Birmingham, Alabama, and KAJM in Phoenix.
In June 2020, Republic Records and artist management company Milk & Honey stated that they would drop the use of the word in relation to music of a black origin.
[1] Myron Fears, operations manager and program director of the black owned Carter Broadcast Group in Kansas City, defended the use of the urban tag.