New York Daily News

WBLS, taking ‘different direction,’ fires beloved on-air personalit­y Shaila Scott

- BY KARU F. DANIELS

For those wondering why Shaila Scott hasn’t been on her usual WBLSFM midday shift for the last few weeks, the radio silence is over.

Affectiona­tely known as “New York’s Sweetheart,” Scott announced Thursday that she was fired from her longtime post.

The award-winning 34-year broadcasti­ng veteran said the station’s parent company, MediaCo Holding Inc., decided not to renew her contract.

“Sadly, MediaCo decided not to renew my contract and advised me that ‘The station is going in a different direction,’ ” she said in an Instagram post on Thursday.

“As a native New Yorker, it has been a pleasure to be your radio relative, and I am humbled to have been rewarded with consecutiv­e #1 rankings in the 12 and over, 18-49, and 25-54 age demographi­cs,” Scott (photo) wrote, before thanking her fans for “trusting me to deliver content that touched and concerned our communitie­s.”

The Harlem-reared Buffalo State College alum, who got her start at WBLK in Buffalo, had been a beloved staple on the once-Black owned radio station.

Scott gained a notable following while serving as a jock in various time slots at former WBLS rival 98.7 Kiss, which merged with the company in 2012. Both stations served contempora­ry urban and Black music lovers for decades before the merger.

In 2019, MediaCo bought a controllin­g stake of WBLS and its hiphop sister station Hot 97 from Emmis Communicat­ions for a reported $91.5 million in cash.

Fellow radio vet and former 98.7 Kiss alum Fred “Bugsy” Buggs has been filling in middays for Scott until a permanent replacemen­t is announced.

“My objective was to use the power of that microphone to speak into the spirit of the village that raised me,” Scott added in her post. “Although this is the end of my journey with WBLS, it is, of course not the end of OUR journey. Stay Tuned!”

Reps for MediaCo did not respond to request for comment from the Daily News.

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