Did Cathy Hughes Ban Mathew Knowles’ Artists from Radio & TV One?

Mathew Knowles‘ artists have reportedly been banned from TV One. Why you ask? Apparently, Mathew Knowles’ music company brokered an exclusive agreement with cable channel TV One. The deal was for Essence Music Festival to broadcast exclusively with TV One. So, what’s the big effin’ deal? Allegedly, he offered (and perhaps brokered) this same (exclusive four-year agreement) with BET, MTV and BET’s Centric. Now, in addition to being sued by Cathy Hughes, who owns TV and Radio One, his artists will (reportedly) not be played on TV One or Radio One…nationwide. A Radio One employee told EUR Web:

“All Radio One personnel were told to pull all Music World artists out of rotation immediately and indefinitely!  We were told that the mandate came straight from Ms. Hughes and that there would be ramifications for anyone playing or mentioning a Music World artist or song on air.”

A source further explained,

“Radio One owns at least 12 gospel stations across the country – that’s the majority.  It’s hard for artists to sell CD’s without radio airplay!  Right now Music World definitely isn’t getting any from Radio One.”

Ouch.