Philly Radio: WPPZ Adding Dyana Williams For Daily Show

After 10 years of hosting the weekly Soulful Sundays on WRNB 100.3 FM with Derrick Hampton, veteran radio personality Dyana Williams is heading back to the airwaves full time on Monday, July 15. She will host the afternoon drive from 3 to 7 p.m. on WPPZ Classix 107.9 FM, Monday through Thursday, while continuing Soulful Sundays.

Dyana Williams

“I haven’t done full-time radio since the ’80s,” Williams said, primping her signature, now-platinum, bob. “I’ve filled in the years with so many other things … but I never stopped doing radio. I’ve always done part-time or little stints.”

The format of her show will be songs from the 1970s and 1980s, and give preference to the sound of Philadelphia. She acknowledges that Philadelphia radio is home to other formidable radio personalities.

“Philly’s a very unique market because you have a Patty Jackson who’s been on [the air] for 30 years and in the same time slot," Williams said. “That’s unheard of in radio, especially in these days where there’s so much corporatization and change.”

“If you look at R&B music over the past 40 years, who’s more engaged with the artist, the music, and the history?" Colby Tyner, Urban One’s vice president of programming asked.

Tyner said that Lady B, who will precede Williams in the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. slot, has done an incredible job with building up the audience at Classix and believes that Williams will, as well.

In December, Radio One flipped the format of gospel station Praise 107.9 to Classix 107.9 FM. The current format adopted a classic R&B sound, reaching to the soulful hits of the 1970s and ’80s, which Tyner said is “perfect for Dyana.”