Paul Porter Biography
For over 20 years, Paul Porter has been a prominent voice in American radio and television. From AT&T to Showtime, his baritone voice and on-camera talent has been recognized in over a half-dozen top venues, his personality resonating on the airwaves of numerous radio stations, and as the announcer for seven consecutive NBA All-Star Shows.
A native of Queens, NY, Porter studied Communications at Northeastern University in Massachusetts. His early radio career is marked with several achievements. As program director and on-air personality at Washington D.C.’s WMMJ-FM, the third urban AC station in the country, the station’s ranking rose from 28th to fourth in just nine months. He was also assistant music director and radio personality for NBC's WKYS-FM and assistant program director and on-air personality on WHUR-FM, another popular D.C. station. After 12 years at various stations in Boston and D.C., he began his nine-year tenure at Black Entertainment Television as a voice-over talent for programs like "Video Soul" and "Midnight Love." As the music video consultant, Porter successfully digitalized the company’s music programming, and its music library. And, in only one year as program director, BET's music video viewership increased by 16 percent.
In 2003, after almost a decade at BET and other radio stations in D.C. and New York, including three years at WBLS-FM, he began work as an on-air personality at WRKS/KISS FM, an urban AC station, and the sister station of New York’s #1 hip-hop station, Hot97/WQHT-FM. Two years later, having been involved with the hip-hop music industry for much of his career, his focus took a dramatic shift after an incident involving a controversial song by Rah Digga, as he recalled on Fox’s "Hannity and Colmes".
"I had a problem with a student out in Queens (she questioned the music I played on the air)…the (student’s) mother had got beaten up by the father… I figured since I worked there I could get something across, but it didn’t work out that way."
Having protested the immorality of some of the music being played on Hot97/WQHT, Porter was promptly removed from the air, spurring his movement from endorser to activist. On January 15, 2005, he co-founded IndustryEars, a think-tank created to identify and correct injustices in the media. Since then, he has been using his voice and his experience to personally advocate for increased awareness and consciousness in the media industry. His various appearances include as CNN, Fox News, Universities, radio stations from coast to coast, and such publications as the New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune and Vibe Magazine. Audiences around the country have enjoyed his powerful lectures.
Currently residing in Atlanta, Porter will share his encounters in the music business in his forthcoming book, "THE SAME SONGS" (Inside the Money, Power and Corruption in the Music Industry)."
