Pete Tong to Expand American Radio Presence with The Evolution Beatport Show

pete tong

The legendary Pete Tong aims to elevate American radio with his newest venture, The Evolution Beatport Show with Pete Tong. The new two-hour show will be both an expansion to Pete Tong’s current US venture, Evolution, as well an advancement to the American radio landscape.  Clear Channel’s Premiere Networks and SFX Entertainment’s music platform Beatport will partner to support The Evolution Beatport Show with Pete Tong.

With Evolution, Pete will continue to broadcast his essential new tune of the week and guest mixes alongside news and DJ chart and track updates from Beatport but promises to reinvigorate the current radio culture, which can be perceived as stagnant and repetitive with the monotony of the Top 40.  Tong told Billboard, “I always say American radio sounds f–king amazing for the first 15 minutes… But … you hear the same 15 minutes every four hours and that’s my frustration with it. My desire is ‘let’s get out of that kind of safe zone, let’s take them on a journey.’ I believe the American public has more intelligence and more savvy than to be so short term that they’re gonna hit a button every time they’re uncomfortable.”

Pete Tong began his existing Evolution radio program in 2013, bringing over 20 years of broadcasting experience on BBC Radio 1 to the United States.  Using the dynamic charts of Beatport, he aims to recreate the atmosphere of BBC Radio 1 in American commercial radio.  To Tong, the current difference between the two is clear: “American radio differs from Radio 1 because its mission is not new music, its mission is to keep the biggest audience all the time and play them what they want… Radio 1 is a public service institution specifically there to capture the youth market and champion new music, so that’s why it’s such a unique institution.”

via Billboard