You don't hear R&B and hip-hop on the local airwaves 24/7 anymore. But a former WAMO staffer has launched two online radio stations -- Radio Magic Pittsburgh and The Blaze 101 -- that cater to that disenfranchised audience.

The sites are the brainchild of former WAMO program director Ron Atkins, who spent 15 years in the Pittsburgh market working with former WAMO owner Sheridan Broadcasting.

Radio Magic Pittsburgh (www.radiomagicpittsburgh.com) is an urban adult contemporary format reminiscent of the former WAMO-AM, which played classic R&B. Artists include Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey, Motown and some contemporary R&B hits. The station is aimed at ages 25 to 54.

101 The Blaze (101theblaze.com) plays hip-hop, rap and current R&B artists, and it is aimed at the younger, 18- to 24-year-old audience. "Kids want to hear R&B but not their parents' R&B," Atkins says.

He plans to launch two additional online channels -- one for smooth jazz and one for gospel.

After the WAMO sale was announced in May, Atkins kept running into a lot of people who said they were going to miss the stations. "There were a lot of people -- not just African Americans but pretty much everybody I talked to. There was a connection between the station and listeners. I didn't realize it ran that deeply."

Launching a new format in a soft economy was a daunting prospect, he said, and he didn't have millions of dollars -- or investors -- to try to buy a signal and station here. Instead, he turned to the Internet.

"I wanted to create a radio station that I would be able to set up so that the listeners will have some type of connection. I wanted to take up where WAMO left off the best way I could, considering the resources I had."

Atkins isn't the only former WAMO personality involved in the project. J-Kruz, who used to host the evening show as part of the Bad Boyz team, will be heard on 101 Blaze starting today. Nick Nice, another former WAMO air personality, is doing an old school mix weekdays from noon to 1 p.m. on Radio Magic Pittsburgh. In December, he'll do a weekend program Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m.

While much of Web radio is programmed to a national audience, Atkins wants to maintain the local connection WAMO had with the community. "These stations are definitely local stations. I'm starting local, and we're going to stay local."

Blaze sounds very much like the old WAMO-FM, both musically and in the way it's packaged.

Both online stations offer the elements of a locally owned radio station. There's local and community news and information from the Pittsburgh Urban Media Web site (www.pittsburghurbanmedia.com), weather, urban and hip-hop top hit playlists and Steelers news from the team's Web site. Blaze also links to the music review site Hiphop.com.

Atkins programs the music mix and creates the streams at home. The channels are hosted by Live 365, one of the leading online radio sites.

He believes that Internet radio is viable, especially with the growing use of wireless mobile devices and as cars start to become equipped with wireless receivers.

Like other online media, getting advertising revenue is the first hurdle to clear. "It's a struggle right now," Atkins says. "I'm not looking at putting money in my pocket right now. I'm putting money in the station to sustain it so Pittsburgh will have a voice that they can have confidence in."

Others are also trying to fill that void. Veteran broadcaster Eddie Edwards recently announced plans to buy WPYT-AM (660) and turn it into a talk and news format aimed at minority listeners. He also hopes to purchase an FM signal and bring the urban format back to the airwaves.

And WLTJ-FM (92.9) recently launched an evening R&B music program hosted by former WAMO air personality Tracey Lee.

Urban and R&B listeners here can once again find the music they want to hear online, as programmers stake out territory beyond the radio dial.

TV columnist Rob Owen's Tuned In+ is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.