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Urban One, Inc. (formerly Radio One) is a
Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...
-based American
media conglomerate A media conglomerate, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as music, television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, theme parks, or the Internet. According to the ...
. Founded in 1980 by
Cathy Hughes Catherine Liggins Hughes (born Catherine Elizabeth Woods; April 22, 1947) is an American entrepreneur, radio and television personality and business executive. She has been listed as the second-richest Black woman in the United States. She found ...
, the company primarily operates media properties targeting
African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
. It is the largest African-American-owned broadcasting company in the United States, operating 55 radio stations and majority-owning the syndicator Reach Media, as well as its digital arm
Interactive One Urban One, Inc. (formerly Radio One) is a Silver Spring, Maryland-based American media conglomerate. Founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, the company primarily operates media properties targeting African Americans. It is the largest African-American-o ...
, and the cable network TV One.Felicia R. Lee
"A Network for Blacks With Sense of Mission"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', December 11, 2007.
As of 2014, it was the ninth-highest-earning African-American-owned business in the United States.


History

Urban One was founded as Radio One in 1980 by
Cathy Hughes Catherine Liggins Hughes (born Catherine Elizabeth Woods; April 22, 1947) is an American entrepreneur, radio and television personality and business executive. She has been listed as the second-richest Black woman in the United States. She found ...
, a then-recently divorced single mother, with the purchase of the
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
radio station
WOL-AM WOL (1450 AM) is an urban talk radio station in Washington, D.C. This is the flagship radio station of Radio One. It is co-owned with WKYS, WMMJ, WPRS, and WYCB and has studios located in Silver Spring, Maryland. The transmitter site is in ...
for $995,000.Steven Overly
"With purchase of radio station WOL in 1980, Cathy Hughes launched a media empire"
''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', August 11, 2014.
Clea Simon
"Mining an Untapped Market, Radio One Becomes a Force"
''The New York Times'', December 25, 2000.
She changed the station's programming format from all-music to one that examined politics and culture from an African American perspective. Hughes purchased her second station,
WMMJ WMMJ (102.3 FM), known on air as "Majic 102.3 & 92.7," is a jammin' oldies-leaning urban adult contemporary radio station owned by Radio One in the Washington, D.C. market. It is co-owned with WKYS, WOL, WPRS-FM, WTEM and WYCB and has studios ...
in Washington, seven years later, which began to turn a profit once she converted it into a rhythm and blues station. This established Radio One's early strategy of purchasing small, underperforming radio stations in urban markets and refocusing them to serve the demographics of their communities. After joining the company in 1985 and managing its day-to-day operations since 1993, Hughes's son, Alfred C. Liggins III, took over as CEO in 1997, with Hughes becoming the board's chairperson.Jessie Carney Smith, ed., ''Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events'',
Canton, MI Canton, officially the Charter Township of Canton, is a charter township of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township had a population of 98,659. Canton Township is Michigan's second most-populated townshi ...
: Visible Ink Press, 2003, pp. 63-64.
Robyn D. Clarke
"High-Frequency Profits"
''
Black Enterprise ''Black Enterprise'' is a black-owned multimedia company. Since the 1970s, its flagship product ''Black Enterprise'' magazine has covered African-American businesses with a readership of 3.7 million. The company was founded in 1970 by Earl G ...
'', June 2000.
Under the guidance of recently appointed CEO Liggins, Radio One went public on May 6, 1999, while continuing to be controlled by the family.Clea Simon
"WILD to air new African-American talk-radio network"
''
Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'', October 29, 2005.
"Radio One's Number One"
''Wharton Alumni Magazine'', Spring 2007.
The company's
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
was for 6.5 million shares at $24 per share. This made Hughes the first African American woman to chair a public company. As of 2010, Hughes and Liggins control 90% of Radio One's voting stock.Joe Flint
"Latest protestor of Comcast – NBC deal plays race card and has ex-FCC chairman on board"
''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', April 27, 2010.
In 2001, Radio One expanded into 22 markets, with 18 million listeners, making it the nation's largest urban-market radio broadcasting company. Radio One reached a peak of owning 70 stations in 22 markets in 2007. It is the largest African-American-owned-and-operated broadcast company in the US. In 1996, Radio One moved its corporate offices from Washington, D.C., to
Lanham, Maryland Lanham is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland. As of the 2020 United States Census it had a population of 11,282. The New Carrollton station (the terminus of the Washington Metro's Orange Li ...
."Radio One, Inc. History"
Funding Universe. Accessed October 26, 2014.
The company is now based in
Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...
. On May 8, 2018, Radio One was renamed Urban One.


Launches


TV One

In January 2003, Radio One and
Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
announced an agreement to a joint venture to create a television network aimed at African Americans aged 25 to 54. On January 19, 2004, on
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
's birthday, Radio One launched the television station TV One, airing African American entertainment, lifestyle and scripted shows, in 2.2 million households. Liggins serves as chairman of TV One. Brad Siegel was hired as president of TV One in late 2014. By the end of 2007, TV One was in 42.2 million homes. In 2011, Comcast and
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primari ...
merged, with all Comcast cable holdings subsequently managed by NBCUniversal. Also in 2011, Radio One's ownership stake in TV One grew from 36.8% to 50.8%. In 2012, TV One changed its programming, doubling the amount of original content, and changing the logo, while keeping its target audience. As of 2012, TV One reaches 57.4 million US homes. In March 2015, Radio One announced a deal to buy out Comcast's 47.9% share of TV One for $550 million. To assist with the deal, Radio One refinanced $119 million in outstanding debt, and will ultimately refinance debt totaling approximately $1 billion."Radio One Gears Up for TV One Deal"
Inside Radio, March 20, 2015.


Interactive One

In 2008, Radio One launched
Interactive One Urban One, Inc. (formerly Radio One) is a Silver Spring, Maryland-based American media conglomerate. Founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, the company primarily operates media properties targeting African Americans. It is the largest African-American-o ...
, also known as iOne, an online portfolio of digital brands, to complement their other media companies. Interactive One operates numerous digital brands, including NewsOne, The Urban Daily and Hello Beautiful.Nicholas Carlson
"Former AOL Entertainment Boss Mike Rich Goes To Interactive One"
''
Business Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
'', July 9, 2010.
In 2011, Interactive One entered into an editorial and sales partnership with
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
, aligning NewsOne with NBC's
The Grio TheGrio, styled as thegrio, is an American television network and website with news, opinion, entertainment and video content geared toward Black Americans. The website originally launched in June 2009 as a division of NBC News, it became a di ...
. As of 2013, Interactive One also has a partnership with Global Grind, a website founded by
Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. Simmons' ...
and focused on pop culture and music content for African American and Hispanic audiences. In 2015, Interactive One launched HB Studios, a video production studio focused on creating scripted and unscripted programming about women and the diversity of their experiences. The programming will be featured on the iOne Women Channel, HelloBeautiful.com,
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
and
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
. NewsOne curates and retells news from other sources for an African-American audience. As of 2011, Interactive was the largest network of owned and operated sites aimed at an African-American audience. As of 2014, Interactive One reaches over 18 million unique monthly users on its platform through over 80 national and local brands.


Acquisitions


Radio stations

In 1995, Radio One purchased
WKYS-FM WKYS (93.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. The station is owned by Urban One through licensee Urban One Licenses, LLC, and broadcasts an Urban Contemporary radio format. It is co-owned with WMMJ, WOL, WPRS-FM, an ...
in Washington, D.C., for $34 million, and also entered the Atlanta market by purchasing WHAT-FM for $4.5 million. In 1997, the company entered the Philadelphia market with its purchase of
WPHI-FM WPHI-FM (103.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, and serving the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc., simulcasting an all-news radio format with co-owned KYW 1060 AM. The ...
for $20 million. The company added numerous stations in the second half of the 1990s, including stations in Atlanta, St. Louis, Boston, Cleveland, Richmond, San Francisco, Detroit and Boston. In 2000, Radio One purchased 12 stations for approximately $1.3 billion from Clear Channel, bringing Radio One into Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston and Miami, along with stations in Cleveland and Greenville, South Carolina. Soon after, Radio One added two more Dallas stations. In total, the company added 21 radio stations in 2000. In February 2001, Radio One purchased rival company Blue Chip Broadcasting for approximately $135 million ($45 million cash with the remainder in stock). The purchase included 15 radio stations owned and operated by Cincinnati-based Blue Chip in Ohio, Minnesota and Kentucky. Earlier that month, Radio One had also purchased another Dallas radio station for $52.5 million. In June 2001, Radio One purchased Georgia radio station WPEZ-FM from US Broadcasting for $55 million. In 2004, Radio One purchased KRTS-FM in Houston for approximately $72.5 million in cash, giving it three stations in the Houston market. Also in 2004, Radio One purchased country station
WSNJ WSNJ (1240 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Bridgeton, New Jersey. It is owned by SNJ Today, LLC, and it airs a full-service adult contemporary radio format, featuring hits from the 1980s, 90s and early 2000s. WSNJ is power ...
in Bridgeton, New Jersey, for $35 million. It had been on the air since 1937 and family-owned by the Ed and Katherine Bold family for over 50 years. In 2011, Radio One changed stations in Houston, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, from African American to general interest formats, due to low ratings. In May 2018, they purchased
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
sports station "The Team 980"
WTEM WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship st ...
from
Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...
owner Dan Snyder's Red Zebra Broadcasting.


Reach Media

In November 2004, Radio One acquired a 53% stake in Reach Media, a Texas-based media company owned by radio host
Tom Joyner Thomas Joyner (born November 23, 1949) is an American retired radio host, former host of the nationally syndicated '' The Tom Joyner Morning Show'', and also founder of Reach Media Inc., the Tom Joyner Foundation, and BlackAmericaWeb.com. Early ...
, for $56.1 million in cash and stock."Radio One to boost Joyner"
''Los Angeles Times'', November 23, 2004.
Andrea K. Walker
"Radio One to acquire Joyner company"
''
Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...
'', November 23, 2004.
The deal also gave Radio One ownership rights to Joyner's syndicated ''
Tom Joyner Morning Show The ''Tom Joyner Morning Show'' is an American nationally syndicated radio program, hosted by veteran broadcaster Tom Joyner. The program, which aired on Urban contemporary- and Urban adult contemporary-formatted stations across the United States, ...
'', which was at the time airing on 115 stations to 8 million listeners; and news websit
BlackAmericaWeb.com
which had at the time approximately 800,000 members, giving Radio One its first strong Internet presence. In 2005, Radio One teamed up with Reach Media to launch a new African-American-centered talk radio network, with programming hosted by the Reverend
Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic ...
, to be broadcast on up to 10 of Radio One's stations, as well as stations owned by other companies. In December 2012, under a new deal, Radio One increased its ownership stake in Reach Media to 80%. That same month, Radio One announced that the following year, it would merge its Syndication One urban programming lineup with Reach Media.


Print

In January 2007, Radio One purchased ''
GIANT In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
'' magazine for $275,000.Anita Huslin
"Radio One's Losses Grow, Stock Declines"
''The Washington Post'', February 22, 2008.
In December 2009, the company suspended publication of the print version of the bi-monthly magazine, relaunching it online as GIANTLife.com. The website is a part of the Interactive One network.


Internet

In 2008, Radio One acquired social networking firm Community Connect, the parent company of
BlackPlanet BlackPlanet is an African-American social networking service for matchmaking and job postings; it also has forums for discussion on political and social issues. BlackPlanet was launched on September 1, 2001 by Omar Wasow, an Internet analyst, wh ...
, AsianAvenue and MiGente, for $38 million. BlackPlanet at the time had 20 million members and was the nation's fourth-most visited social networking site.Dan Frommer
"BlackPlanet Parent Community Connect Sells To Radio One For $38 Million"
''Business Insider'', April 11, 2008.


Divestures

From 2006 through the beginning of 2008, Radio One sold nearly $150 million in assets, primarily underperforming radio stations. In 2007, Radio One sold ten stations to
Main Line Broadcasting Main Line Broadcasting was an American media company, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its peak, Main Line Broadcasting owned 19 radio stations in four markets in the United States. The company was founded by Dan Savadove, and was most rece ...
for approximately $76 million in cash. The stations sold were in Radio One's markets with the smallest African American populations. The sale decreased the number of Radio One's stations from 71 to 61.


Personalities

Radio One operates a variety of syndicated shows, with hosts including
Rickey Smiley Broderick Dornell Smiley (born August 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, television host, actor, and radio personality, known for his prank phone calls. The calls feature Smiley disguising his voice and carrying on a conversation with t ...
,
Russ Parr Russ Parr (born 1959 in California) is an American radio DJ, film director, writer, actor and television personality known for such television shows as '' Rock 'N' America''. Career Parr began as a Production Services Director at ABC TV. Russ wa ...
,
Erica Campbell Erica Monique Campbell (''née'', Atkins; born April 29, 1972) is an American urban contemporary gospel, Christian R&B and contemporary R&B singer and songwriter. She started her music career in 1998 with her younger sister, Tina Campbell, as pa ...
, Bishop
T. D. Jakes Thomas Dexter Jakes (born June 9, 1957), known as T. D. Jakes, is an American bishop, author and filmmaker. He is the bishop of The Potter's House, a non-denominational American megachurch. Jakes's church services and Evangelistic sermons are ...
,
D. L. Hughley Darryl Lynn Hughley (; born March 6, 1963) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Hughley is best known as the original host of BET's ''ComicView'' from 1992 to 1993, the eponymous character on the ABC/ UPN sitcom ''The Hughleys'', and as ...
and the Reverend
Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic ...
.


Stations

As of May 2018, Urban One's Radio One division operates 56 radio stations in 16 markets.Radio One
radio-one.com. Accessed October 26, 2014.


Milestones


See also

*
Inner City Broadcasting Corporation The Inner City Broadcasting Corporation ("ICBC") was an American media company based in New York City. It was one of the first broadcasting companies wholly owned by African-Americans. History Inner City was founded in 1970 by a group of prominen ...
*
TV One (U.S. TV network) TV One is an American basic cable television channel owned by Urban One, having acquired Comcast's stake in the TV channel in 2015. Headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, TV One's programming targets African American adults with a broad mixt ...
*
Cathy Hughes Catherine Liggins Hughes (born Catherine Elizabeth Woods; April 22, 1947) is an American entrepreneur, radio and television personality and business executive. She has been listed as the second-richest Black woman in the United States. She found ...
*
Tom Joyner Thomas Joyner (born November 23, 1949) is an American retired radio host, former host of the nationally syndicated '' The Tom Joyner Morning Show'', and also founder of Reach Media Inc., the Tom Joyner Foundation, and BlackAmericaWeb.com. Early ...
* List of U.S. states by African-American population *
List of U.S. metropolitan areas with large African-American populations By 2020 Census population See also * African American neighborhoods * List of African American neighborhoods * List of U.S. cities with large African-American populations * List of U.S. states by African-American population References ...
*
List of U.S. communities with African American majority populations The following is a list of United States cities, towns and unincorporated areas (Census Designated Places) in which a majority (over 50%) of the population is African American or Black, according to data from the 2000 Census. This list does n ...
*
List of African American neighborhoods The list contains the names of cities, districts, and neighborhoods in the U.S. that are predominantly African American or that are strongly associated with African-American culture— either currently or historically. Included are areas th ...
*
List of African-American newspapers and media outlets This is a list of African-American newspapers and media outlets. For more detail on a given newspaper, see its entry in the List of African-American newspapers for its state, which is linked at See also: By state, below. Print Online * Atl ...


References


External links


Radio One official websiteTV One official websiteReach Media official websiteInteractive One official website
{{Radio One 1999 initial public offerings American companies established in 1980 1980 establishments in Maryland Companies based in Silver Spring, Maryland Companies listed on the Nasdaq Mass media companies established in 1980 Radio broadcasting companies of the United States Black-owned companies of the United States