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Urban 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.

Formerly

Radio One, Inc. (1980–2017)

1980

Cathy Hughes
(Chairman)
Alfred C. Liggins III
(President & CEO)

Decrease US$ 441.4 million (2014)

Increase US$ 77.2 million (2014)

Increase US$ -42.7 million (2014)

Decrease US$ 1.4 billion (2014)

Decrease US$ 18.9 million (2014)

1,011 (2015)

Interactive One
Reach Media
TV One Networks
TV One
Cleo TV

It is the largest African-American-owned broadcasting company in the United States, currently operating over 50 radio stations. The company also operates digital arm Interactive One, cable networks TV One[6] & Cleo TV, and is a majority-owner of syndicator Reach Media.


As of 2014, it was the ninth-highest-earning African-American-owned business in the United States.[7]

History[edit]

Early years[edit]

Radio One in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, a then-recently divorced single mother, with the purchase of the Washington, D.C. radio station WOL-AM for $995,000.[8][9][10] She changed the station's programming format from all-music to one that examined politics and culture from an African American perspective.[8] Hughes purchased her second station, WMMJ in Washington, seven years later, which began to turn a profit once she converted it into a rhythm and blues station.[9] 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.[9]


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.[9][11][12] In 1995, Radio One purchased WKYS-FM in Washington, D.C., for $34 million, and also entered the Atlanta market by purchasing WHAT-FM for $4.5 million.[13] In 1997, the company entered the Philadelphia market with its purchase of WPHI-FM for $20 million. The company added numerous stations in the late 1990s, including stations in Atlanta, St. Louis, Boston, Cleveland, Richmond, San Francisco, Detroit and Boston.[14][13][15]


In 1996, Radio One moved its corporate offices from Washington, D.C., to Lanham, Maryland.[13] The company is now based in Silver Spring, Maryland.[8][16] Under the guidance of recently appointed CEO Liggins, Radio One went public on May 6, 1999, while continuing to be controlled by the family.[14][17] The company's initial public offering was for 6.5 million shares at $24 per share.[12] This made Hughes the first African American woman to chair a public company.[8][11] As of 2010, Hughes and Liggins control 90% of Radio One's voting stock.[18]


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.[9][13][19] In total, the company added 21 radio stations in 2000.[13]

Further expansion[edit]

In 2001, Radio One expanded into 22 markets, with 18 million listeners, making it the nation's largest urban-market radio broadcasting company.[17] In February, 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.[20] In June 2001, Radio One purchased Georgia radio station WPEZ-FM from US Broadcasting for $55 million.[21]


In January 2004, Radio One launched the TV One cable network in a joint venture with Comcast.[8]


In February, Radio One purchased country station WSNJ 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.[22] The company would also purchase KRTS-FM in Houston for approximately $72.5 million in cash, giving it three stations in the Houston market.[23]


In November 2004, Radio One acquired a 53% stake in Reach Media, a Texas-based media company owned by radio host Tom Joyner, for $56.1 million in cash and stock.[24]

Assets[edit]

Stations[edit]

As of May 2023, Urban One's Radio One division operates 58 radio stations in 13 markets.[40]

Inner City Broadcasting Corporation

Cathy Hughes

Tom Joyner

List of U.S. states by African-American population

List of U.S. metropolitan areas with large African-American populations

List of U.S. communities with African American majority populations

List of African American neighborhoods

List of African-American newspapers and media outlets

Radio One official website

TV One official website

Reach Media official website

Interactive One official website