Urban One


Urban One, Inc. is an American media conglomerate based in Silver Spring, Maryland. Founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, the company primarily operates media properties targeting African Americans.
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 & 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.

History

Early years

Radio One was founded 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. 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 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. 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. 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.
In 1996, Radio One moved its corporate offices from Washington, D.C., to Lanham, Maryland. The company is now based in Silver Spring, Maryland. Under the guidance of recently appointed CEO Liggins, Radio One went public on May 6, 1999, while continuing to be controlled by the family. The company's initial public offering 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.
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.

Further expansion

In 2001, Radio One expanded into 22 markets, with 18 million listeners, making it the nation's largest urban-market radio broadcasting company. In February, Radio One purchased rival company Blue Chip Broadcasting for approximately $135 million. 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 January 2004, Radio One launched the TV One cable network in a joint venture with Comcast.
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. The company would also purchase KRTS-FM in Houston for approximately $72.5 million in cash, giving it three stations in the Houston market.
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.
From 2006 through the beginning of 2008, Radio One sold nearly $150 million in assets, primarily underperforming radio stations.
Radio One would reach a peak of owning over 70 stations in 22 markets by 2007, becoming the largest African-American-owned-and-operated broadcast company in the US. In January of that year, Radio One purchased GIANT magazine for $275,000.
However, that same year, Radio One would sell ten stations to Main Line Broadcasting 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.
In 2008, Radio One launched its Interactive One subsidiary. The company also acquired social networking firm Community Connect, the parent company of BlackPlanet, 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.
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.
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. sports station "The Team 980" WTEM from Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder's Red Zebra Broadcasting.

Rebranding as Urban One

On May 8, 2017, Radio One was renamed Urban One. Radio One would be retained as the company's secondary name, and as a name for its radio division.
On January 19, 2019, Urban One launched Cleo TV, a cable channel aimed at millennial and Generation X African American women.
In April 2023, it was announced that Urban One would acquire the Houston radio cluster of Cox Media Group. This, at the time of the sale, would have resulted in Urban One being over FCC ownership limits, forcing the divestitures of 2 stations in the combined cluster; the stations to be sold were later determined by the two companies to be KROI and Cox's KTHT, which would be placed into the temporary Sugarland Station Trust divestiture trust, overseen by Scott Knoblauch. It was reported that Urban was already in the process of negotiations for KROI with a "minority-owned" broadcaster marking their entry into the market; on April 20, it was announced said broadcaster was Spanish Broadcasting System, who would ultimately buy the station for $7.5 million.

Assets

Stations

As of May 2023, Urban One's Radio One division operates 58 radio stations in 13 markets.
MarketStation and FrequencyOwned sinceFormatNotes
AtlantaWAMJ 107.5 FM1998Urban adult contemporaryLicensed to Roswell, Georgia
AtlantaWHTA 107.9 FM2001Urban contemporaryLicensed to Hampton, Georgia
AtlantaWPZE 102.5 FM2004Urban gospelLicensed to Mableton, Georgia
AtlantaWUMJ 97.5 FM1995Urban adult contemporaryLicensed to Fayetteville, Georgia
BaltimoreWERQ-FM 92.3 FM1993Urban contemporary
BaltimoreWOLB 1010 AMUrban talk
BaltimoreWWIN 1400 AMUrban gospel
BaltimoreWWIN-FM 95.9 FM1992Urban adult contemporaryLicensed to Glen Burnie, Maryland
CharlotteWBT 1110 AM2020News/Talkboth WBT and WBT-FM are simulcasts
CharlotteWBT-FM 107.9 FM2020News/Talkboth WBT and WBT-FM are simulcasts
CharlotteWMXG 99.3 FM2020Hot adult contemporaryLicensed to Chester, South Carolina
CharlotteWPZS 610 AM2020Urban gospel
CharlotteWFNZ-FM 92.7 FM1998SportsLicensed to Harrisburg, North Carolina
CharlotteWOSF 105.3 FM2012Urban adult contemporaryLicensed to Gaffney, South Carolina
CharlotteWLNK-FM 100.9 FM2004Hot adult contemporaryLicensed to Indian Trail, North Carolina
CincinnatiWDBZ 1230 AM2007Urban talk/urban contemporary
CincinnatiWIZF 101.1 FM1998Mainstream urbanLicensed to Erlanger, Kentucky
CincinnatiWOSL 100.3 FM2006Urban oldies-leaning urban adult contemporaryLicensed to Norwood, Ohio
ClevelandWENZ 107.9 FM1999Mainstream urban
ClevelandWERE 1490 AM2000Talk radio
ClevelandWJMO 1300 AM1999Tropical musicStation is operated by La Mega Media.
ClevelandWZAK 93.1 FM2000Urban adult contemporary
Columbus, OhioWCKX 107.5 FMUrban contemporary
Columbus, OhioWJYD 106.3 FMlate 1990sUrban gospelLicensed to London, Ohio
Columbus, OhioWWLG 107.1 FM2015Regional Mexican/Spanish-languageLicensed to Circleville, Ohio
Columbus, OhioWXMG 95.5 FM2015Urban adult contemporaryLicensed to Lancaster, Ohio
Dallas/Fort WorthKBFB 97.9 FM2000Urban contemporary
Dallas/Fort WorthKZMJ 94.5 FM2002Urban adult contemporaryLicensed to Gainesville, Texas
HoustonKBXX 97.9 FM2000Rhythmic contemporary
HoustonKGLK 107.5 FM2023Classic rockboth KGLK and KHPT are simulcasts. KGLK is licensed to Lake Jackson, Texas; KHPT is licensed to Conroe, Texas
HoustonKHPT 106.9 FM2023Classic rockboth KGLK and KHPT are simulcasts. KGLK is licensed to Lake Jackson, Texas; KHPT is licensed to Conroe, Texas
HoustonKKBQ 92.9 FM2023CountryLicensed to Pasadena, Texas
HoustonKMJQ 102.1 FM2000Urban adult contemporaryOperates an urban gospel format on KMJQ-HD2
Indianapolis----
IndianapolisWHHH 100.9 FMUrban contemporaryLicensed to Speedway, Indiana
IndianapolisWIBC 93.1 FM2022News/Talk
IndianapolisWLHK 97.1 FM2022CountryLicensed to Shelbyville, Indiana
IndianapolisWTLC 1310 AM2001Urban gospel
IndianapolisWTLC-FM 106.7 FM2001Urban adult contemporaryLicensed to Greenwood, Indiana
IndianapolisWYXB 105.7 FM2022Adult contemporary
Philadelphia----
PhiladelphiaWPPZ-FM 107.9 FM2000Urban oldiesLicensed to Pennsauken, New Jersey
PhiladelphiaWRNB 100.3 FM2001Urban adult contemporaryLicensed to Media, Pennsylvania
Raleigh/DurhamWFXC 107.1 FM2000Urban adult contemporaryboth WFXC and WFXK are simulcasts. WFXC is licensed to Durham, North Carolina; WFXK is licensed to Bunn, North Carolina
Raleigh/DurhamWFXK 104.3 FM2000Urban adult contemporaryboth WFXC and WFXK are simulcasts. WFXC is licensed to Durham, North Carolina; WFXK is licensed to Bunn, North Carolina
Raleigh/DurhamWNNL 103.9 FM2000Urban gospelLicensed to Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina
Raleigh/DurhamWQOK 97.5 FM2000Urban contemporaryLicensed to Carrboro, North Carolina
Richmond, VirginiaWCDX 92.1 FMUrban contemporaryLicensed to Mechanicsville, Virginia
Richmond, VirginiaWKJM 99.3 FMUrban adult contemporaryboth WKJM and WKJS are simulcasts. WKJM is licensed to Petersburg, Virginia
Richmond, VirginiaWKJS 105.7 FMUrban adult contemporaryboth WKJM and WKJS are simulcasts. WKJM is licensed to Petersburg, Virginia
Richmond, VirginiaWPZZ 104.7 FM1999Urban gospelLicensed to Crewe, Virginia
Richmond, VirginiaWXGI 950 AM2017Classic hip hopboth WXGI and WTPS are simulcasts. WTPS is licensed to Petersburg, Virginia
Richmond, VirginiaWDCJ 1240 AM2017Classic hip hopboth WXGI and WTPS are simulcasts. WTPS is licensed to Petersburg, Virginia
Washington, D.C.WLNO 104.1 FM2017Spanish-language Contemporary Hit RadioLicensed to Waldorf, Maryland
Washington, D.C.WKYS 93.9 FMearly 1990s Urban contemporary
Washington, D.C.WMMJ 102.3 FM1987Urban oldies-leaning urban adult contemporaryLicensed to Bethesda, Maryland
Washington, D.C.WOL 1450 AM1980Urban talkFirst property of Radio One and its flagship
Washington, D.C.WPRS 92.7 FM2006Urban gospelLicensed to Prince Frederick, Maryland
Washington, D.C.WYCB '1340 AM'1996Urban Gospel