Radio One | Principles & Practices

by Charles Gilbert

Website: http://www.radio-one.com

1010 Wayne Ave.

Silver Spring, MD 20910

A Brief Overview [1] [2]:

Radio One is a multi-media company whose content is mainly targeted at the African American and urban based consumer markets. Their primary business focus lies in their radio broadcasting franchise, which owns 55 broadcast stations operating out of 15 major urban markets throughout the United States. However, in more recent years they have expanded outside radio into the television industry with TV One, into online social media platforms with Interactive One, and strengthened their African American-based, urban brand through companies like Reach Media. Radio One claims to successfully reach 82% of the African American demographic with this multimedia approach.

History [1]:

Radio One (originally known as Almic Broadcasting) was founded in 1979 by Catherine and Dewey Hughes. In 1980, they purchased their first AM radio station, WOL 1450, and strategically re-formatted the then-R&B station into the first African American centric 24-hour talk radio station. In 1987, they acquired their first FM station, WMMJ, and cemented Radio One’s reputation as an essential African American broadcast media outlet. 2004 marked the widening of Radio One’s business spectrum through the establishment of their first television channel, TV One. Later years saw the development of Interactive One, a digital, online platform meant to engage African American and Latino audiences through social media.

-Alfred C. Liggins III [5]

-Catherine L. Hughes [4]

Key Executives [3]:

Catherine L. Hughes– Founder, Chairperson of the Board and Secretary

Alfred C. Liggins III– Chief Executive Officer, President and Treasurer

Peter D. Thompson-Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Linda J. Vilardo– Vice President. Assistant Secretary and Chief Administrative Officer

Company Divisions [1]:

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Radio One’s broadcast stations operate out of 15 major urban centers throughout the US, including: Atlanta, Baltimore, Washington DC, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham, Richmond, and St. Louis. Station formats range from R&B to Gospel, Inspirational Praise to Talk Radio, and Oldies to Adult Contemporary. [7]

Starting in the early 2000s, along with the founding of the cable television network TV One in 2004, Radio One began investing in media platforms outside of the radio industry.

[8]

The TV One cable network currently serves a combination of reality television, original and licensed sitcoms, feature length films, and other entertainment programming appealing to the African American perspective to over 57 million households. TV One’s most popular program is Unsung, a music biography series chronicling the lesser known stories of famous R&B and soul musicians. Other popular shows include R&B Divas, The Rickey Smiley Show and TV One’s first scripted series Love That Girl: [9]

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In 2008, in order to attract the increasing population of online users, Radio One launched Interactive One, the first major online platform targeted specifically at the African American and urban communities. Interactive One is a multi-faceted, multi-platform outlet for social interaction, information, news, and entertainment content for the Black community. Interactive One also has a heavy focus on brand development, which manifests in their niche news, beauty, and lifestyle websites including: NewsOne, HelloBeautiful and TheUrbanDaily. [12]

Also under the Interactive One company operates Community Connect, a social networking company, whose minority-aimed, social community sites include BlackPlanet, MiGente and Asian Avenue. All of these attempt to provide a much sought-after online platform for urban markets to connect through, while creating a more accessible, cultivated target for advertisers attempting to effectively reach the urban and African American markets. [1]

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Finally, Radio One also owns and operates Reach Media, the home of The Tom Joyner Morning Show, the single largest urban-targeted radio show in the US. The syndicated show draws an audience of over 8 million listeners in more than 105 unique markets, statistically reaching about 1 in 4 African Americans nationwide. Reach Media has also aggregated a substantial online presence, with more than 1.5 million registered users on the Blackamericaweb.com website. [15]

Financials (For 2012) [16]:

Revenue: $424,573,000
[17]
Operating Income: $353,058,000
Total Assets: $1,460,770,000
Share Price [ROIAK]: $1.74

Notable Developments:

Television One division saw a 6.8% increase in revenues from 2011
Core radio revenues up 11%
Adjusted EBITDA for Radio Division increased by 33% from 2011

View Official Financial Reports

Recent News:

January 3rd, 2013- Television One announced a change for their First Quarter Primetime Programming Lineup. Find Our Missing, a docu-drama produced in association with the Black and Missing Foundation, Inc., featuring Law & Order actress S. Epatha Merkerson, shifted from Wednesday nights at 9 pm to Mondays at 9 pm. The docu-series Unsung premiere was moved to Wednesday the 23rd at 10 pm. The season premiere of Belle’s was shifted to Friday, February 1st at 10 pm. [18]

[19]

March 11th, 2013- Radio One signed an affiliation agreement with Telemundo which reformatted the Indianapolis television station WDNI into a Telemundo affiliate. The television channel now carries Telemundo’s complete line-up of Spanish-language programming, including sports, news, entertainment, all of which will fulfill the Hispanic demand for more Spanish-friendly entertainment options in the Indianapolis market. [20]
March 25th, 2013- TV One premiered a new docu-drama series titled Deceived. This new series explores through 7 episodes the true stories of the struggle and pain of victims who fall prey to villains posing as a doctor, a con-real estate agent, a sinister husband, a fake police officer, a smooth swindler, a tooling sports agent, and a woman who steals from her church. Deceived is produced by Juma Entertainment. [21]

Future Endeavors:

TV One’s hit series R&B Divas was renewed for a second season. The reality television series began production in early January, and will feature two new artists Angie Stone and LaTocha Scott, in addition to the original cast of Faith Evans, Nicci Gilbert-Daniels, Monifah Carter, Syleena Johnson and Keke Wyatt as they strive to produce a compilation album. The second season is set to premiere on May 1st, 2013.
Additionally, TV One plans to capitalize on the success of the original series with a spin-off series, R&B Divas: LA. It will chronicle the lives of five LA-based R&B artists Kelly Price,Chante Moore, Lil’ Mo, Claudette Ortiz, Michel’le and Dawn Robinson, as they work their way through their music careers. The spin-off series is slated to premiere in Q3 2013. The Divas series are produced by ThinkFactory Media. [22]

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TV One also has renewed The Rickey Smiley Show, which gained the cable channel its highest network ratings to date with its premiere in Summer 2012. The comedy TV show is losely based on the life of comedian and syndicated radio personality Rickey Smiley, as he tries to balance his wild professional career and turbulent family life. In the vein of other notable African American comedians such as Eddie Murphy and Tyler Perry, one of Smiley’s comedic staples is the fact that he plays multiple characters such as “Mrs. Bernice Jenkins,” “Joe Willie” and “Beauford.” The 26-episode order will start production with in late April, and is slated to premiere in summer 2013. [24]