numerous radio stations with the name radio one see radio 1 . radio one inc. type public traded as nasdaq roiak industry media founded 1980 founder cathy hughes headquarters 1010 wayne avenue floor 14 silver spring md 20910 area served united states key people cathy hughes chairperson alfred c. liggins iii president & ceo revenue us 441.4 million 2014 1 operating income us 77.2 million 2014 1 net income us 42.7 million 2014 1 total assets us 1.4 billion 2014 2 total equity us 18.9 million 2014 2 number of employees 1 011 2015 3 divisions reach media tv one interactive one newsone website radio one.com radio one inc. is an american media company with holdings in radio cable television and digital media . radio one owns and operates 55 radio stations in 16 us markets . it is the largest african american owned broadcasting company in the us and the largest radio broadcaster targeting african american and urban listeners . 4 the company s station offerings are primarily hip hop rap r & b talk radio and news . radio one owns reach media the largest radio network targeting african american and urban listeners ; 5 a majority stake in tv one a cable television network targeting african american women ; and interactive one a digital publisher with brands and websites targeting urban users . 6 contents 1 history 2 launches 2.1 tv one 2.2 interactive one 3 acquisitions 3.1 radio stations 3.2 reach media 3.3 print 3.4 internet 4 divestures 5 personalities 6 stations 7 milestones 8 see also 9 references 10 external links history edit radio one was founded in 1980 by cathy hughes a then recently divorced single mother with the purchase of the washington dc radio station wol am for 995 000 . 7 8 9 she changed the station s programming format from all music to one that examined politics and culture from an african american perspective . 7 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 . 8 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 . 8 after joining the company in 1985 and managing its day to day operations since 1993 hughes son alfred c. liggins iii took over as ceo in 1997 with hughes becoming the board s chairperson . 8 10 11 under the guidance of recently appointed ceo liggins radio one went public on may 6 1999 while continuing to be controlled by the family . 12 13 the company s initial public offering was for 6.5 million shares at 24 per share . 11 this made hughes the first african american woman to chair a public company . 7 10 as of 2010 hughes and liggins control 90 % of radio one s voting stock . 14 in 2001 radio one expanded into 22 markets with 18 million listeners making it the nation s largest urban market radio broadcasting company . 13 radio one reached a peak of owning 70 stations in 22 markets in 2007 . 15 it is the largest african american owned and operated broadcast company in the us . 10 16 in 1996 radio one moved its corporate offices from washington dc to lanham maryland . 17 the company is now based in silver spring maryland . 7 launches edit tv one edit in january 2003 radio one and comcast announced an agreement to a joint venture to create a television network aimed at african americans ages 25 54 . 18 on january 19 2004 on martin luther king jr. s birthday radio one launched the television station tv one airing african american entertainment lifestyle and scripted shows in 2.2 million households . 4 14 19 liggins serves as chairman of tv one . 14 brad siegel was hired as president of tv one in late 2014 . 20 by the end of 2007 tv one was in 42.2 million homes . 4 in 2011 comcast and nbc merged with all comcast cable holdings subsequently managed by nbc . also in 2011 radio one s ownership stake in tv one grew from 36.8 % to 50.8 % . 21 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 . 22 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 . 23 interactive one edit in 2008 radio one launched interactive one an online portfolio of digital brands to complement their other media companies . interactive one operates numerous digital brands including news one the urban daily and hello beautiful . 24 25 in 2011 interactive one entered into an editorial and sales partnership with nbc news aligning news one with nbc s the grio . 26 as of 2013 interactive one also has a partnership with global grind a website founded by russell simmons and focused on pop culture and music content for african american and hispanic audiences . 27 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 and facebook . 28 29 as of 2011 interactive was the largest network of owned and operated sites aimed at an african american audience . 30 as of 2014 interactive one reaches over 18 million unique monthly users on its platform through over 80 national and local brands . 31 acquisitions edit radio stations edit in 1995 radio one purchased wkys fm in washington dc for 34 million and also entered the atlanta market by purchasing what fm for 4.5 million . 17 in 1997 the company entered the philadelphia market with its purchased of wphi fm 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 . 12 17 32 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 . 8 17 33 in total the company added 21 radio stations in 2000 . 17 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 . 34 in june 2001 radio one purchased georgia radio station wpez fm from us broadcasting for 55 million . 35 in 2004 radio one purchased krts fm in houston for approximately 72.5 million in cash giving it three stations in the houston market . 36 also in 2004 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 . 37 in 2011 radio one changed stations in houston cincinnati and columbus ohio from african american to general interest formats due to low ratings . 38 reach media edit 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 . 39 40 the deal also gave radio one ownership rights to joyner s syndicated tom joyner morning show which was at the time airing on 115 stations to 8 million listeners ; and news website blackamericaweb.com which had at the time approximately 800 000 members giving radio one its first strong internet presence . 40 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 to be broadcast on up to 10 of radio one s stations as well as stations owned by other companies . 12 in december 2012 under a new deal radio one increased its ownership stake in reach media to 80 % . 41 that same month radio one announced that the following year it would merge its syndication one urban programming lineup with reach media . 42 43 print edit in january 2007 radio one purchased giant magazine for 275 000 . 44 45 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 . 46 internet edit in 2008 radio one 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 . 47 divestures edit from 2006 through the beginning of 2008 radio one sold nearly 150 million in assets primarily underperforming radio stations . 45 in 2007 radio one sold 10 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 . 48 personalities edit radio one operates a variety of syndicated shows with hosts including tom joyner russ parr yolanda adams rickey smiley bishop t.d. jakes dl hughley and the reverend al sharpton . 49 stations edit as of october 2015 radio one operates 53 radio stations in 16 markets . 50 market station and frequency owned since format notes atlanta wamj 107.5 fm 1998 urban adult contemporary whta 107.9 fm 2001 mainstream urban wpze 102.5 fm 2004 urban gospel wumj 97.5 fm 1995 classic hip hop simulcast of w275bk baltimore werq fm 92.3 fm 1993 mainstream urban wolb 1010 am news talk wwin 1400 am urban gospel wwin fm 95.9 fm 1992 urban adult contemporary boston wild 1090 am 2001 news talk charlotte wosf 105.3 fm 2012 urban oldies wqnc 92.7 fm urban contemporary wpzs 100.9 fm 2004 urban gospel cincinnati wosl 100.3 fm 2006 urban oldies wdbz 1230 am 2007 talk urban gospel wizf 101.1 fm urban contemporary cleveland wenz 107.9 fm 1999 mainstream urban were 1490 am 2000 news talk wjmo 1300 am 1999 urban gospel wzak 93.1 fm 2000 urban adult contemporary columbus ohio wckx 107.5 fm mainstream urban wjyd 107.1 fm november 12 2015 urban gospel licensed to circleville ohio wbmo 106.3 fm late 1990s classic hip hop wxmg 95.5 fm november 12 2015 urban adult contemporary licensed to lancaster ohio dallas fort worth kbfb 97.9 fm 2000 rhythmic contemporary ksoc 94.5 fm 2002 classic hip hop detroit wchb 1200 am 1998 news talk has lp simulcast on w260cb 99.9 fm wdmk 105.9 fm 1998 urban adult contemporary wpzr 102.7 fm 1999 urban gospel wgpr 107.5 fm 2011 mainstream urban under lma with international free and accepted modern masons houston kbxx 97.9 fm 2000 rhythmic contemporary kmjq 102.1 fm 2000 urban adult contemporary operates an urban gospel format on kmjq hd2 kroi 92.1 fm 2004 classic hip hop indianapolis whhh 96.3 fm rhythmic contemporary wnow fm 100.9 fm chr top 40 wtlc 1310 am 2001 urban gospel wtlc fm 106.7 fm 2001 urban adult contemporary philadelphia wphi fm 107.9 fm