Urban One

In January 2003, Radio One and Comcast announced an agreement to a joint venture to create a television network aimed at African Americans aged 25 to 54.[20] 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.[6][15][21] Liggins serves as chairman of TV One.[15] Brad Siegel was hired as president of TV One in late 2014.[22]

By the end of 2007, TV One was in 42.2 million homes.[6] 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%.[23] 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.[24]

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.[25]

In 2008, Radio One launched Interactive One, 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.[26][27] In 2011, Interactive One entered into an editorial and sales partnership with NBC News, aligning NewsOne with NBC's The Grio.[28] 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.[29] 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.[30][31] NewsOne curates and retells news from other sources for an African-American audience.[32]

As of 2011, Interactive was the largest network of owned and operated sites aimed at an African-American audience.[33] As of 2014, Interactive One reaches over 18 million unique monthly users on its platform through over 80 national and local brands.[34]

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.[18] In 1997, the company entered the Philadelphia market with its purchase 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.[13][18][35]

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][18][36] In total, the company added 21 radio stations in 2000.[18]

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.[37] In June 2001, Radio One purchased Georgia radio station WPEZ-FM from US Broadcasting for $55 million.[38]

In 2004, Radio One purchased KRTS-FM in Houston for approximately $72.5 million in cash, giving it three stations in the Houston market.[39] 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.[40]

In 2011, Radio One changed stations in Houston, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, from African American to general interest formats, due to low ratings.[41] In May 2018, they purchased Washington, D.C. sports station "The Team 980" WTEM from Washington Football Team owner Dan Snyder's Red Zebra Broadcasting.[42]

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.[43][44] 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.[44]

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.[13] In December 2012, under a new deal, Radio One increased its ownership stake in Reach Media to 80%.[45] That same month, Radio One announced that the following year, it would merge its Syndication One urban programming lineup with Reach Media.[46][47]

In January 2007, Radio One purchased GIANT magazine for $275,000.[48][49] 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.[50]

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.[51]