Because the saying goes, Rome wasn’t constructed in a single day, and the identical holds resoundingly true for City One, Inc.
Nevertheless it’s taken significantly much less time for Founder & Chairperson Cathy Hughes to construct what first began as Radio One into the formidable multimedia empire that it has grow to be in the present day than it did for the Holy Roman Empire to return to fruition.
Friday marks the forty fifth anniversary of when Hughes based Radio One, a challenge of her personal passions that she was one of many high Black-owned companies in the US.
From its humble beginnings as a broadcast radio-only enterprise mannequin to not solely proudly owning dozens and dozens of radio stations across the nation but additionally making triumphant expansions into tv and the web, Radio One’s final transformation into City One is nothing in need of outstanding. Not solely from a enterprise standpoint but additionally from one that’s cultural, because the umbrella firm’s profitable media retailers attain a shocking variety of Black households — greater than 80% of Black households, to make certain.
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From TV One to Radio One to Attain Media to One Resolution to iOne Digital — the latter of which is the corporate’s digital arm that serves as house to NewsOne and different well-liked web sites with widespread title recognition akin to Bossip, MadameNoire and World Grind — City One’s evolution from its humble beginnings in 1980 is an inimitable accomplishment in Black-owned media, to not point out Black enterprise possession basically.
“With nice pleasure, we lengthen our heartfelt gratitude to Cathy Hughes, our visionary Founder and Chairperson,” City One has beforehand mentioned about its matriarch. “She fearlessly pursued her dream, giving rise to the extraordinary firm City One. This outstanding assortment of manufacturers — Radio One, TV One, Attain Media, iOne Digital, One Resolution, and One VIP stands as a beacon that not solely informs but additionally evokes and educates our cherished viewers of listeners, viewers, and content material fanatics.”
Founding father of City One, Cathy Hughes, attends the 2018 City One Honors at The Anthem on December 9, 2018, in Washington, D.C. | Supply: Brian Stukes / Getty
1980 was the yr that Hughes used her personal cash to purchase Washington, D.C.-based WOL — an AM radio station — for $900,000, with the assistance of a Black-owned enterprise capital fund and different native traders. Hughes famously appealed to quite a few monetary establishments till lastly being granted a mortgage on her thirty third try.
The remainder is sort of actually historical past — Black historical past, to be precise.
In that interval since Radio One first purchased WOL, the corporate and its management — highlighted by Hughes and CEO Alfred C. Liggins III, her son — have amassed a formidable array of accolades for his or her important contributions to pushing the tradition ahead.
In consequence, Hughes was inducted into the Black Music and Leisure Stroll of Fame partially for utilizing the platforms she’s labored on and created to spotlight numerous views and generate content material wherein individuals throughout the diaspora may see themselves mirrored.
Cathy Hughes Within the Blackburn Heart Ballroom on the campus of Howard College in Washington, D.C., on October 25, 2016. | Supply: NurPhoto / Getty
In 1971, Hughes relocated to Washington, D.C., to function a lecturer at Howard College’s College of Communications. Whereas working because the Basic Gross sales Supervisor at Howard College Radio, she exponentially elevated the media platform’s income. She later went on to grow to be the primary lady to function Vice President and Basic Supervisor of a station in Washington, D.C. That led to purchasing WOL, the place the media maven tapped into the facility of innovation to introduce completely different radio codecs that resonated with listeners.
In doing so, Hughes additionally grew to become the primary Black lady to chair a publicly held company in 1999 and have become the primary lady to personal a radio station ranked primary in a serious market. In 2004, Hughes expanded her firm into the realm of tv with TV One and launched Interactive One, now often called iOne Digital, three years later.
As she’s risen to prominence within the media business, she’s lifted others by guaranteeing numerous creatives have a seat on the desk. Her efforts have impressed generations of creators to make use of their work as an avenue for change.
“My entire objective in life has been to get pertinent data to my group that they’ll use to uplift and enhance the standard of their lives and their way of life,” Hughes has mentioned.
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