Thursday, March 28, 2024

Urban One: New Platform To Better Serve Black Community [EUR Exclusive]

Cathy Hughes and her son Alfred C. Liggins III
Cathy Hughes and her son Alfred C. Liggins III

*Radio One, Inc., the only African-American owned integrated multimedia company focused on Black culture, has changed its name to Urban One, Inc.

Reflecting its longstanding, rich history as the most trusted source to inform, entertain and inspire the African-American community, Urban One will continue to provide culturally relevant integrated content through its iconic brands and platforms – TV One, Radio One, Reach Media, iONE Digital and One Solution and newest editions – R1 Digital and One VIP.

The newest addition to iOne Digital and the Urban One family is called BHM Digital. BHM is an acronym for Bossip, Hip-Hop Wired, and Madame Noire. iOne Digital recently announced the acquisition of these brands from Moguldom.

EUR/Electronic Urban Report joined the media conference call on May 11, where executives explained the new corporate layout and addition of platforms, as well as what the new moniker represents for the largest multimedia company targeting black Americans.

“Well, for clarity, Radio One is a legacy name and one in which we have not departed from,” said Yashima White AziLove, the vice president of corporate communications for Urban One.

“Radio One refers to our vast local radio network of 57 broadcast stations in 15 markets. Our CEO chose the word “urban” in short due to its inherit ability to encompass all things black. We’re in the black people business, and we believe that black culture is sexy, it’s hot, it’s appealing, and we know that black culture impacts every area of American life.” she added.

“Our name Urban One says that we are fully owning this space, and we produce in every area of our business content that gives voice to black culture, thus our tagline, “representing black culture.”

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formally radio one

D’Angela Proctor, senior vice president of programming at TV One, said “We’re giving you more of what the audience is seeking. That means more live programming in the morning, three hours of live content, two hours being that of News One Now where we’re expanding the program from one hour to two. We’re also adding a third hour of live programming in a soon-to-be-announced partnership for a live program.”

Urban One will serve viewers “more of true crime and justice.”

“That’s two nights of original programming under the true crime and justice bucket,” said Proctor. “We’ve been hugely successful with the launch of Fatal Attraction. It is a juggernaut whenever it comes on. On any day part, it works for us.”

The network will also deliver more family reality programming.

“This year we premiered The Manns. The Manns will continue to join Rickey Smiley For Real as two of our real families, and real for us is more than just real. It is relatable, engaging, authentic, and loving, and in the case of Roland Martin because we have him on the air, it can be loud sometimes.”

Proctor also noted that the content on Urban One “is now platform agnostic.”

“It’s no longer satisfactory for a television network to only be in the linear television business,” she added.

formally radio one

“We put our content wherever the audience is, and going forward, we have a TV One app that we’ll be launching this year that will include live streaming, next day viewing of recent episodes. We’ll also allow our audience to access our library content. We’re excited about this three-fold content approach,” Proctor said.

“We’re looking forward to creating more videos that include behind the scenes, after shows, digital miniseries to go along with our television programs, and we hope to increase our footprint in the social media space as well.”

Jay Stevens, senior vice president of programming for Radio One and Reach Media, added, “Between Radio One and Reach Media, we have some of the biggest African-American talent in the country, and our talent are not only big brands, but many have a strong social media following as well, and in the case of Rickey Smiley and D. L. Hughley are also major TV stars, and in the case of Erica Campbell, major music stars.”

Continuing, “With our integration, we have the ability to use our talent across all our platforms and that same ability to sell across all platforms, so we become one-stop shopping for our clients and our listeners, engaging them with deep content.”

 

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