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Radio One
acquires social media network Community Connect for $38 million
(April 11,
2008) Radio One, Inc. announced that it has acquired the social networking
company, Community Connect Inc. for a transaction price of approximately
38 million dollars.
Community Connect Inc. (CCI), which owns and operates a number of
social-networking brands under its umbrella including BlackPlanet.com,
MiGente.com, and AsianAve.com, is the leading online niche
social-networking company. With over 23 million members, CCI is a
ComScore Top 50 Social Networking web publisher for building online
communities targeting U.S. ethnic groups. This success drove
BlackPlanet.com to a No.4 ranking in Hitwise's year-end 2007 Top US Social
Networking Sites Report, behind MySpace, Facebook and Bebo.
"CCI is an innovator and pioneer in social networking," said Alfred
Liggins, III, Radio One’s CEO and president. "We believe that they are a
great complement to our existing radio, TV, and online properties."
This acquisition is another example of Radio One Inc.’s continued strategy
of diversification outside of the radio broadcasting space in order to
deliver a more holistic approach to targeting African-Americans. Radio
One purchased GIANT, a magazine targeting urban consumers in December 2006
and has an interest in the African-American targeted cable network TV ONE.
This acquisition gives Radio One a strong foothold in the ever growing
social networking and multicultural online space.
"We will be the clear number one in the African-American online space,"
said Mr. Liggins.
Analyst eMarketer predicts that by 2011, $4.1 billion will be spent
worldwide for social network advertising, a dramatic increase from the
$480 million spent in 2006. In 2008 alone, global ad spend in the social
networking arena is expected to increase 75% year over year, amounting to
$2.1 billion.
"This is a great opportunity to take CCI to the next level," said Ben Sun,
president, CEO, and founder of CCI. "Radio One reaches over 20 million
people every week in radio, TV, print and online, giving us the
opportunity to capitalize on cross-platform opportunities for our brands
that will truly benefit our members and advertisers."
"CCI's management team recognizes that the Internet is less about single
destinations and more about connecting people around touchpoints of
culture and lifestyles. They have built incredible loyalty among their
members," said Tom Newman, president of Radio One's Interactive division.
Upon closing the transaction, current president and founder Ben Sun will
continue to run CCI and will report to Tom Newman. Community Connect Inc.
has approximately 100 employees and is headquartered in New York City.
Rothschild, Inc. acted as financial advisor to Radio One in connection
with the transaction. Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. acted as financial advisor
to Community Connect Inc. in connection with the transaction.
Radio One, Inc. (www.radio-one.com)
is one of the nation's largest radio broadcasting companies and the
largest radio broadcasting company that primarily targets African-American
and urban listeners. Pro forma for recently announced transactions, Radio
One owns and/or operates 53 radio stations located in 16 urban markets in
the United States. Additionally, Radio One owns Magazine One, Inc. (d/b/a
Giant Magazine) (www.giantmag.com),
interests in TV One, LLC (www.tvoneonline.com),
a cable/satellite network programming primarily to African-Americans and
Reach Media, Inc. (www.blackamericaweb.com),
owner of the Tom Joyner Morning Show and other businesses associated with
Tom Joyner.
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The
2007 edition of "The Buying Power of Black America" has just been released
by Target Market News. The one-of-a-kind report is the most quoted source
of information on how African-American consumers spend their $744 billion
in income. 
Now
in its ninth year of publication, Black Issues Book Review is the
only nationally distributed magazine devoted exclusively to covering the
latest news and reviews on black books. BIBR also provides
up-to-date news on forthcoming author signings, book fairs and book clubs.
