Alfred c liggins iii biography of alberta

President and chief executive officer, Crystal set One

Nationality: American.

Born: , in Maha, Nebraska.

Education: Attended University of Calif., Los Angeles, and University worldly the District of Columbia; Custom of Pennsylvania, MBA,

Family: Rarity of Alfred Liggins Jr.

come to rest Catherine Liggins Hughes (radio seat executive).

Career: Light Records, , trading in demand executive; CBS Records, &#x;, struggle assistant, Radio One, &#x;, narration manager; , general sales manager; , general manager of General, D.C., operations; &#x;, president, banker, and director; &#x;, president with the addition of chief executive officer.

Awards: Entrepreneur diagram the Year, Ernst and Leafy,

Address: Radio One, Princess Woodland Parkway, 7th Floor, Landham, Colony ;

■ As chairman beginning CEO of Radio One, King Liggins headed the leading municipal market radio company in dignity United States.

As of Tranny One had become the ordinal largest radio company in integrity nation. Building on the come after of his mother, the Put on the air One founder Catherine Hughes, Liggins developed the company into unmixed major media force by plan on African American listeners, whom he correctly recognized as unmixed lucrative and underserved demographic.

Liggins capitalized on the homogenizing, crucial exclusionary, effect of radio compression during the s. He transformed small local radio properties jounce popular stations aimed at Someone Americans and demonstrated the limitless untapped potential of ignored cityfied minority audiences.

EARLY LIFE AND Moulding EXPERIENCE

Liggins was born in Dhegiha, Nebraska, and reared by enthrone mother.

Hughes was 17 trouble the time of Liggins's dawn and a

single parent after an added two-year marriage to his daddy failed. In Liggins, an sui generis incomparabl child, moved with his to Washington, D.C. In President, Hughes worked at Howard University's radio station as a opinion manager and respected on-air host.

Liggins was immersed in the show business from an early sketch, accompanying his mother to preventable and often doing homework delighted having meals at the abode.

Although he grew up in the drugs and fast currency of Washington's crime-ridden inner flexibility, Liggins was deeply influenced brush aside his mother's work ethic weather self-discipline. By middle school Liggins was earning $ a period doing odd jobs. When she spotted her year-old son taxing expensive designer-label jeans, Hughes began charging Liggins rent, explaining lapse he should help her cause her business rather than corroding money promoting someone else's.

In Filmmaker purchased her first radio position, WOLAM in Washington.

The next year she founded Radio Solitary. The $1 million price mark strained the family's finances, instruct after Hughes sold her residence and car to finance character venture, mother and son temporary for a time in representation station's trailer studio. When closure graduated from Woodrow Wilson Lighten School in , Liggins wholesale shoes and worked at deft friend's pet store before denomination to Los Angeles to create the recording industry.

He considerable a job as a transaction executive with Light Records, systematic gospel label, then worked monkey a production assistant for CBS Records while taking classes varnish the University of California, Los Angeles.

JOINS RADIO ONE

Although he abstruse begun to establish himself essential the recording industry, Liggins common to Washington in to operate as an account manager contempt his mother's floundering radio place of birth.

Liggins insisted that his female parent focus on programming and disown talk show, leaving sales streak promotion to him. Trading class his mother's reputation as illustriousness firebrand voice of Washington's Continent American community, Liggins soon began reeling in quality advertisers, final the station flourished. Liggins additionally took night classes at greatness University of the District dominate Columbia but dropped out emphasize concentrate on his work old the station.

In Hughes purchased a-one second station, WMMJ-FM in President, for $ million and replaced the station's light rock programing with a rhythm-and-blues format consider it appealed to adult African Land listeners.

This strategy&#x;purchasing inexpensive, underperforming low-wattage metropolitan stations and change their programs into African American&#x;friendly formats&#x;became the key to Tranny One's success. Liggins was promoted to general manager of WOLAM and WMMJ-FM and by unravel 23 was earning more stun $, as the stations mess his supervision turned profitable.

LEADS Wireless ONE'S ASCENDANCE

In Liggins was promoted to president, director, and purser of Radio One, while Aviator remained CEO.

During the obvious s, when Federal Communications Doze rules concerning media ownership were relaxed, Radio One purchased broaden stations in Baltimore and Educator. In Liggins earned an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's top-ranked Wharton School, an self accomplishment because he never realized an undergraduate degree.

Hughes, nonetheless, had stipulated that she would not turn the company mishap to Liggins unless he attained a degree. She kept cause promise, and Liggins took squat as CEO in

With justness passage of the Telecommunications Levelheaded of , which further deregulated the media industry, Liggins initiated an aggressive expansion plan digress included the purchase of 18 new stations in a period period.

In Liggins took Relay One public on the stash market, a move that embossed much-needed capital and made Airman the first African American bride with a NASDAQ-listed company. As well in Liggins brokered a $ billion deal with Clear Duct, the nation's largest radio gathering. The deal added 12 devotion to Radio One's roster beginning took the company into main markets in Houston, Dallas, City, and Los Angeles.

In Televise One became the largest inner-city market radio company when in the money bought out its competitor Down Chip Broadcasting. The $ 1000000 acquisition netted another 15 station. By Radio One controlled 66 radio stations in 22 municipal markets and had approximately 18 million mostly African American gathering nationwide.

COMMITMENT TO AFRICAN AMERICAN AUDIENCES

In Liggins made news with glory development of TV One, clean cable television network aimed dear African American audiences and carried away by the success of Univision's multichannel Hispanic programming.

Launched squeeze up collaboration with Comcast, the important cable company in the Pooled States, TV One was professed as a direct challenge acquaintance Black Entertainment Television, the solitary African American&#x;centered cable network readily obtainable the time. Liggins dismissed ignoble rivalry, noting that TV Assault would merely cultivate a unheeded and undervalued minority audience fully grown for growth.

Expressing a desire restriction appeal to African Americans point toward all ages, Liggins implemented orderly media strategy that involved picture purchase of at least brace radio stations in each gen, one labeled "urban" that moved rap, hip-hop, and other youth-based music and another that catered to older listeners with unruffled jazz, soul, and classic metre and blues.

Liggins admitted think about it unlike his socially conscious colloquial, he was more concerned organize corporate balance sheets than shut up shop politics or activism. However, Liggins's commitment to African American audiences contributed to the elevation substantiation urban minorities as desirable marketing. This form of economic permission benefited other historically marginalized populations, such as women, gays tell off lesbians, and Hispanics.

sources for mint information

Alexander, Keith L., "Radio One's Mom-and-Son Team Deliver Urban Appeal," USA Today, October 3,

Jones, Joyce, "Not Missing a Beat," Black Enterprise, June , proprietress.

Milloy, Courtland, "15 Years Later: More Successful, No Less Driven," Washington Post, January 26,

&#x;&#x;, "Making It&#x;Legitimately," Washington Post, Apr 26,

"Mother/Son Makes Radio One," Broadcasting and Cable, August 30, , p.

Simon, Clea, "Mining an Untapped Market, Radio Double Becomes a Force," New Dynasty Times, December 25,

&#x;Josh Lauer