Financial difficulties forced

Catherine L. Hughes to give

up her home and live with

her young son in the studio of

the first radio station she bought

in Washington. Today Radio

One, the company she founded

in 1980, is a multibillion-dollar

enterprise composed of 55 broad-

cast stations in 16 urban U.S.

markets. Reaching an estimated

14 million listeners each week, it

is the largest African American-

owned broadcasting company in

the United States. When Radio

One became a publicly traded

company on the NASDAQ stock

exchange in 1999, it was the first

owned by an African-American

woman. In January 2004, Radio

One launched TV One, a national

cable and satellite television net-

work featuring programming for

African-American adults.

Embassy of the United States of America AFRICAN-AMERICAN LEADERS

Catherine L. Hughes with actor Will Smith © AP Images

Catherine L. Hughes, Media Leader

In an interview with Hello

Beautiful, a website aimed at

African-American women, Hughes

said of Radio One and TV One pro-

gramming, “We’re interested in

the positive side of being African

American.” Hughes’ commitment

to the African-American com-

munity, and to African-American

women in particular, runs deep.

Most of the employees in her busi-

ness are African Americans, and

many of the managers are African-

American women. Both Hughes

and her son, Alfred Liggins, have

been named Entrepreneur of the

Year by Ernst & Young, one of the

largest accounting firms in the

world. She was born in Omaha,

Nebraska, in 1947.

U N I T E D S TAT E S D E P A R T M E N T O F S TAT EB U R E A U O F I N T E R N AT I O N A L I N F O R M AT I O N P R O G R A M S

Media entrepreneur Cathy Hughes talks with actor Denzel Washington on a 2007 TV One program. © AP Images

Catherine L. Hughes, Media Leader

Published November 2013

ISBN 978–1–62592–164–2