Alfred Liggins serves as CEO of Urban One, with direct oversight over Radio One and TV One. Liggins initially joined Radio One as an account manager at WOL. He then worked his way up to president and treasurer as the company began to add more radio stations. Before turning over control of Radio One’s operations to Liggins, his mother, Cathy Hughes, insisted that he get an MBA. He graduated from the Wharton School of Business in 1995. On graduation day, Liggins told his mother that he planned to take Radio One public to enable larger-scale expansion.

He was officially named CEO in 1997, with Hughes as board chair. In 1999, Radio One went public. The IPO made it possible for the company to grow quickly. Today, the Radio One network comprises 56 stations in 16 urban markets. His strategy of buying small, underperforming urban stations and re-focusing them to serve their communities’ demographics has paid dividends.

Cable entered the picture for Liggins in 2004 with the launch of TV One in partnership with Comcast. The cable channel was just the second to offer African American entertainment, launching with 2.2 million households. TV One was designed to serve African American adults who wanted an alternative to BET. Today, TV One serves 59 million households, offering “original programming, classic series, movies and music to its diverse audience of adult black viewers.”

Under Liggins’ leadership, Radio One continues to expand. In 2018, it was renamed Urban One and now comprises cable, radio, syndication, web, and marketing properties, the largest multi-media company in the country primarily dedicated to serving African American, urban audiences.