Radio One buys Black Planet

Radio One Inc., one of the nations leading broadcasting  companies targeting African Americans, has purchased a popular social  networking company, Community Connect Inc. (CCI) for $38 million.
CCI  is known for its social networking sites targeting ethnic Americans  online such as BlackPlanet.comwhich ranks the fourth in Hitwises 2007  Top US Social Networking SitesMiGente.com and AsianAve.com.
In the  2007 fiscal year, Radio One posted $389 million in losses, which also  resulted in the demise of local radio station V100 The Beat. The  company now hopes to increase revenue by investing in online business  venues, according to the Washington Business Journal.
Tom Newman, the  president of Interactive One, the division of Radio One operating the  online sites, is excited about the new acquisition. CCI management will  continue its day-to-day operation of the site. We will work on a  specific integration plan over the coming months. With (our) goal of  super-serving the African American consumer and marketing community, we  constantly evaluate ways to improve our properties, Newman says.
The  founder, president and CEO of Community Connect Inc., Ben Sun will  continue to run the company while reporting to Newman. 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, Sun says.
Newman added, Radio Ones digital strategy  is in line with the overall mission of the company which is to provide  African Americans with authentic and meaningful access to information,  entertainment and other members of this community.
According to  industry analyst eMarketer estimates that $4.1 billion will be spent by  investors on online social networking by 2011 . This year, it is  predicted that nearly $25.9 billion will be spent on online advertising.
Celebrating  the merger, Alfred C. Liggins, III, CEO and president of Radio One  says, CCI is an innovator and pioneer in social networking. We believe  that they are a great complement to our existing radio, TV and online  properties.
In business for 45 years, Radio One now owns 53 radio  stations in 16 major African-American markets throughout the nation,  including cities like Atlanta, Washington D.C. and Detroit. The empire  also owns Magazine One, Inc., which publishes Giant Magazine for African  American consumers and it has interests in TV One, a satellite/cable  network.
BlackPlanet.com is an online communication avenue for  African Americans that allows users to  stay connected to family,  friends and create business relationships. It offers personal services,  entertainment, information and community tools. The site is also a  powerful political soapbox as well, as demonstrated by the current  presidential election campaign. Analysts note that the candidates ,  especially Barrack Obama, have spent quite  a bit of money promoting  their bid for the post online, especially on BlackPlanet.com. The site  has more than 16.5 million members and 80 million page views as of 2007.