Interactive One

Interactive One
Unit of Radio One
Industry Digital media
Founded 2007
Founder Cathy Hughes
Alfred C. Liggins III
Headquarters New York, NY
Area served
 United States
Key people
 Alfred C. Liggins III (CEO)
Tom Newman (president)
Website interactiveone.com

Interactive One is an American digital publishing company with a portfolio of websites focused on African American and Hispanic audiences. It also provides businesses with a variety of digital marketing and distribution services.

History

Interactive One was founded in 2007 as a separate division of Radio One.[1] It was launched in May 2008 as an online community to complement Radio One's other media properties targeting African American audiences.[2][3] Radio One president and CEO Alfred C. Liggins is also the CEO of Interactive One, and Tom Newman serves as the company's president.[4]

Interactive One operates approximately 70 digital properties[5] featuring news, lifestyle, entertainment and religious content, including News One, The Urban Daily, BlackPlanet, HelloBeautiful, MiGente, BlackAmericaWeb, Global Grind and BlackDoctor.org.[2][3][4][6] As of 2011, Interactive One is the largest network of owned and operated sites aimed at an African American audience, based on the total traffic of its websites and radio stations.[7] By January 2013, Interactive One's properties were drawing more unique visitors than BET Networks and Univision combined.[4]

The company started branching out to the Hispanic market in September 2012, with the announcement of Zona De Sabor ("Flavor Zone"), an English-language website offering news and entertainment content for an urban Latino audience. This came on the heels of the creation of MiGente, a Latino-themed social network.[8]

On September 12, 2012, the White House hosted a live event with Interactive One properties News One, Hello Beautiful, Black Planet, The Urban Daily and The Grio. Officials from President Barack Obama's administration, including Melody Barnes, Valerie Jarrett and Shaun Donovan, answered questions submitted through Interactive One sites about the US job market and economy.[9]

In July 2013, TV One announced News One Now, a morning news show based on News One. The live, one-hour weekday program hosted by Roland Martin premiered on November 4, 2013, also streaming live on Radio One. Based in Washington, DC, the show provides news and analysis of politics, entertainment, sports and culture, from an African American perspective.[10][11][12]

In February 2015, Interactive One launched HB Studios, a video production studio focused on creating scripted and unscripted programming about women and the diversity of their experiences. With about a dozen original video series in development for 2015, HB Studios programming will be featured on the iOne Women Channel and HelloBeautiful.com, along with channels on YouTube and Facebook.[13][14] HB Studios' inaugural release was the 14-minute documentary Women on Top, featuring interviews with women including Soledad O'Brien, Lisa Leslie, Tia Mowry, Jody Watley, Beverly Johnson and others.[13][15]

Partnerships

In July 2011, Interactive One and NBC News announced a partnership, combining their editorial and sales resources. The main focus was initially on aligning NBC's African American news site, The Grio, with News One, which would take the lead on advertising sales.[16]

In April 2013, Interactive One announced it would team up with Global Grind, a website founded by Russell Simmons and focused on pop culture and music content for African American and Hispanic audiences, agreeing to a multi-year partnership, in an effort to improve its reach with urban audiences. Under the terms of the deal, Interactive One manages advertising and technology interests for Global Grind.[3][4] In 2013, Interactive One also partnered with Voxxi, an English-language website aimed at Latinos;[5] and multimedia company Real Times Media, with the Real Times Media Digital Network, a group of websites supported by Interactive One.[17] In July 2014, the company partnered with the fashion website StuffFlyPeopleLike.com.[18]

Advertisers

Interactive One's advertisers include Ford, American Airlines, Home Depot and Hewlett-Packard.[16]

Properties

Milestones

Year Event
2008 Interactive One is launched.[2]
2011 Partners with NBC News to combine editorial and sales resources.[16]
2012 Creates websites targeting Latino audience, Zona De Sabor and MiGente.[8]
Teams with White House to host live question-and-answer session about US economy.[9]
2013 Interactive One properties drawing more unique visitors than BET Networks and Univision combined.[4]
Partners with Russell Simmons' Global Grind.[4]
News One Now, a morning news show based on News One, premieres on TV One.[12]
2015 Launches female-focused video production studio HB Studios.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Christopher H. Sterling, editor, The Biographical Encyclopedia of American Radio, New York: Routledge, 2011, p. 185.
  2. 1 2 3 Anita Huslin, “Radio One CEO Prepares for Shareholders,” Washington Post, May 26, 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 C. Daniel Baker, “Interactive One Studios Adds Russell Simmons’ GlobalGrind.com to its Roster,” Black Enterprise, April 15, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 William Launder, “Digital Marketer Links Up With Russell Simmons,” Wall Street Journal, April 15, 2013.
  5. 1 2 “VOXXI, Interactive One team up to develop new product, services,” Fox News Latino, September 12, 2013.
  6. ↑ Nicholas Carlson, “Former AOL Entertainment Boss Mike Rich Goes To Interactive One,” Business Insider, July 9, 2010.
  7. ↑ Matthew Flamm, “Urban websites face off,” Crain's New York Business, June 12, 2011.
  8. 1 2 Tanzina Vega, “Interactive One’s Site for Latinos,” New York Times, September 10, 2012.
  9. 1 2 Kori Schulman, “Open for Questions with News One, Hello Beautiful, Black Planet, The Urban Daily & Grio,” WhiteHouse.gov, September 10, 2011.
  10. ↑ Tambay A. Obenson, “TV One Announces ‘News One Now’ – Live 1-hour Weekday Morning News Program Hosted By Roland S. Martin,” Indiewire, July 9, 2013.
  11. ↑ Robert Bianco, “’News One Now’ will find Roland Martin talking again,” USA Today, July 27, 2013.
  12. 1 2 Tim Molloy, “’News One Now’ With Roland S. Martin to Premiere Nov. 4,” TheWrap, October 24, 2013.
  13. 1 2 3 Todd Spangler, "Interactive One Launches Digital Studio to Produce Series for Women of Color," Variety, February 11, 2015.
  14. ↑ Jessica Klein, "Interactive One Will Launch HB Studios with Doc 'Women of Color'," Video Ink, February 11, 2015.
  15. ↑ Corinne Grinapol, "Fishbowl Five With Interactive One’s Leigh Davenport," Adweek, April 23, 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 Tanzina Vega, “Black News In New Focus,” New York Times, July 11, 2011.
  17. ↑ “Real Times Media sets launch date for new Interactive One-supported digital network,” New Pittsburgh Courier, October 30, 2013.
  18. ↑ “SFPL’s Rae Holliday And Gabriel Williams Talk Interactive One Partnership, Kanye West, And Other Projects,” DrJays.com, July 17, 2014.
  19. ↑ Steve Smith, “GIANTLife.com Takes Over for Folded Giant,” minonline.com, December 2, 2009.

External links

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