Radio One, the nation’s biggest African American oriented radio network, has endorsed the proposed Comcast/NBC Universal merger, now being evaluated by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice.
Its CEO Alfred Liggins III praised Comcast for helping Radio One develop its TV One cable channel.
“The result is that today, as one of the nation’s two major African-American-oriented channels (and the only one owned by African-Americans), our network now reaches more than 50 million homes via cable and satellite and has an audience with enormous race, gender and generational diversity.
In addition to supporting TV One, Comcast has a history of giving diverse voices a megaphone. The company assisted in launching African-American-owned channels like Hip Hop on Demand, the Africa Channel and Crossings and boasts an unrivaled package of 50 Spanish language channels and 150 titles available on-demand. The newly formed company plans to build on this track record in a number of exciting ways.”
Radio One has mostly been in the spotlight of late for its quarrels with advocates of the Performance Rights Act, which would require broadcast radio stations to pay royalties to performers as well as copyright holders.
Critics of the Comcast/NBCU merger warn that the union would represent another step towards an Internet/cable entertainment oligopoly.
