Interactive One + AllHipHop.com means extended reach into sought-after urban demographic online
NEW YORK, May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Interactive One, the digital division of Radio One. (NASDAQ:ROIAK) (NASDAQ:and) (NASDAQ:ROIA) , in partnership with AllHipHop.com (AHH), the fastest growing provider of music related urban online content, today announce a five-year multi million dollar deal to offer advertisers access to the most engaged and active African-Americans online. The move aligns two of the most prominent African-American media organizations, creating the largest and most scaleable online advertising network targeting the African-American consumer. The combined traffic of both Interactive One and AllHipHop.com will give advertisers access to more than 4 million monthly unique visitors and over 500 million page views.
"We firmly believe that the future for the African-American consumer and those dedicated to communicating with them is in new media, and as such, this relationship extends our commitment to being the online leader in the African-American space," said Alfred Liggins III, CEO of Radio One, Inc. "Our relationship with AllHipHop.com is another example of our ability to enable blue chip advertisers to reach African-Americans online, whether it is across social networks, online news outlets, or digital content providers. AllHipHop.com is the leading site for all things relating to hip hop and their editorial vision and product innovation is a great complement to our sales and marketing expertise."
Interactive One will be the exclusive sales agent for AllHipHop.com. The move gives the site access to Interactive One's valuable relationships with big name advertisers while also extending Interactive One's online reach, offering advertisers a one-stop media solution to address the unique values and needs of the African-American online consumer.
The combined reach of Interactive One and AllHipHop.com will now give advertisers access to the largest group of active African-Americans online who have yielded more than 500 million page views across their combined properties per month. Interactive One's existing online brands include Blackplanet.com (the largest social network targeting African Americans, with over 18 million members), Giantmag.com, MiGente.com, Newsone.com, TVONE.TV and the websites of 53 urban radio stations across the country.
Both companies have seen tremendous growth in 2008. Interactive One recently launched Newsone.com in addition to last month's acquisition of Community Connect Inc., the largest publisher of niche social networks reaching more than 23 million multicultural social networking users in the U.S. This, combined with AllHipHop.com's unparalleled access to the urban trendsetting community, gives advertisers the opportunity to integrate into the largest digital network that provides news, information, entertainment, community, tools and services that uniquely speak to African-Americans.
"We expect that 2008 will continue to be a landmark, thrilling banner year for AHH Holdings and this deal will act as a mutually beneficial situation that will allow all parties to delve into new business arenas," said Chuck Creekmur, co-founder and CEO of AllHipHop.com. "It pleases us to enter into this deal at such a pivotal moment for AllHipHop.com, as we celebrate our 10th year anniversary in '08."
This exciting partnership is the first of many major announcements that AHH Holdings LLC, parent company to AllHipHop.com, plans to make in conjunction with their 10th Year Anniversary Program. As the pioneering leading source of urban news and information on the Internet, the AllHipHop brand looks to expand into television programs, concert series, and numerous global branding opportunities and will continue to be a force in Internet innovation for years to come.
ABOUT ALLHIPHOP.COM For 9 years now, AllHipHop.com has been the #1 online destination for Hip-Hop news, reviews and industry insights. Continuing to strive for excellence as a website but also a business entity, AllHipHop.com won the Rising Star' Award from Black Enterprise, May 2006, delivering over 150 million audited impressions per month and growing. AllHipHop.com is the world's most visited Hip-Hop/urban website and attracts an average of 5 million visitors per month. AllHipHop.com is the brainchild of "Grouchy" Greg Watkins and Chuck "Jigsaw" Creekmur. The website was launched in 1998 and has become the premier Hip-Hop/urban news provider on the web. The site features daily updates, interviews, reviews and a fast growing community, sharing news and views of their own. Sources as varied as CNN, The Associated Press, The O'Reilly Factor, XXL Magazine, VIBE and the New York Daily News all regularly use AllHipHop.com's pages. Since 1998, the site has also been an innovator in the mobile field, delivering daily news alerts to over 300,000 music industry taste makers and Hip-Hop lovers' phones and emails. Watkins registered AllHipHop.com in 1997 and initially used it as a vehicle to promote artists that were recording for his fledgling imprint, Oblique Recordings. In late 1997, Charles "Jigsaw" Creekmur was working on another Internet venture and the two combined forces and created the first version of AllHipHop.com. Since then, the independently owned site has grown organically and has grown to rival several of the top sites on the Internet, including BET.com, MTV.com and others. Essence Magazine noted AHH as 1 of the 4 top music websites among YouTube.com and MySpace.com in the June 2007 issue and VIBE Magazine in its annual Juice issue, ranked AHH as #29 out of the top 100 music industry leaders. AllHipHop.com is the only urban site to expand its reach outside of the internet.
ABOUT RADIO ONE, INC. (http://www.radio-one.com/) is one of the nation's largest radio broadcasting companies and the largest radio broadcasting company that primarily targets African-American and urban listeners. On a pro forma basis, after closing the sale of our Los Angeles station, Radio One will own and/or operate 53 radio stations located in 16 urban markets in the United States. Additionally, Radio One owns Magazine One, Inc. (d/b/a Giant Magazine) (http://www.giantmag.com/), interests in TV One, LLC (http://www.tvoneonline.com/), a cable/satellite network programming primarily to African-Americans, Reach Media, Inc. (http://www.blackamericaweb.com/), owner of the Tom Joyner Morning Show and other businesses associated with Tom Joyner, and Community Connect Inc., an on-line social-networking company, which operates a number of branded websites, including BlackPlanet, MiGente, and Asian Avenue.
Source: Radio One
CONTACT: Taryn Langer of Group SJR, +1-212-751-3392,
tlanger@groupsjr.com, for Interactive One; or Tammy Brook of FYI Public
Relations, +1-212-586-2240, for AllHipHop
Web site: http://www.radio-one.com/
