The 1980s – The Beginning

“If I can help a few thousand people, then I know that my work has not been in vain.”
- Cathy Hughes, 1985

The Radio one legacy begins with the flagship station WOL. In those days what we now know as Radio One was “Almic Broadcasting”; named after the sons of Catherine L Hughes and Dewey Hughes.

When WOL was acquired Cathy Hughes instantly created a News Talk portal for African Americans; the first of it’s kind. Although investors tried to talk her out of it, she pressed on. Not realizing how expensive it was to run a News Talk station WOL struggled for the first 5 years. Eventually having to go it alone, Hughes made WOL a profitable station by 1986.

In 1987 WMMJ was acquired, Radio One’s first FM station and the first FM station on the east coast to adopt an Urban Adult Contemporary format.

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