Radio One Buys CCI To Cash in on Online Ad Boom
ADOTAS — Video killed the radio star — and the Internet buried him. Radio One Inc. acknowledged the grim state of affairs with its acquisition of social networking company Community Connect Inc. announced today. The transaction price was roughly $38 million.
CCI owns and operates a handful of social-networking brands under its umbrella, including BlackPlanet.com, MiGente.com and AsianAve.com. It has more than 20 million members and is the fourth-most visited social networking site, according to Hitwise.
“CCI is an innovator and pioneer in social networking,” Alfred Liggins, III, Radio One’s CEO and president, said in a statement. “We believe that they are a great complement to our existing radio, TV and online properties.”
Radio One says it hopes to continue to diversify outside of the radio broadcasting space. According to eMarketer, $4.1 billion will be spent on interactive advertisements on social networks by 2011. This year, global ad spending in the social networking arena is expected to grow 75% year-over-year, reaching $2.1 billion.
“This is a great opportunity to take CCI to the next level,” said Ben Sun, president and founder of CCI. “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 will continue to run CCI and will report to Tom Newman, president of Radio One’s interactive division.
Radio One owns and operates 53 radio stations in 16 urban markets in the U.S.
Reader Comments.
Radio One has made a good buy. However, their first priority should be getting a handle on the situation, and ridding themselves of the upper management in place at Community Connect. This team of miscreants has seen their employee turnover go through the roof over the past year. And that should be laid at the feet of Mr. Sun, who they have left in place for now. There is no marketing to speak of, so the vp of marketing should be the first to go, along with anyone in their technical area and the sales leadership.
The company has a lot of potential, BUT first they have to clean up the mess that exists. Then they will prosper.
Leave a Comment
Article Sponsor
More News
-
Loading ...
Latest News
- BlueKai Report Explains DMPs to Publishers February 10th 2012 ADOTAS - BlueKai released a report this week on the [...] more »
- Funding in Brief: $10M for Spongecell, $8M for Prolexic February 9th 2012 ADOTAS – Rich media ad company Spongecell has raised $10 million [...] more »
- Google AdMob Axes Minimum Bids, Targeting Fees February 9th 2012 ADOTAS - As of Feb. 15, Google will change its [...] more »
- Infographic: HootSuite Analyses Social Media Impact of Super Bowl Ads February 7th 2012 ADOTAS - So, it’s the Tuesday after the Super Bowl, [...] more »
- Facebook to Serve Mobile Ads in Coming Weeks February 6th 2012 ADOTAS – According to a Financial Times report, Facebook will [...] more »
- Survey: 39 Percent of Mobile Users Responded to Super Bowl Ads Via Mobile February 6th 2012 ADOTAS - During the Super Bowl yesterday, mobile ad network [...] more »
- Sponsormob Leads the Way Into RTB for Mobile February 3rd 2012 ADOTAS – For more than half a decade, Berlin-based tech [...] more »
Features
- Infographic: The Online Ad Industry Is Like the Stock Market February 10th 2012
- Mobile Search: More Intent, More SMB Opportunity February 10th 2012
- BlueKai Report Explains DMPs to Publishers February 10th 2012
- Attribution Online: Introducers and Influencers and Closers… Oh My! February 9th 2012
- With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a Name February 9th 2012
Spotlight
Sponsormob Leads the Way Into RTB for MobileADOTAS – For more than half a decade, Berlin-based tech firm Sponsormob has remained relevant in an industry characterized by [...] more...
Reader Favorites
Classifieds
- PS Technical Writer - SEO Data Analyst
- Interactive Project Manager
- Media Buyer
- PHP Software Engineer (Facebook Platform/Social AP
- SEO/Marketing Internship at Green Education Startu
Recent Comments
- HootSuite Social Media Management » More Apps, Open API, and the Solution Partner Program ~ News Roundup: [...] mentioned in our HootSuite’s Super Bowl XLVI Social Media Recap, adotas and MediaPost analyzed our
- News about Google Adwords issue #412: [...] ads for AdWords to adCenter and align with industry standards, adCenter has chang
- VB: What exactly makes an ad "high quality"?
- Survey: 39 Percent of Mobile Users Responded to Super Bowl Ads Via Mobile - ADOTAS | Mobile2 | Scoop.it: [...] background-position: 50% 0px; background-color:#222222; background-repeat : no-repeat; }
