WASHINGTON, DC – Radio One, Inc. today announced that it has acquired the social networking company, Community Connect Inc. for a transaction price of approximately $38 million.
Community Connect Inc. (CCI), which owns and operates a number of social-networking brands under its umbrella including BlackPlanet.com, MiGente.com, and AsianAve.com, is the leading online niche social-networking company. With over 23 million members CCI is a ComScoreTM Top 50 Social Networking web publisher and category leader for building niche online communities/destinations for U.S. ethnic groups. This success drove BlackPlanet.com to a #4 ranking in Hitwise’sTM year-end 2007 Top US Social Networking Sites Report, behind MySpace, Facebook and Bebo.
"CCI is an innovator and pioneer in social networking," said Alfred Liggins, III, Radio One’s CEO and president. “We believe that they are a great complement to our existing radio, TV, and online properties.”
This acquisition is another example of Radio One Inc.’s continued strategy of diversification outside of the radio broadcasting space in order to deliver a more holistic approach to targeting African-Americans. Radio One purchased GIANT, a magazine targeting urban consumers in December 2006 and has an interest in the African-American targeted cable network TV ONE. This acquisition gives Radio One a strong foothold in the ever-growing social networking and multicultural online space.
“We will be the clear number one in the African-American online space,” said Mr. Liggins.
Analyst eMarketer predicts that by 2011, $4.1 billion will be spent worldwide for social network advertising, a dramatic increase from the $480 million spent in 2006. In 2008 alone, global ad spend in the social networking arena is expected to increase 75 percent year over year, amounting to $2.1 billion (eMarketer, Social Network Marketing: Ad Spending and Usage, December 2007).
"This is a great opportunity to take CCI to the next level,” said Ben Sun, president, CEO, 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."
"CCI’s management team recognizes that the Internet is less about single destinations and more about connecting people around touchpoints of culture and lifestyles. They have built incredible loyalty among their members," said Tom Newman, president of Radio One’s Interactive division.
Upon closing the transaction, current president and founder Ben Sun will continue to run CCI and will report to Tom Newman. Community Connect Inc. has approximately 100 employees and is headquartered in New York City.
______ Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
About Post Author
