Ms. Cathy Hughes: Urban One’s Visionary Leader…
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There’s a celebration at the headquarters of Urban One. Ms. Cathy Hughes, Founder and Chairperson of the biggest Black-owned multimedia conglomerate in the nation, was awarded the key to the town on July 15 — a long overdue recognition in Washington, D.C., where she has spoken fact to energy for over 55 years and counting.
“I am always thinking in terms of what’s next,” she says inside Radio One offices. “What’s the next thing to be done? I never think in those terms — that we won this. I just try to keep on moving forward,” she says about her latest honor.
It’s that pondering that has landed Hughes forward of the curve for a long time. She has been a ahead thinker and visionary, revolutionizing FM radio by creating and developing the Quiet Storm format — among many other firsts, including, but not restricted to: the first girl vice president and common supervisor of a radio station in Washington, D.C.; the first girl to own a radio station that was ranked No. 1 in a major market; the first Black girl to head a publicly traded company; founder of the biggest Black-owned broadcast company in the nation; creator of the first 24-hour gospel radio show.
It’s no shock that she is both thrilled to be granted the key to Washington, D.C., and still envisioning her next transfer.
Hughes cut her tooth in D.C. as an admin for Tony Brown at Howard University, where he was well-known for his eponymous public affairs program, Tony Brown’s Journal — one of the most influential Black public affairs packages in the U.S.
Brown died two days after Hughes was awarded the key to the town. He witnessed her work ethic at Howard at WHUR, selling her from admin to gross sales supervisor to common supervisor and vice president.
As a common gross sales supervisor, she elevated income by roughly $3 million. In 1976, as vice president and common supervisor, Hughes created the Quiet Storm along with then-Howard pupil Melvin Lindsey, who turned the DJ enjoying slow jams, romantic ballads, and jazz in the night, setting the temper for love.
As WHUR’s station supervisor, Hughes conceptualized the show’s format—even suggesting the use of the Smokey Robinson track as its title—and the station rose from 20 in rankings to No. 3, boosting revenues. In 1977, within a yr of Lindsey internet hosting, the groundbreaking program turned No. 1 in its time slot.
With Hughes’ management, rooted in her love for Black people and serving as a cultural lighthouse, the Quiet Storm confirmed advertisers that Black customers have been a pivotal demographic for rankings and income.
But Hughes wasn’t glad yet. Her next objective? Ownership.
Information Is Power
Cathy Hughes sat in entrance of her microphone at a large street-facing image window on the nook of 4th Street and H Street, broadcasting live in Washington, D.C. It’s the mid-’80s, and the media mogul is holding court with neighborhood members, younger and outdated, saints and sinners alike. She acts as both the observer and narrator of the neighborhood’s daily life. She talks immediately to her listeners on the road, sharing the news of the day – and the neighborhood would inform her about their latest neighborhood news.
Like Petey Green before her at WOL in D.C., Cathy Hughes believed in advocacy journalism. News coverage in the “Chocolate City” was often adverse, stereotypical, and imbalanced for Black Washingtonians, who then made up 70 % of the population. When Cathy Hughes (then Cathy Liggins) and her husband Dewey Hughes (who had managed Petey Green’s profession years before) deliberate to buy WOL in 1980, she envisioned a 24-hour severe Black news discuss show — including news, public affairs, religion, finance, among other topics.
Many other suitors competed to buy WOL, including Reggie Jackson, ESSENCE magazine, Johnson Publishing, and a group that included Muhammad Ali. Hughes and her husband gained it for close to a million.
But while Dewey Hughes wasn’t sure if it was a sound investment, Cathy Hughes only noticed an alternative. The couple ultimately divorced, and the radio pioneer continued with the station on her own, spending 18 months sleeping in her workplace with her younger son, Alfred, and waking up every morning to host the radio show in the station’s morning slot for 11 years.
“She was trying to engage the community because the crack era was coming in – people were getting shot,” DJ Konan remembers. “But Ms. Hughes wished to change that entire hall. She made sure we stayed in the neighborhood.”
Hughes, whose slogan for the show was “information is power,” used her newfound possession to study every half of radio that she didn’t already know. Konan, Hughes, and her son Alfred read books to youngsters in the neighborhood as half of the Reading is Fundamental program.
“This kid grabbed my leg, and he said, ‘Konan, thanks for coming to read to us,’ “Konan recalled about the time he spent reading to kids with Hughes. I told Ms. H., “I want to do this for the rest of my life — she said, ‘If you believe it you will.’”
Hughes’ Legacy
Johnny “Porkchop” Doswell, a DJ for Radio One for Baltimore station 92 Q, remembered the first time he met Hughes.
“She was the boss of a multimillion-dollar company, but I felt like I was talking to my mother,” Porkchop said in an interview with NewsOne. “She managed 1000’s of personalities. She knew the proper factor to say to get us to do one thing.
“To this day she still asks about my health and if I’m taking care of myself; that means so much to me. I am sure Jeff Bezos isn’t like, ‘What are your kids up to?’ But she would remember everyone’s name,” Porkchop remembered.
“Cathy Hughes and Radio One will go down as the largest radio affect of its time – with the quantity of stations (over 70), the people that labored there, and neighborhood impression,” Marc Clarke, previously a DJ on the Big Phat Morning Show on 92 Q on Radio One in Baltimore, told NewsOne.
“She made millionaires – Russ Parr, Tom Joyner, Donnie Simpson, Melvin Lindsey, and she gave a lot of people their first start– Robin Holden, Bri Taylor, Bob Thomas, Bernie McCain, and so many others,” Clarke added.
“Her legacy is to be the first Black woman in the U.S. to head a publicly traded company,” said Dyana Williams, a pioneering radio broadcaster and long-time buddy of Hughes, told NewsOne.
Porkchop summed up her legacy and the end result of Hughes’ life-long journey succinctly.
“We don’t know what her legacy is yet, because she’s not done yet,” he said.
SEE ALSO:
Cathy Hughes Dedicates Key To Washington, D.C. To Urban One Employees
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