Radio maven Cathy Hughes was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1947. Beginning her career in radio in 1969, Hughes' firstpositionwas with KOWH, a black radio station in Omaha
Her successes there prompted the Howard University School of Communications to offer her a postionas lecturer and as Assistant to Dean of Communications.

In 1973, Hughes was named general sales manages of WHUR-FM in Washington, DC, and by 1975 was hired as the general manager of the station. Under her guidance, WHUR-FM, which had been struggling along with a 300,000 in annual sales revenues, increased its annual revenues to more the 3.5 million. In 1978, Hughedleft WHUR for WYCB Radio, where she served as the vice president and general manager of the station.

Hughes and her husband at the time Dewey Hughes, decided they wanted to buy their own station in 1979, and after being rejected by thirty-two banks, they found a lender. With their loan, they purchased WOL, a small Washington, DC station and Radio One was born. Hughes wanted to talk format for the station, the bank was pressing for music. A compromise was reached permitting Hughes to have a morning talk show program that was followed by music programming through the day.

Since the early days of being a station owner, Huges' rise has been remarkable. TOday Radio One ownes 65 station through every major market in the country, making the company the largest black-owned radio chain in the nation. InJanuary 2004, Hughes launched TV One, a cable television channel targeted at the African American community.

Today, Hughes has the distination of being the first African American woman to head a media company publicly traded on the US Stock Exchange, and she continues to serve as Chairperson of Radio One.