Black folks make up about 13 percent of this country and own less than 2 percent of the radio stations in it. Television is worse. So when a network or a station group is really ours, all the way down to who signs the checks, that is worth putting on the board.
We just added two new categories to the business listings: News & TV Networks and Radio. Twenty companies, ten of each, every one of them verified Black-owned as of right now in 2026. Tap any logo for the full listing.
News & TV Networks
TV One — Cathy Hughes built this. The flagship network of Urban One, 43 million homes, and the biggest Black-owned entertainment channel on television. Unsung alone is worth the carriage.theGrio — Byron Allen owns it outright. Black news and politics online plus a free TV channel, and it picked up what was left of Black News Channel in 2022.Impact Network — Out of Detroit, built by Bishop Wayne T. Jackson and Dr. Beverly Jackson. Over 80 million homes and not one outside investor. That part matters.Revolt — When Diddy sold out in 2024 the shares went to the staff instead of a conglomerate, specifically so it would stay Black-owned. Drink Champs still runs.Black Star Network — Roland Martin owns 100 percent of it and the viewers fund it. Since BNC folded this is the only daily national Black news network left standing.The Zeus Network — Lemuel Plummer built a subscription streamer from nothing, no studio money behind him. Baddies and Joseline Cabaret live here.Circle City Broadcasting — DuJuan McCoy owns WISH-TV and picked up ABC affiliate WRTV for 83 million in March. A Black man owning a Big Four affiliate is rare air.The Africa Channel — James Makawa has been running it since 2005. Film, series and music straight from the continent, plus the Demand Africa streamer.Stellar TV — Don Jackson started Central City Productions in 1970, the oldest Black-owned TV production company in America. He also created the Stellar Gospel Music Awards.In The Black Network — James DuBose left Fox Soul and built his own. Free to watch, 90-plus channels, and an ITBN Africa feed.
Radio
Urban One — Cathy Hughes started with one station in DC in 1980. Her and her son Alfred Liggins now run the biggest Black-owned broadcast company there has ever been, and they still hold about 90 percent of the voting stock.American Urban Radio Networks — Chesley Maddox-Dorsey owns it. Thousands of affiliates, the only Black-owned network Nielsen rates, and the only one with its own White House correspondent.Carter Broadcast Group — Kansas City, 1950, and still in the family three generations later. The oldest continuously Black-owned radio company in America. Hot 103 Jamz is theirs.WHUR 96.3 FM — Howard University owns it. The Quiet Storm was born here, Steve Harvey wakes up DC on it, and it is the biggest HBCU-owned commercial station in the country.Perry Publishing & Broadcasting — Russell Perry started it in 1979 and his son Kevin runs it now. Ten stations across Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Augusta and Arkansas, plus the Black Chronicle newspaper.Davis Broadcasting — Greg Davis Sr. has been at it since 1986. Foxie 105 has run Columbus since 1993 and he expanded into Atlanta on top of it.WVON 1690 / Midway Broadcasting — The Talk of Chicago. Pervis Spann and Wesley South built it, his daughter Melody Spann-Cooper has run it since 1999. Obama came up talking on this station.KJLH 102.3 FM — Stevie Wonder bought it in 1979 and never let it go. Kindness, Joy, Love and Happiness. Their coverage of the 92 uprising won a Peabody.Black Public Radio Network — Brand new, launched in June out of Houston. Fifteen stations, twelve of them HBCU. The biggest thing to happen to Black public radio in a generation.KBLA Talk 1580 — Tavis Smiley paid 7.15 million for the signal and gave LA its first Black-owned talk station. Studios sit right on Crenshaw in Leimert Park.
One thing before you ask
BET is not on this list and that is on purpose. Paramount bought out Tyler Perry stake in BET+ back in March and shut BET+ down in June. There is no Black ownership left in it. Same story with OWN, Bounce, aspireTV, Fox Soul, the Black Information Network, WBLS and Hot 97. Black-facing is not the same as Black-owned, and this list is about who owns it.
Both categories are live now on the Business Listings page. Every listing has the website, the phone, the socials and directions to the front door.
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