D.C.-based Radio One Inc. has sold its only station in the Minneapolis market, KTTB-FM.

The station was sold for $28 million to Northern Lights Broadcasting LLC and is expected to close during the second half of this year.

“While this radio station has been a great performer for us, it is our only station in a market with a very small African-American population,” Chief Executive Officer Alfred C. Liggins III said in a

statement. The move is one in a series of decisions by Radio One to divest itself from similar markets.

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Radio One, the seventh largest radio station owner, features content that caters to urban listeners, including programs such as the “Tom Joyner Morning Show.”

Last month, Radio One sold 10 stations in Dayton, Ohio, and Louisville, Ky. In January, it announced the sale of its Boston station. Mark Fratrik, vice president of the Chantilly-based consulting firm BIA Financial Network, said Radio One’s strategy is consistent with many media players’ efforts to find a niche in a competitive market.

“Lots of different groups are reassessing their assets and saying, ‘OK, this is the marketplace; where does my company fit?’ ” Fratrik said.

Fratrik predicted Radio One would use the proceeds to invest in some of its other recent ventures in television or online, or in markets with larger black populations. Radio One representatives did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday.

melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com