National conservative Spanish-language media network Americano Media and Audacy just announced an agreement through which Americano Media programming will be broadcast on Audacy’s 790 AM (WAXY-AM) in the Miami, Florida, market, which as of October 3 became Radio Libre 790. We spoke with Jorge L. Arrizurieta, President of Americano Media, about the transaction and his company’s expansion plans.
Americano Media, the nation’s first national conservative Hispanic network in Spanish, will have its programming broadcast on Audacy’s 790 AM (WAXY-AM) in the Miami, Florida, market. Starting last Monday October 3, WAXY-AM became Radio Libre 790 with content provided by Americano Media. “This is the first time that we see an Anglo sports station convert into a Spanish conservative radio station,” Jorge L. Arrizurieta, President of Americano Media, tells Portada. Arrizurieta adds that they decided to rebrand into Radio Libre and that Audacy continues to be the owner of the station while Arrizurieta’s company is becoming the exclusive content provider,” both organizations have a 50:50 revenue split agreement on advertising revenues. “The joint endeavor with Audacy is a natural fit for Americano,” Americano Media founder and chief executive Ivan Garcia-Hidalgo notes. “We provide the best Hispanic news-talk programming in Spanish, with the best hosts covering important current events, and Audacy’s audience is demanding that information. This is the first of many terrestrial radio syndication agreements for Americano, and we look forward to a strong partnership with Audacy.”
Radio Libre 790 will be Audacy’s first Spanish-language station in Florida. Audacy, the second largest radio company in the United States, owns 235 radio stations, of which 6 are Hispanic targeted, across 48 media markets.
The switch from English to Spanish of the Audacy-owned station may be also just in time to capture political advertising dollars related to the upcoming November 8, midterm elections and the 2024 legislative and presidential elections on the horizon. “It’s a good climate for viewer attraction and a good time to promote a purpose and vision,” Arrizurieta notes.
Regarding whether Americano Media’s programming will become more Floridian as a result of the Audacy partnership, Arrizurieta notes that content, or some of the content, can become a bit more local in nature. However, all of the original daily 18 hours programming will be distributed nationally.
Americano Media: Next Expansion Steps
With the Radio Libre station, Americano Media has a very solid grounding in the Floridian market. The company decided to switch from satellite radio (Sirius XM) to terrestrial distribution a few months ago. “On Sirius XM we had a total maximum of 6 million listeners. Done right, we can capture that in our first two deals Miami being first and Texas or perhaps California next,” Arrizurieta asserts.
Americano Media is analyzing possible partnership opportunities in other heavily Hispanic-populated states. “We are looking for partners who have a strong team that can help us grow the market,” Arrizurieta maintains. He also notes that Americano Media is working very hard for the upcoming launch of its TV and streaming network in November.
In addition to moving to terrestrial radio to be within the community of its listenership, Americano Media’s talent features former Radio Mambi hosts Nelson Rubio, Dania Alexandrino, and Lourdes Ubieta. Now with Americano Media programming in Radio Libre 790 their shows, as well as the rest of Americano’s programming, will be directly available to the people of South Florida who have listened to them for so many years.
Americano Media’s hosts cover the day’s political and critical news events, technology, and breaking news, and produces 18 hours of original programming each weekday, with diverse Spanish-speaking hosts from 6 am to midnight. As the first Hispanic conservative voice across the spectrum, Americano is bringing the very best in news, politics, culture, and tech to the Spanish-language audience.
