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THE CONSERVATIVE radio station Radio Mambí, based in Florida, has begun to suffer important staff departures. This is after the radio was bought in June by the media start-up Latino Media Network which also acquired 17 other Hispanic radio stations distributed throughout the country. The media start-up is linked to tycoon George Soros.
One of the staff that has left the media outlet is Lourdes Ubieta, a presenter who was the station’s afternoon prime time host. Ubieta was on the air Monday through Friday from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Her program was one of the highest-rated on Radio Mambí. She was known for analyzing with a conservative approach to current political events in the United States and the world.
According to an internal TelevisaUnivision source, Ubieta resigned from Radio Mambí last Friday, after rejecting a juicy $120,000 bonus that included a confidentiality agreement. The source indicated that the company tried to convince the host to accept the bonus, but the journalist refused to accept the agreement despite their insistence.
Today, during her usual afternoon slot, TelevisaUnivision officially announced Lourdes Ubieta’s resignation from the air.
The same source told El American that weeks earlier, TelevisaUnivision, together with Latino Media Network, offered large bonuses to Radio Mambí’s main stars in an effort to prevent their resignations. The bonuses were offered at the same time that the green light was given to sell 18 Hispanic radio stations to the company partially financed by Lakestar Finance, an entity affiliated with Soros Fund Management.
“The purpose of the bonds is that the sale of Radio Mambí is not a media scandal that could delay the approval of the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) and cause the sale to fall through,” the source told El American weeks ago.
“There are 3 or 4 conservative hosts that have very high peak ratings and a number of clients that produce tens of thousands of dollars in ads. If they leave, Radio Mambí goes out of business and that’s a problem for Latino Media Network and TelevisaUnivision who want to make the most peaceful transition possible to not sink Mambí and to take advantage of its reach in the Hispanic audience,” the source added.
Ubieta’s departure confirms rumors of a stampede or talent drain at Radio Mambí following the operation led by Latino Media Network.
Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón is a journalist at El American specializing in the areas of American politics and media analysis // Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón es periodista de El American especializado en las áreas de política americana y análisis de medios de comunicación.
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