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THE PURCHASE from TelevisaUnivisión of the historic Miami station, Radio Mambí, by the start-up Latino Media Network generated a storm that could jeopardize the transaction, sources inside the company told El American.
As a result, both TelevisaUnivisión and Latino Media Network are concerned about the imminent staff stampede in disagreement with the purchase. They are doing their best to keep at least the top voices of Radio Mambí from resigning. The best recourse, so far, is a juicy $120,000 bonus, paid half and half by the companies.
“The purpose is to prevent the sale of Radio Mambí from turning into a media scandal that could delay the approval of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), causing the sale to fall through,” an inside source explained to El American.
Jorge Bonilla, director of Media Research Center MRC Latino, published information on his Twitter account that coincides with what the source of Radio Mambí told El American.
[The bonus is] “On the condition that [the presenters] remain through completion of the transfer to the Soros-financed group,” Bonilla posted on his Twitter account.The source insists that the purpose of the bonus is to suffocate the noise, at least until the FCC approves the sale.
Another inside source told Radio Mambí that he would walk away, regardless of the bonus, as he “would never take a dollar from Soros”. As stated by this source who generates thousands of dollars in advertisers for the station, if the main commentators leave, the radio station goes bankrupt.
“There are 3 or 4 conservative presenters who have very high peak ratings and a number of clients who 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 TelevisaUnivisión who want to make a transition as peaceful as possible so as not to sink Mambí and take advantage of its reach in the Hispanic audience.”
Latino Media Network — a start-up financed by Lakestar Finance, affiliated with George Soros, and founded by two young Latinas forged in the bowels of the Democratic Party — launched into the news this week by announcing the $80 million raise. With a $60 million agreement to purchase 18 radio stations from the Televisa-Univisión conglomerate, and one of those stations is Radio Mambí.
TelevisaUnivisión has been selling the stations for two years. At one point, it came close to a sale with Salem Media Group, a powerful radio station that generates content focused on conservative and Christian values. At that point, Latino Media Network appeared with a better offer than Salem Media Group for all the stations. However, the source insists to El American that of all the stations Radio Mambí is the most important for Latino Media Network, therefore, its inclusion in the package is a condition.
The agreement for the purchase of Radio Mambí generated an earthquake in the Cuban community of Miami. In fact, a press conference is scheduled for Wednesday, June 8, where Jeanette Nuñez, Lieutenant Governor of Florida, will be present. In addition, the Cuban community called for a protest in front of the facilities of TelevisaUnivisión.
In a report, El American gathered testimonies of several well-known Cubans living in Miami who were concerned about the sale of Radio Mambí, given the imminence of being silenced. However, some did celebrate the transaction, Darren Soto, a Democratic representative from Florida, wrote on his Twitter account: “We had a MAJOR victory against right wing Spanish radio disinformation efforts this week.”
Soto, in particular, has been advocating for months to censor Hispanic radio stations in Miami. In October of last year, he publicly called on the FCC to step in and address “the radicalization of conservative talk radio in the city of Miami.”
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.
Contacto: [email protected]
Orlando Avendaño is the co-editor-in-chief of El American. He is a Venezuelan journalist and has studies in the History of Venezuela. He is the author of the book Days of submission // Orlando Avendaño es el co-editor en Jefe de El American. Es periodista venezolano y cuenta con estudios en Historia de Venezuela. Es autor del libro Días de sumisión.