Soros-backed group’s takeover of Miami’s conservative Radio Mambi ‘is about power,’ Jorge Bonilla says
Director of MRC Latino feels only equivalent is if ‘a Clintonite group’ controlled Rush Limbaugh’s flagship affiliate.
Miami’s Spanish-language conservative talk radio market will have a new player on Monday, as Americano Media content will be heard on Audacy's new Radio Libre 790 to compete with the famed Radio Mambi ahead of its planned takeover by a George Soros-linked liberal group.
Radio Mambi, which is historically linked to the Cuban exile community and offers an anti-communism view, has made waves over the past few months as a looming takeover by a group of high-powered liberals partially funded by Soros is awaiting Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval. Some conservatives, particularly right-leaning Hispanics, have called it an attempt by the left to control the information made available to Spanish-speaking voters.
But instead of sticking around and working for Soros’ group, some of the station’s most prominent hosts jumped ship to upstart Americano Media, which was only available online, on SiriusXM and through its app until now. On Monday, Americano Media programming will be broadcast on Audacy’s 790 AM, and many former Radio Mambi stars are set to return to the Miami airwaves as a result.
Former Radio Mambi host Dania Alexandrino will be part of the all-new Radio Libre 790. (Americano Media )
"The joint endeavor with Audacy is a natural fit for Americano," Americano Media founder and chief executive Ivan Garcia-Hidalgo said. "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."
Former Radio Mambi hosts Nelson Rubio, Dania Alexandrino, and Lourdes Ubieta will all be on the new station. They walked away from their previous gigs out of refusal to work for the Soros-linked group.
Former Radio Mambi host Nelson Rubio, a conservative, will join Americano Media instead of working for a group linked to liberal billionaire George Soros. (Americano Media )
"We’re proud to introduce Spanish radio to our South Florida portfolio for the first time ever and empower the voices of so many of our neighbors in this community. With the launch of this station, we aim to not only serve our listeners but give them a reliable home for the news they seek and the information they rely on every day," Audacy regional president Claudia Menegus said.
While Radio Mambi is getting some new competition, it’s not the only Spanish-language station that the Soros-linked group is looking to control. The formation of the Latino Media Network, a new network set to be made up of 18 Hispanic radio stations including Radio Mambi, was partially financed by Lakestar Finance, an investment group affiliated with Soros Fund Management. The stations, currently owned by Univision, would be controlled by Jess Morales Rocketto, a former Hillary for America and AFL-CIO employee, and Stephanie Valencia, a former Obama White House staffer, if the venture receives FCC approval.
Billionaire philanthropist and activist George Soros. (Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Media Research Center director of MRC Latino Jorge Bonilla previously blasted the move as a power grab by the left.
"This is about power, this is about control… this is about controlling the flow of information to a specific community for political purposes, and that is what makes this deal, I think, so controversial," Bonilla told Fox News Digital.
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Americano Media -- which is directly taking on Radio Mambi – aims to represent "a counterrevolution and the entry onto the scene of the only non-progressive national media outlet created by and for the Hispanic American community, a community tired of being treated as a victim of its past, played with emotionally and that the other networks in the country only offer him fear as his present and uncertainty for his future," according to its website.
Americano Media will no longer air on SiriusXM.