Take a glance at the Nielsen Audio radio ratings for Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood for the Holiday book of 2023, and you may notice something surprising. WMIA, a unique FM with English-language Classic Hits and a fully Spanish-language presentation, tied market stalwart WFEZ “Easy 93.1” in the overall ratings. At the same time, 50-year-old WHYI “Y-100” was tied with West Palm Beach-based Hot Adult Contemporary giant WRMF.
Many industry observers were particularly startled by the strong ratings of WRMF against Y-100. Now, iHeartMedia is making a programming change by rewarding an architect of WMIA’s “Magic” brand who first gained experience on La Isla del Encanto.
Pedro Javier “PJ” González is adding the duties of SVP/Programming for Miami to his similar role with iHeartLatino, which he took upon joining iHeartMedia in January 2018.
“I am thrilled and fully committed,” Gonzalez said. “I’m prepared to work closely with our outstanding team and capitalize on the distinctive opportunities presented by the dynamic and constantly evolving Miami market.” He will report to Shari Gonzalez, Market President for iHeartMedia Miami.
“PJ Gonzalez’ deep understanding of audience preferences, creative vision and strategic leadership will undoubtedly elevate our stations’ content and engagement,” she said of PJ, who shares surnames with Shari. “We’re thrilled to welcome PJ to our team and look forward to his contributions in shaping the future of our market’s audio landscape.”
PJ Gonzalez replaces Rob Miller, who will remain at iHeartMedia as a strategic advisor for the Hot AC format and other projects.
PJ Gonzalez began his career 30 years ago as a DJ on “La Nueva X” — WXYX-FM in San Juan, Puerto Rico — and would join the programming team led by the late Billy Fourquet at WMEG-FM/WEGM-FM “La Mega” in September 1994 as Research Director. Three years later, he joined another cadena in Puerto Rico — “Fidelity” — overseeing the Soft Adult Contemporary station airing on a trio of signals across the island until May 2002. That’s when he earned the role of VP/Programming for UNO Radio Group.
At the start of 2005, a bigger role came to Gonzalez, as he joined Univision Communications as its VP of Programming for the East Coast Region. This put him in the drivers seat for Puerto Rico’s storied WKAQ-AM and WKAQ-FM “KQ105,” as well as for WXNY-FM in New York and WAMR-FM and WRTO-FM in Miami. In May 2012, Gonzalez was promoted to VP/Content, adding the Chicago market to his duties. Gonzales departed Univision in August 2017.
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