José Villafañe has been busily over the last several years building a regional Hispanic media enterprise through Costa Media while making Nueva Network a top independent Spanish-language audio network serving the entire U.S. Recently, Nueva launched the online radio, podcasts, social media, streaming and entertainment portal Queonnda.com. Now, the QueOnnda.com branding is being used at the two Costa-owned radio properties it operates.
This sees WDCN, officially Channel 6 but using its corresponding FM signal of 87.7 MHz, in the Washington, D.C., market; and WCCM-FM 103.7 in the northern portion of the Boston market adopt the “QueOnnda” brand. “QueOnnda” is a take on the Mexican phrase ¿Qué Onda?, or “What’s Up?”
Nueva Network says both radio stations are “part of a bold new digital strategy designed to reshape the future of Spanish-language radio across the U.S. Whether or not that’s marketing hype or an accurate prediction of what’s to come for Nueva remains uncertain, as the Hispanic audio space has evolved in dramatic fashion. Today, Estrella Media is linked to the Standard General-funded MediaCo Holding, putting its broadcast assets in the same basket as longtime New York hip-hop radio station “HOT 97” and R&B leader WBLS. Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) is being overseen on a day-to-day basis now by its founder, Raúl Alarcón Jr., and Hispanic media sales icon Gene Bryan. Bryan assumed duties formerly held by Albert Rodriguez, now at the MediaCo Holding operation. Meanwhile, regional player Norsan Media has seen tremendous growth in Orlando and Jacksonville in a short period of time, while on the West Coast Lazer Broadcasting and Lotus Broadcasting continue to compete against Entravision, today generating a significant percentage of its revenue from digital advertising solutions instead of its broadcast properties.
In Washington and Boston, chief competitors include Audacy — controlled by Soros Fund Management — and the nation’s No. 1 owner of radio stations, iHeartMedia. Audacy recently competed a bankruptcy restructuring resulting in a purge of top leadership, while iHeartMedia remains billions of dollars in debt.
Villafañe believes he has a differentiated product that’s ripe for audience growth amid all of the changes elsewhere, including with the TelevisaUnivision-owned Uforia stations operating in other markets. “Our goal is simple-deliver dynamic local content through an innovative multi-platform strategy,” says Villafañe. “QueOnnda empowers our affiliate partners to tap into digital opportunities while staying rooted in their local radio communities. It allows local sales teams to offer new value to advertisers-and to compete in an increasingly digital-first market without the heavy cost of building their own platforms.”
