Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) has acquired two FM radio stations in Orlando and Tampa Bay for $12.5 million. The acquisition makes SBS the largest Hispanic radio platform in Florida.
SBS is already a strong leader in one of the nation’s largest Hispanic audio markets. The company says it will use its expanded footprint to offer unique advertising opportunities to its partners and forge closer connections with the Hispanic community.
Raúl Alarcón, SBS Chairman and CEO, said, “We look forward to super-serving our audiences and advertisers in the Sunshine State and across the nation with the best radio, digital audio and live events content, including the most popular and iconic on-air talent, geared specifically for today’s influential Hispanic consumer.” He continued, “The addition of this powerful ‘El Zol’ Orlando/Tampa duopoly makes SBS the largest Spanish radio owner in the state of Florida.”
Orlando’s 95.3 WPYO and Tampa Bay’s 97.1 WSUN, both launching in the Tropical format of Fort Lauderdale’s “El Zol” 106.7 WXDJ, are the two radio stations acquired by SBS from Cox Radio LLC. In addition to those in Florida, SBS owns and operates radio stations located in top US Hispanic markets, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Puerto Rico.
SBS also owns MegaTV, a television network with air, cable, and satellite distribution throughout the US and Puerto Rico, offering a broad roster of live concerts and other events. La Musica, a mobile app providing Hispanic-focused music streaming content, is among the digital content distribution properties to which SBS has its claim. They also own HitzMaker, an app that focuses on aspiring artists uploading their music for a connected “network of influential radio professionals” to discover.
In the 1950s, SBS founder Pablo Raúl Alarcón Sr. started his first radio station in Camagüey, Cuba. After emigrating from Cuba in 1960, he continued his career in radio, having acquired 14 radio stations in Cuba before moving to the US. His son, Raúl Alarcón Jr., became President and director of SBS in 1985. In 1988, the company purchased its first FM radio station, 97.9 KLAX, in Los Angeles.
In 2002, the company launched its concert production branch, SBS Entertainment. Raúl Alarcón Sr. was inducted posthumously into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2009.