It’s been a busy few months for the bilingual AC format that combines English-language Classic Hits, a few more recent Spanish-language ballads, and Spanish speaking announcers.
Through October, iHeart had replicated the success of WMIA (Magic 93.9) Miami at only two other stations. But in the last two months of the year, there were flips at Cox’s WOEX (Hits 96.5) Orlando, Fla., Waterloo’s KLZT-HD2 (Latino 97.1) Austin, Texas, and iHeart’s own KXXM (Mix 96.1) San Antonio, Texas, which became the first iHeart station to outright drop the CHR format, leaving a hole in the market.
Finally, on January 10, Emmis switched WEPN (TJ98.7) New York, launched as a “pop-up” Hot AC station during an ongoing search for a buyer, to bilingual AC as La Exitosa 98.7. The previous format had seemed to be positioned between iHeart’s CHR WHTZ (Z100) and Hot AC WKTU. This one was more aimed at their AC powerhouse WLTW (Lite FM), as well as Audacy’s Classic Hits WCBS-FM. The station is still powered by Radio.Cloud’s browser-based operating system, which actually got an on-air shout-out on TJ98.7.
We took a “First Listen” to La Exitosa, as well as Hits 96.5 and Mix 96.1. (We updated Magic 93.9 on a separate Miami listen last week.) As you might expect, the stations differ from each other in the same way that different owners’ Mainstream ACs might. Like Cox’s AC stations, WOEX plays a few edgier new titles. It also plays only one Spanish title an hour, while La Exitosa and Magic 93.9 play a few more.
Exitosa is jockless at this writing. San Antonio and Orlando have the higher-energy jocking still found more commonly in Spanish-language radio. (I hadn’t heard Mix 96.1 near the end, but chances are now that it’s more enjoyable uptempo in that regard than its CHR predecessor.)
Here’s La Exitosa 98.7 on its first evening at 11:10, January 10:
- DHT, “Listen to Your Heart” (ballad version)
- Heart, “Alone”
- Franco DeVita, “No Basta”
- Natalie Imbruglia, “Torn”
- John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John, “You’re the One That I Want”
- OMD, “If You Leave”
- Chayanne, “Atado a Tu Amor”
- Celine Dion, “My Heart Will Go On”
- Bananarama, “Cruel Summer”
- ‘N Sync, “Bye Bye Bye”
- La Quinta Estacion, “Algo Mas”
- Starship, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”
Here’s Hits 96.5 at 4:00 p.m., January 14 with Luis Angel:
- Fugees, “Killing Me Softly”
- Marc Anthony, “Se Esfuma Tu Amor”
- Madonna, “Like a Prayer”
- Lauv, “I Like Me Better”
- Jennifer Lopez, “Waiting for Tonight”
- Bonnie Tyler, “Total Eclipse of the Heart”
- Lifehouse, “You and Me”
- Mariah Carey, “Dreamlover”
- Kenny Loggins, “Footloose”
- Katy Perry, “Firework”
- Verve, “Bitter Sweet Symphony”
- Dan Hartman, “I Can Dream About You”
- Backstreet Boys, “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”
- Alicia Keys, “Fallin’”
Here’s Mix 96.1 at 5 p.m., January 14:
- Culture Club, “Karma Chamelon”
- Whitney Houston, “I’m Every Woman”
- George Michael, “One More Try”
- Outfield, “Your Love”
- Juanes & Nelly Furtado, “Fotografia”
- Phil Collins, “One More Night”
- Shaggy, “Angel”
- Katrina & the Waves, “Walking on Sunshine”
- Gloria Estefan, “Don’t Wanna Lose You”
- Backstreet Boys, “All I Have to Give”
- A-Ha, “Take on Me”
- Bee Gees, “More Than a Woman”
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com