One of South Florida’s most influential Spanish-language News/Talk stations has shut down after four decades on the air. Latino Media Network confirmed the end of Radio Mambí (WAQI-AM), closing a station long associated with the Cuban exile community.
Radio Mambí originated in the mid-1980s when Jefferson-Pilot Communications sold WGBS-AM to Cuban-American businessman Amancio Suárez for $3.5 million. Suárez rebranded the station as WAQI, creating a talk platform that quickly became a counterweight to rival WQBA. By 1990, WAQI had become the top-rated Spanish-language outlet in the market.
Suárez sold his controlling interest to Heftel Broadcasting in 1995, making WAQI and WQBA sister stations. After Heftel merged into Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. and later Univision, Radio Mambí maintained high time-spent-listening levels but faced an aging audience base and growing competition from WSUA, WURN, and later WMYM.
In 2022, Univision sold WAQI, WQBA, and 16 additional stations to Latino Media Network for $60 million. The deal triggered community backlash due to LMN’s financing from Soros Fund Management, renewing concerns about the future political tone of the station with audience erosion following.
Latino Media Network cited financial strain as the reason for discontinuing WAQI’s long-running talk format.
WAQI General Manager Mike Sena said, “For four decades, Radio Mambí has been a gathering place for South Florida and those devoted to the ideal of a free Cuba. Often the market leader in Spanish-language talk, our microphones welcomed presidents, governors, mayors, dissidents and political prisoners, cultural icons, and community voices. We stood with Miami through hurricanes and history. Much like our beautiful city, Radio Mambi, its audience, and the media industry are rapidly evolving, presenting financial challenges for many in the marketplace.”
Sena added that WAQI “will close our live news/talk chapter and will forge on to new frontiers.” An automated music format and Spanish-language coverage of the Miami Heat and Miami Marlins will continue.
