Latino Media Network’s “Radio Mambí” WAQI (710) Miami, at one time the market’s top-rated station, ended its 40-year Spanish news/talk format Dec. 12, letting go of all its on-air and news staff.
The station is currently airing Latin music, archived programs and Spanish-language broadcasts of the NBA’s Miami Heat games and will continue as the Spanish-language flagship of Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins.
WAQI, long known for serving the Cuban exile community with news coverage of Miami and Cuba, is LMN’s second Miami news/talk station to exit the format in 2025, following “La Cubanísima” WQBA (1140)’s flip to Spanish soft AC in July.
“Much like our beautiful city, Radio Mambí, its audience, and the media industry are rapidly evolving, presenting financial challenges for many in the marketplace,” WAQI General Manager Mike Sena said in a statement. “For four decades, Radio Mambí has been a gathering place for South Florida and those devoted to the ideal of a free Cuba. Our microphones welcomed presidents, governors, mayors, dissidents and political prisoners, cultural icons, and community voices. We are proud of this legacy and deeply grateful to the colleagues, listeners and advertisers who made it possible.”
Months before LMN finalized its $60 million purchase of 18 radio stations in 10 cities — including WAQI and WQBA Miami — from TelevisaUnivision in 2023, several “Radio Mambí” hosts left the then-conservative talk station in protest of the deal, which was partially financed by billionaire George Soros, a supporter of progressive and liberal political causes.
“It’s a big blow, whether we like the station’s political leanings or not,” political analyst Fernand Amandi tells the Miami Herald. “The saddest part is that nothing is replacing it.”
While WAQI’s persons 6+ share has steadily declined over the past three Nielsen surveys, to a 1.1 in November, the station reached its highest point in 2000, when it led the market with a 6.7 share.