Latino Media Network\u2019s \u201cRadio Mamb\u00ed\u201d WAQI (710) Miami, at one time the market\u2019s top-rated station, ended its 40-year Spanish news\/talk format Dec. 12, letting go of all its on-air and news staff.<\/p>\n
The station is currently airing Latin music, archived programs and Spanish-language broadcasts of the NBA\u2019s Miami Heat games and will continue as the Spanish-language flagship of Major League Baseball\u2019s Miami Marlins.<\/p>\n
WAQI, long known for serving the Cuban exile community with news coverage of Miami and Cuba, is LMN\u2019s second Miami news\/talk station to exit the format in 2025, following \u201cLa Cuban\u00edsima\u201d WQBA (1140)\u2019s flip to Spanish soft AC in July.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuch like our beautiful city, Radio Mamb\u00ed, its audience, and the media industry are rapidly evolving, presenting financial challenges for many in the marketplace,\u201d WAQI General Manager Mike Sena said in a statement. \u201cFor four decades, Radio Mamb\u00ed 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Months before LMN finalized its $60 million purchase<\/a> of 18 radio stations in 10 cities \u2014 including WAQI and WQBA Miami \u2014 from TelevisaUnivision in 2023, several \u201cRadio Mamb\u00ed\u201d hosts left<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n