Newsmax announced the acquisition of Radio Mambí (WAQI-AM 710) and WQBA-AM 1140, the two Miami radio stations that for decades served as the voice of the Cuban exile community, for a combined price of 1.8 million dollars, as reported last Monday by the specialized publication Radio Ink.
The operation, exclusively mediated by the firm Kalil & Co., is pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other regulatory conditions, so the sale is not formally finalized.
According to documentation submitted to the FCC, the price of WAQI is 1.26 million dollars and that of WQBA is 540,000 dollars. Newsmax is acquiring both frequencies from Latino Media Network (LMN), the group that purchased them in 2022 and ended its spoken programming last year.
The contrast with that operation is striking: LMN paid 60 million dollars in 2022 for a package of 18 stations from TelevisaUnivision that included Radio Mambí and WQBA. Now Newsmax acquires both for less than 3% of that amount.
LMN promised a more diverse programming with a "democratic and centrist" orientation, but those changes never materialized at Radio Mambí. WQBA was relaunched in August 2024 as "El Pulso de Miami," but the lack of sponsors led to the termination of its entire staff in July 2025, including Oscar Haza, Neida Sandoval, and Carlucho, and the station began to broadcast only music.
Radio Mambí went off the air in December 2025 after four decades of uninterrupted broadcasting, leaving around twenty employees without jobs and replacing the spoken programming with automated music and sports broadcasts of the Miami Heat and the Miami Marlins.
Founded in 1985 by Cuban-American businessman Amancio Víctor Suárez, "La Grande" —as it was popularly known— was for four decades the main forum for political debate among the conservative exile community in Miami, a platform for denouncing the Cuban dictatorship and a reference point for anti-Castro thought in the United States.
Figures like Armando Pérez Roura, general director from the foundation until his retirement in 2015 and passed away in November 2020 at the age of 92, and Ninoska Pérez Castellón, who worked 26 years at the station before resigning in January 2023 following the arrival of LMN, defined its identity for generations.
Newsmax plans to restore Radio Mambí as a platform for news, opinion, discussion, and community participation in Spanish, with expanded local coverage for Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe, and national digital distribution through social media and podcasts. The company has not announced a specific launch date or names of the hosts.
The CEO of Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, described the broadcaster with these words: “Radio Mambí is an institution. For decades, it has been the voice of a community that understands the value of freedom because it has fought to preserve it. We are honored to continue that tradition and ensure that Radio Mambí remains a trusted source of news, information, and conversation for generations to come.”
The acquisition comes just days after the elections on November 3, 2026, highlighting the political significance of the return of a conservative voice in Spanish in South Florida. Republican Congressman Carlos Giménez celebrated the purchase and referred to Radio Mambí as a "beacon of hope" for the Cuban exile community.
Newsmax is now operating in the Spanish-speaking space with Newsmax en Español, a television channel launched in 2025 that uses artificial intelligence to dub its programming into Spanish in real time. The acquisition of the two AM frequencies would mark its first foray into radio station ownership, pending FCC approval for the operation.
Related videos:
Filed under: