By Adam Jacobson and Carl Marcucci
MONTCLAIR, VA. — First, he brought his ‘Latinx’ vision to the northern suburbs of Boston with the execution of a LMA-to-purchase agreement forged in August 2021.
Then, on May 24, José Villafañe signed off on an asset purchase agreement that sees the media company he leads adding an AM with an FM translator serving Fairfax County and Arlington, Va., to the asset stable.
Now, his company is ready to take control of the facilities, and will offer a unique programming mix to this slice of the National Capital region.
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Villafañe, as the managing member and 70% equity interest holder of Costa Media Boston LLC, agreed to purchase WFAX-AM 1220 and FM translator W264DB at 100.7 MHz, each licensed to Falls Church, Va.
The seller is Newcomb Broadcasting Co., which had operated the station and its translator as a home for “Teaching God’s Word.” The Christian Talk and Teaching programming has now disappeared, in favor of programming targeting Spanish-speaking Hispanics.
To accomplish this, Costa Media is paying $800,000 to purchase the facilities.
It marks Villafañe’s first move in building a Northeast regional network of Hispanic radio properties, following the launch of “Latinx 103.7″ on FM translator W279DH in Haverhill, Mass., fed by WCCM-AM 1490. The signals for both facilities cover areas just south of the New Hampshire state line, but not Boston.
In the Washington, D.C., area, it’s a whole other story, as Eddie Esserman of Media Services Group successfully represented Newcomb in pitching an AM with nearly full coverage of the Washington, D.C., market as rated by Nielsen Audio.
Esserman, as escrow agent, is holding a $40,000 deposit. At closing, $210,000 in cash will be delivered to Newcomb. The remaining $550,000 will be honored in a Promissory Note with interest accrued at 6.75% per annum. This comes down to $4,867.00 per month for five months, with a final payment $423,865.85 in 2027.
Importantly, Newcomb will maintain ownership of the WFAX and W264DB tower, and lease its use to Costa Media with an initial term of 10 years. An abatement of two years will be honored, from which time a $2,200 monthly payment will be paid to Newcomb by Costa Media. After 12 payments, an annual increase of 2% will go into effect.
Furthermore, Costa Media on July 1 will enter into a studio lease at Tower Square Shopping Center in Falls Church with rent of $2,000 per month for the first year, and $2,900 per month for the second year; a 3% annual rate increase will then go into effect. Newcomb owns the shopping center.
Serving as Costa Media’s legal counsel in this transaction is Francisco Montero of Fletcher Heald & Hildreth; the Doris Newcomb-led Newcomb Broadcasting retained the legal services of Susan Marshall at Shainis & Peltzman.
WFAX boasts a Class B signal with 5kw during daylight hours and 48 watts after dark, from a single tower in the heart of Falls Church, a nine mile drive west of the White House.
That’s also the tower for W264DB, which has a highly directional signal pattern designed to limit it to such Northern Virginia communities as Annandale, Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church and McLean. The FM translator cannot cover Montgomery County or Prince George’s County in Maryland, nor can it reach Washington, D.C., home to growing Latino population centers. That’s because it is short-spaced to Class B WZBA-FM in Westminster, Md., which serves the Baltimore market.
Still, hyperfocusing on Northern Virginia could prove to be a winning plan for Villafañe, as WFAX and W264DB will minimally seek to draw audience from Audacy Corp.’s Class B WLZL “El Zol 107.9,” which covers both Washington and Baltimore but has limited signal coverage of Northern Virginia. There is also a “Franken FM” property, WDCN-LP, which uses a secondary audio channel to operate on 87.7 MHz as “La Nueva.” But WDCN airs a traditional Salsa format, which WFAX will not compete against; El Zol is a current-focused Spanish Contemporary FM blending reggaetón with pop sounds.
Other Hispanic-targeted stations dot the market, and that’s what Costa Media is seeking to compete against. Among the key players are two Regional Mexican brands — WBQH-AM and W22DI at 93.5 MHz, a Hubbard Broadcasting property known as “La Mera Mera“; and WDMV-AM 700 “La Jefa.” There is also spoken word WACA-AM 900 “Radio América.”
Based on what “Latinx” has brought to Haverhill, Mass., it initially appeared likely that the Washington, D.C., operation would attempt to compete against “El Zol.” On June 8, Costa Media revealed that WFAX will air “a new format that combines Regional Mexican with a mix of Latin Pop and Latin Urban.” Thus, it will largely compete against Hubbard.
As of 10:45am Eastern, WFAX and the FM translator were still airing English-language religious programming. A July 1 format change is confirmed, with Nielsen Audio encoding transpiring, Villafañe tells RBR+TVBR.
While unorthodox, Northern Virginia boasts a high concentration of Mexican and Central American first- and second-generation immigrants who show a preference to these divergent musical styles.
WFAX will bear the nickname “La Pantera.” It will serve as the market’s Fútbol de Primera Radio affiliate, bringing 2022 FIFA World Cup radio coverage en español to the market on an exclusive basis.
Gerardo Lopez, who holds 7.5% equity interest in Costa Media, serves as VP of Programming. He shares that local news, variety shows, music, and live sports are in the mix, too.
What’s next for Costa Media? RBR+TVBR hears a Pennsylvania market entry is a priority.
For Newcomb head and President Doris Newcomb, keeping it a local community-owned station was a priority. That will be accomplished with the sale to Villafañe, even as the Christian Talk & Teaching programming that’s been on the station since her dad built it in September 1948 will soon disappear.
WFAX was the first Washington area station to adopt an all-religious format.
