A multimedia company known for content superserving African American audiences has looked toward Deon Levingston and his success with Hispanic programming in Indianapolis by shifting a FM translator serving Southern Ohio’s largest metropolitan area to a regional Mexican-intensive Hispanic format.
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In a move that validates the surge in Spanish-speaking consumers in this region of Ohio, Urban One has shifted W268CM at 101.5 MHz from simulcasting Black Talk & Information Class C AM WDBZ-AM 1230.
Starting today, the FM translator, which has 99 watts and is best heard in central Cincinnati and in nearby Covington, Ky., is “La Grande 101.5.”
To reflect the entire Spanish-speaking population, select Tropical musical selections will be blended in to the regional Mexican and cumbias-heavy playlist, the company says.
It is being fed off of the HD2 signal of Hip-Hop & R&B Class A WIZF-FM, licensed to Erlanger, Ky., known as “The Wiz.”
While the adoption of regional Mexican programming by the company’s Radio One division may seem surprising, given its focus on Black consumers, the move to “La Grande” in Cincinnati is largely based on the company’s success in 2021 with Levingston-led W286CM, a 250-watt FM translator serving Indianapolis also known as “La Grande.” There, the audio brand, fed off of the WNOW-FM HD3 digital multicast channel, largely covers the east side of the Indianapolis market. And, thanks to a superior signal to regional Mexican competitor WEDJ, growth has been had — a topic Levingston shared at the Hispanic Radio Conference in September.
With the addition of “La Grande,” Radio One Cincinnati will also join Radio One’s Columbus, Ohio market in targeting both Hispanics and Blacks, bringing a full multicultural marketing mix to the three Midwestern markets — all of which have seen tremendous growth in Spanish-speaking audiences over the last two decades.
In Ohio’s state capital, “La Grande” can be found on south-suburban WWLG-FM 102.5, licensed to Circleville, Ohio.
To be clear, the switch of WIZF HD2 and the FM translator at 101.5 MHz to “La Grande” will see Cincinnati-based RVP Eddie Harrell Jr. oversee day-to-day operation of the station, with market VP/GM Dan Abercrombie assisting.
“Building on the success of our La Grande stations in Columbus and Indianapolis, we are thrilled to bring that same energy to the Queen City,” Harrell said. “We look forward to serving the Spanish-speaking communities of the Greater Cincinnati area with compelling content and focus on the diverse business needs.”
Abercrombie added, “We are excited to expand our station footprint here in the Cincinnati Market. “With La Grande 101.5 joining our existing powerful brands (101.1 The WIZ, 100.3 Cincinnati’s R&B station, and 1230 The Buzz Cincinnati) we now become a centralized provider of content to African Americans and Spanish-speaking residents in our region and we will become a ‘one-stop’ provider of solutions for businesses looking to actively market their brands to these audiences.”
