Across the Southeast’s biggest emerging Hispanic markets, perhaps no company has invested more in reaching this Spanish-language audio content consumer of late than Norsan Media.
Now, it is grabbing what will become its third radio brand in the largest city in the U.S. by square miles.
Founded by Norberto Sanchez, this division of a company that includes restaurants is comprised of TV stations in Charleston, S.C., and Charlotte; regional weekly newspaper Hola News; and radio properties in Charlotte, Greensboro and Wilmington, N.C., as well as in Charleston and Columbia, S.C., Austin, Tex., and Jacksonville, Fla.
It is in Jacksonville where Norsan is expanding, as it is agreeing to purchase WYKB-FM 105.3 in Fernandina Beach, Fla.
The sell is Neal Ardman‘s NIA Broadcasting, and he’s earning $1 million from the station’s sale.
A $50,000 escrow payment has been made to NIA by Norsan. It’s being held by John C. Trent, as escrow agent. The remaining funds will be paid in full with a cash payment at closing. However, to do so Norsan is drafting a Promissory Note in the amount of $400,000, bearing interest at 4.5%, payable over 10 years at a rate of $4,145.54 per month. A balloon payment of $222,363.73 is due at the end of year five.
The Jacksonville market 30 years ago was seen as very Caucasian and the antithesis of multicultural metropolis Miami, some 5 1/2 hours to the south. Not today. Jacksonville’s diverse Hispanic community continues to grow, and Norsan’s WNNR-AM & WVOJ-AM, billed as “La Raza 92.9” thanks to translator W225BI, targets the regional Mexican audience. Co-owned WEWC-AM & WJXR-FM, billed as “Latina 92.1,” offers a Spanish Contemporary format with a much broader Latino audience target.
WYKB will be added to the mix, and it could be used to target Hispanics of Caribbean descent with a Tropical or Latin Urban presentation. This would pit Norsan head-to-head with iHeartMedia, which operates two Spanish-language FM translators. One is “Rumba,” modeled after WRUM/Orlando; the other is “El Patron,” which competes against “La Raza.”
