PASADENA, CALIF. — She joined Univision Communications at the end of 1993 as a research manager, worked in sales at Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. prior to its integration into Univision, and would spend the next 25 years moving upward within what is now TelevisaUnivision. Most recently, she was the interim President/GM of the company’s Southern California media properties and the stations’ longtime Director of Sales.
After sitting on the sidelines for a year, following her departure from TelevisaUnivision, Alejandra “Alex” Santamaria has reemerged at a NPR Member station serving the nation’s second-largest market amid a time of financial distress.
Santamaria has been named CEO of LAist, the operator of KPCC-FM 89.3 and its associated noncommercial spoken word stations airing NPR and locally produced content for greater Los Angeles.
It’s an appointment that LAist itself comes “amid financial turmoil” at the organization, noting significant budget shortfalls leading to two consecutive years of reduction-in-force initiatives. Just last week seven staff members were let go; in 2023 some 20 LAist employees were trimmed from the payroll.
Santamaria formally succeeds Herb Scannell, who exited in April but announced his retirement in September 2023.
LAist is comprised of not only its radio station, but also a podcast unit.
Speaking to an LAist reporter, Santamaria said, “The representation and diversity that LAist brings to Southern California in their storytelling, in providing the facts in the news, and also the investigative reporting that has cracked open some things that really impact a lot of Southern Californians — it’s exactly what excites me in terms of making an impact in a community.”
Her first day in her new role is Tuesday, July 30.
While LAist and its KPCC — along with simulcast partners KUOR-FM 89.1 in Riverside-San Bernardino, KJAI-FM in Ojai (Ventura), and KVLA-FM in Coachella (Palm Springs) — are the main spoken word NPR affiliate for Southern California, it competes vigorously against Santa Monica College’s tastemaker music-driven KCRW-FM for NPR audience.
In the June 2024 Nielsen Audio ratings for Los Angeles, KCRW had a 2.3 share of the listening audience. By comparison, KPCC had a 1.6 share.
