Costa Media Boston to Acquire WFAX in Washington DC

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, June 8, 2022

WFAX/Washington DC

Costa Media Boston LLC, an audio-centric media company focused on the U.S. LatinX Audience in underserved markets, has acquired WFAX (100.7 FM and 1220 AM) that covers the Washington DC metro area including Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV). Since 1948, WFAX with a religious format through brokered programming has been in the hands of the same family. CMB plans a to flip the station to "La Pantera," a Regional Mexican format with a mix of Latin Pop and Latin Urban.

"Our mission is to super-serve the Latino communities in Washington DC, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia by introducing a new format that combines Regional Mexican Music with a mix of Latin Pop and Latin Urban," said Costa Media LLC Managing Partner and Founder Jose M Villafane. "We launched our first station in Boston, on August 1, 2021, and now we expand into the D.C. DMA. We see an opportunity to create and forge partnerships in the local market to super-serve the DMV local Latinx and bilingual community through our format, La Pantera."

La Pantera targets the 17% of the Hispanic/LatinX DC population originally from Central America, South America and the Caribbean, as well as the bilingual English-speaking community. Fulfilling the Hispanic fandom for Futbol/Soccer, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will air in the DC area in Spanish on La Pantera.

The format led by Partner and President of Programming Gerardo Lopez, will include local news, variety shows, music, and Live Sports. Lopez added, "Radio audiences have become more diverse in the U.S., and we aim to entertain and inform as many as possible through our premium content. We believe in the power of the community through radio and it's where we want to focus, working with our local community leaders, politicians, and business owners. La Pantera format already airs in multiple U.S. DMAs successfully."