Clear Channel to Flip WNUA/Chicago to ''Mega 95.5''
| RADIO ONLINE | , , | :am CT |
|
After some twenty two years in the format, Smooth Jazz pioneer WNUA-FM/Chicago will flip to Spanish as "Mega 95.5" on Friday, May 22. Mega will first air 5000 songs in-a-row featuring artists such as Shakira, Enrique Iglesias and Aventura before adding local air personalities in about two weeks. WNUA's Smooth Jazz format is moving online to yoursmoothjazz.com, as well as on smart phones via iheartradio.com and on Meda's HD2 channel.
"The revenue support for WNUA declined significantly in recent years due to the changes in how advertisers evaluate radio stations, and we were faced with a very difficult decision," said President/Market Manager Earl Jones.
"This is something we really struggled with," added VP/Programming & Operations Tony Coles. "We're fans of WNUA. So it was really tough to even have conversations about the end of that radio station. But we looked at all the indicators. We really put a lot of time and energy and research and marketing and everything for that radio station, and the needle wasn't moving -- and then the economy started going south as well."
According to stats on Spanish-language operator Univision Radio's web site, Chicago is the nation's number five Hispanic market, with 1.8 million people and $24.2 billion in buying power. Clear Channel says Hispanics make up 28% of
