Sarasota Hispanic media company buys faith-based radio station

Solmart Media, a Sarasota-based Latino-owned and -operated radio station company, has acquired a radio station owned by Salem Media Group with reach in the Tampa-Clearwater and Orlando markets.

Financial terms of the deal, for WTWD 910 AM, licensed to Plant City, and its 102.1 FM translator, licensed to Lakeland, weren’t disclosed. The purchase, Solmart Media says in a statement, adds to the company’s existing portfolio of three stations.

The stations will now be in a regional Mexican format, from what was an all-faith-based programming format under Salem Media. “We looked into a half dozen prospective broadcast properties before deciding that the Salem Media Group station offered the highest potential to reach the widest audience in the demo we serve, which is primarily Mexican and Central American in origin,” Solmart Media CEO Tomas Martinez says in the release. 

The new WTWD AM-FM combo will allow Solmart Media to sell in what it calls “the coveted I-4 advertising corridor by reaching over one million listeners.” In addition to Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg, those markets include Wimauma, Brandon, Riverview, Dover, Holiday, Lakeland, Bartow, Winter Haven, Hanes City, Polk City, Plant City and Zephyrhills. 

The New La Numero1 will carry El Bueno, La Mala y El Feo, the Nielsen rated No. 1 Spanish language morning show in the U.S. It will also generate local programming, the release states. 

Solmart Media also owns and operates La Zeta WZSP 105.3 FM and LaNumero1 99.1 FM and 1280 AM with two additional HD signals transmitting from its Sarasota studios. The stations reach nine counties with an estimated audience of 500,000 listeners. Solmart Media was founded in 2014 by Spanish radio executive Martinez and his wife, Spanish broadcast journalist Mercedes Soler. Its core business is radio broadcasting and advertising sales, including podcasting, streaming, promotions and live events.