How KLLI 93.9 radio won Spanish-language station of the year

It was conscionable different engaged time astatine enactment for Haz Montana, vice president of audio brands for Meruelo Media and KLLI (93.9 FM) successful Culver City. The bilingual popular and rhythmic modern presumption features an all-female line-up with Melissa Rios, Angélica Vale and Caro Márquez.

Montana was alert that KLLI and KLOS (95.5 FM), its sister presumption located successful the aforesaid building, had some been nominated for the National Association of Broadcasters’ (NAB) 2021 Marconi Radio Awards, which person been described arsenic the Academy Awards of radio. The ceremony, aft having to cancel the in-person lawsuit successful Las Vegas owed to the pandemic, was acceptable to hap virtually connected Nov. 10.

That day, Montana logged into the ceremonial connected his laptop; helium was hoping to enactment connected arsenic helium headed down the hallway for a meeting. But the awesome dropped.

Trying to wage attraction successful the gathering portion besides attempting to rejoin the feed, Montana says helium abruptly heard shouting.

Soon, helium recovered retired what he’d missed: KLLI (93.9 FM), oregon “Cali 93.9” arsenic it’s known on-air, had conscionable won the NAB Marconi Award for Spanish Language Station of the Year right aft KLOS was awarded Rock Station of the Year.

“It was 1 of those moments similar you’ve missed the World Series clincher,” Montana said with a laughter during a caller telephone interview. “Everyone conscionable erupts and you’re like, ‘Wait, what did I miss?’”

KLLI, aft being purchased by the Meruelo Group successful 2019, switched to a bilingual, Latin-focused popular and rhythmic modern euphony presumption that aforesaid year. Like KLOS, the on-air endowment astatine KLLI remained in-studio during the pandemic — with societal distancing, sanitizing and look masking — to instrumentality unrecorded calls and requests from listeners.

Montana said this was thing that made the presumption basal retired during a clip erstwhile truthful galore on-air personalities were forced to enactment from location and were near incapable to link connected a much idiosyncratic level with their audiences.

“While we’re capable to person an acknowledgment similar the Marconi, yes, it’s a crushed to celebrate, but it’s besides a reminder to ne'er hide that it was yet the assemblage that got america here,” helium said. “Particularly aft this past twelvemonth and a half, astir 2 years we’re coming up connected with the pandemic, this has been an wide mood-setter for us.

“You benignant of suffer show of however important immoderate affectional wins are erstwhile your chemoreceptor is truthful adjacent to the grindstone. But to get immoderate designation for each the hard enactment that the squad has done to enactment connected to the community, it’s a infinitesimal to instrumentality a heavy enactment and say, ‘Wow, we really did thing that was positive.’”

Montana besides attributes the triumph to its on-air roster.

“Angélica Vale successful the greeting has been truly key,” helium said. “She’s an internationally known media prima that started successful theatre and she’s done tv and movies, and vigor has been a caller frontier for her that she’s been capable to maestro successful a mode that has connected her truthful good to L.A. audiences.”

Márquez, helium said, is plugged into the modern euphony country and has go fashionable acknowledgment to segments similar the midday reggaeton flashback hour.

“It’s the roots of reggaeton and it’s mixed successful a truly amusive and unsocial way,” helium said “It’s a amusive benchmark that takes radical into the commencement of their workday.”

Rios came implicit from the greeting amusement connected different Meruelo Group station, KPRW (105.9 FM) oregon Power 106, backmost successful August.

“She’s dynamic, bilingual, bicultural and she’s got a large societal media beingness wherever it complements who she is connected air,” Montana said of Rios. “She’s capable to speech astir relatable things similar relationships and parenting. She’s got a batch of vigor and we person immoderate commercial-free premix hours successful her portion that bash truly well.”

Montana said he’s arrogant that Cali 93.3 is an authoritative portion of the taste cloth of Los Angeles.

“You tin consciousness that vigor arsenic portion of your backdrop successful a metropolis similar Los Angeles,” helium said portion noting that the unit can’t hold to get backmost to the high-energy in-person events with fans arsenic soon arsenic it’s harmless to bash so.

“Radio is an intimate mean and a presumption similar Cali is precise overmuch astir celebrating, truthful being backmost to wherever we tin bash that with the listeners, we’re conscionable waiting for the infinitesimal that makes consciousness for america to bash it full-on. We’ll cognize erstwhile that infinitesimal is right, but small by small we are getting there. We person done immoderate thoroughfare remotes and we did a unrecorded distant from Disneyland recently, but to bash it each again connected a bigger standard would beryllium an endless root of joyousness for us.

“The radical present are craving to beryllium backmost into carnal touch,” helium said.