Latino Media Network clears FCC hurdle in quest to purchase Miami’s Radio Mambí

Latino Media Network, the newly formed media company that stirred controversy when it announced plans this summer to purchase Miami’s Radio Mambí along with 17 other stations in Hispanic markets, has been approved by the Federal Communications Commission to buy the Spanish-language stations from TelevisaUnivision.

Monday’s decision by the FCC is a significant step toward finalizing the $60 million deal. On Wednesday, a Latino Media Network spokesperson said the company continued to “focus on creating a broadcast network that is owned by and made for our country’s rapidly growing Latino population.

As we move in 2023, we will be listening to the communities we serve to help build a multimedia network that inspires, informs and celebrates our unique Hispanidad,” the spokesperson said. TelevisaUnivision declined to comment. Once announced this summer, the deal quickly became political as members of Congress from around the country debated Latino Media Network’s purchase, particularly as it pertained to Radio Mambí.

Conservative critics warned that LMN’s leaders, who have ties to Democratic campaigns and left-leaning networks, would push changes out of step with the audience for the station, an institution in the Cuban exile community in Miami. Democrats, who in recent years have warned of the spread of misinformation on Spanish-language radio and media networks, advocated for the sale to go through