Spanish WJTI 1460 AM Radio Station In Milwaukee Boosts Wattage Output

La Nueva Ritmo radio signal to reach more than 1,400,000 people in coverage area by the end of October

By H. Nelson Goodson
October 18, 2009

Milwaukee -Last Friday, the Spanish WJTI 1460 AM radio station began to boost their wattage output and by the end of October their radio signal will reach more than 1,400,000 people throughout the metro area and surrounding counties. WJTI is best known as La Nueva Ritmo and airs its radio programming in Spanish from the South side of the city, where the predominately Latino community resides.

For the last two years, WJTI has been operating in low wattage and has struggled to reach their potential, until recently. The station is owned and operated by John Torres, CEO of El Sol Broadcasting, and the corporate office is located in the Esperanza Unida International Building, 611 W. National Ave.
Currently, WJTI is operating between 100 to 300 watts and this week will transmit to almost 500 watts, and within the next two weeks the station is expected to reach more than 1,000 watts of power. The station will transmit from six towers located in the 1900 block of S. 98 St. in West Allis, WI. "We are sharing the towers with WGLB 1560 AM, which is a Gospel radio station. Joel Kinlow the owner of WGLB, who I've known for 20 years has been very instrumental in helping La Nueva Ritmo to finally reach our potential," Torres said on Sunday.
In March, WBKU 1470 AM from West Bend filed a petition with the FCC to deny La Nueva Ritmo WJTI from expanding their transmission. But in September after reviewing WJTI application to gain watts, the FCC denied WBKU petition and approved WJTI watt increase.

La Nueva Ritmo began operating in October 2007 and has focused in providing a variety of Spanish music by playing the latest hits. With the FCC approval to increase wattage output, Torres said, "its been a hard road and I'm happy to take this road in order to be more effective and to help provide a voice for the community." There's about 10,000 radio stations throughout the nation, and 7 % are owned by minorities, and 3 % are owned by Latinos, according to Torres.
"La Nueva Ritmo will reach more than 1,400,000 people from throughout the metro Milwaukee area, including, Racine, Kenosha, and Walworth counties," Gilberto Gonzalez, Program Director/Sales of WJTI said Sunday. Gonzalez has been in the radio business for almost 30 years, and has been with WJTI for the last 18 months.

La Nueva Ritmo will most likely rise to the top in AM Spanish broadcasting for their specialty in providing a variety of music, which includes Duranguense, Cumbias, Tejanas, Salsa, and other styles of popular music. WJTI also airs a variety of radio programs with local popular radio personalities 24/6, and on Sundays the station runs in automation, which plays pre-select songs all day.
In the Milwaukee area there are two other stations that provide Spanish programming, La GranD WDDW 104.7 FM radio owned and operated by Bustos Media, Inc. a California based corporation has a different style of providing programming. WDDW airs a national syndicated type of programming and the music is predominately of Mexican origin like Duranguense and has less variety of music, making it distinctively different than La Nueva Ritmo WJTI.
On Sundays only from noon to 3:00 p.m., the Orgullo Latino program is hosted by radio personality Wally Ramos in 91.7 FM WMSE and specializes in Salsa and mostly Puerto Rican, and Caribbean style of music.