Philly Radio: iHM Launches Rumba 106.1 FM

iHeartMedia debuts Rumba 106.1, # 1 Para Reggaetón Y Variedad En Philadelphia, effective immediately. WISX Rumba 106.1 will air high energy contemporary top 40 hits from the most popular genres in Latin music today, such as Reggaetón, Urban Pop, Bachata, Salsa and more.

Listeners can tune in to hear music from some of their favorite Latinx artists including Bad Bunny, J. Balvin, Karol G, Marc Anthony and more. Listeners can tune in to hear the biggest hits from their favorite Latinx artists including Bad Bunny, J. Balvin, Karol G, Marc Anthony and more. Broadcasting from Parx Casino Studios, Rumba 106.1 will play ten thousand songs commercial free to kick off the launch. Founding partners include Miller Lite, PGW, Top Dog Law, CarVision.com, Angels Are Us Home Health Agency and Tito’s Handmade Vodka.

“Our decision to create Rumba 106.1 is a recognition of the importance and vitality of the Greater Philadelphia region’s Latino population, which has grown to just over 15 percent over the past five years,” said Derrick Corbett, Senior VP of Programming for iHeartMedia Philadelphia. “The latest Census Bureau statistics show that the Philadelphia region contains the third-highest Latino population in the Northeast.”

“History is unfolding in the city of brotherly love with the very first full-power FM signal dedicated to the Latino community, which has been longing for many years to have its voice represented in Philadelphia,” said P.J. Gonzalez, Senior VP of Programming for iHeartLatino.

“iHeartRadio is proud to introduce Rumba 106.1 as a companion station to the ever-excelling Latino culture.”

“The Delaware Valley has a wealth of organizations and individuals who are committed to serving the Latino community and we are excited that we have a radio station that will strongly support their efforts,” said Jeff Moore, Market President for iHeartMedia Philadelphia.

Rumba 106.1 will play 10,000 songs commercial free to kick off the launch. Founding partners include Miller Lite, PGW, Top Dog Law, CarVision.com, Angels Are Us Home Health Agency and Tito’s Handmade Vodka.

P.J. Gonzalez, senior vice president of programming for iHeartLatino, said Rumba 106.1 will be “the very first full-power FM signal dedicated to the Latino community, which has been longing for many years to have its voice represented in Philadelphia.” Gonzalez said the Philadelphia market has seen its Hispanic population triple in the past 20 or so years, which made the region a prime target for the new format.

Derrick Corbett, senior vice president of programming for iHeartMedia Philadelphia, said the decision to make the format change “is a recognition of the importance and vitality of the Greater Philadelphia region’s Latino population, which has grown to just over 15 percent over the past five years. The latest Census Bureau statistics show that the Philadelphia region contains the third-highest Latino population in the Northeast.”

The Philly Business Journal reports iHeart has more than 30 Latin stations across the country, several of which use the Rumba moniker, including Rumba 92.3 in Reading and Rumba 100.5 in Lancaster. Gonzalez said the station will hire local on-air talent and a local program director and broadcast primarily in Spanish. While the artists at the Rumba formatted stations in the iHeart chain play the same type of music, there are tweaks based on the makeup of the local Hispanic community. For example, the Philadelphia area has a large Dominican population, so the station here might feature more Dominican artists.

In the Philadelphia market, Rumba will face some competition from Mega 105.7 (WEMG-FM), the Camden-based station offers Latin music from a mix of local and syndicated hosts as well as local Spanish play-by-play of Eagles games. It is owned by Davidson Media, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based broadcaster specializing in multi-cultural, community focused formats. WEMG, though, has a much less powerful signal and had less than a third of the listeners to WISX in January.