Monday morning, Miami radio listeners will hear a new station on 790 AM. Sports radio programming will be gone. Instead, what used to be 790 The Ticket will be the new home of Radio Libre, a Spanish-language conservative talk network.
When the news became public on Thursday, many in the radio industry expressed grief and surprise on social media. Brian “The Beast” London, who spent seven years at the station, said he started to suspect something was up last month.
“As soon as I saw that Miami Heat games would be on 560 WQAM instead of 790 The Ticket, I knew 790 The Ticket would be coming to an end,” he said in a video posted to his YouTube page, “because the Heat and 790 The Ticket – synonymous.”
The Heat had been heard on 790 The Ticket since 2008. In August, Audacy, which owns both stations, announced that the franchise would call WQAM its new flagship.
The next sign was the exit of Jonathan Zaslow last week. Zaslow’s midday show moved from 790. He spent nearly a year on WQAM before being let go.
“Listen, I don’t think Zaslow liked me,” London said bluntly. “Whether you thought Zaslow was good or bad, he was a staple in this market. He didn’t deserve to lose his job.”
London, who was let go from The Ticket’s morning show in 2018, said ceasing operation of the station was a clear money move. Now, Audacy doesn’t have to pay anyone associated with 790, as Radio Libre’s parent company, Americano Media, will lease time on the frequency.
He highlighted some of the financial trouble Audacy has had in recent years but said that in Miami, sports media members have been feeling the effects ever since Entercom and CBS Radio merged in 2017, bringing WQAM and 790 The Ticket under one roof.
“They ruined a bunch of people’s lives because they made a bunch of bad business decisions. One of the bad business decisions was having two AM sports radio stations.”
