Kenny G and his saxophone are now the wave of the past for WNUA-FM.
The Chicago radio station is more likely now to give listeners Grammy Award winner Marc Anthony and his 1999 hit "Dìmelo" (not the awkwardly-translated English version, "I Need to Know.")
Officials with Clear Channel Communications made the change in format May 22 from new age music to Spanish hot adult contemporary, and spokeswoman Angela Ingram said the station spent the first two weeks airing an automated blitz of music -- 5,000 pop songs all in Spanish.
The radio station's call letters, for the time being, remain at WNUA. But the station now identifies itself as "Mega 95.5." Listening to the automated music being played this week while officials prepare for the format change, one hears artists such as Shakira or Enrique Iglesias, rather than rancheras or more traditional types of salsa music.
"Some of the other (Spanish-language) stations offer regional Mexican music, we're going to be more broad and pop-oriented," said Tony Coles, vice president of programming and operations for Clear Channel's six Chicago-based radio stations.
The company used the time the WNUA frequency is automated to hire and train a new staff of between 20 and 25 people, all of whom will be bilingual.
While talk among the Chicago radio industry prior to the format change was focused on WNUA becoming some sort of rock music format, the change to a Spanish-language format is not new for Clear Channel which owns radio stations in most media markets across the United States.
Since 2004, Clear Channel-owned stations have converted from English to Spanish formats in 20 different markets.
Officials defend the change for the Chicago radio market, noting that two stations showing increases in listenership in recent years have been WLEY-FM (107.9) and WOJO-FM (105.1).
And Coles said WNUA will have an advantage over existing stations because it is inheriting a strong radio frequency.
"We're going to be able to be heard clearly all throughout the Chicago area," he said. "Not all the other Spanish stations can say that."
Five of those stations are owned by the Univision network of Spanish-language television and radio stations across the United States. Univision contends that the Chicago media market is the fifth largest in the country when it comes to Latinos, who have $24.2 billion in buying power.
The increased number of Spanish-language radio stations in Chicago could be evidence of the population increase. Officials say that Latinos currently comprise about 28 percent of the population of Chicago proper, and that figure is expected to grow to about one-third of the total population by the year 2020.
