SBS taps Shakira for L.A. radio rebrand

SBS VP West Coast Market Manager Bill Shadorf, president and CEO Raúl Alarcón, Shakira and EVP of Programming Jesús Salas during the L.A. press conference announcing the rebrand of SBS' Mega 93.9. — Bill Shadorf, Raúl Alarcón, Shakira and Jesús Salas during the L.A. press conference announcing the rebrand of SBS’ Mega 93.9.

Latino 96.3 is history. Effective Friday, Spanish Broadcasting System rebranded and relaunched the station as Mega 96.3FM (KXOL-FM- 96.3FM).

SBS brought in pop star Shakira and company president and CEO Raúl Alarcón, Jr. to Los Angeles to make the announcement at a press conference.

Now called Mega 96.3, the station is a Spanish-Rhythmic-Pop format that aims to cater to young Latino adults in the 18-49 demographic.

Mega 96.3FM is the third SBS radio station to broadcast a market-specific version of the “Mega” brand, which according to the company, has had great success in New York and Puerto Rico.

SBS says the new Mega 96.3FM station will benefit from a stronger signal and the image rebrand with Shakira, Romeo Santos and Enrique Iglesias. It will also leverage its multi-platform assets to create special events, national and local promotions and products by artists such as Shakira, Ricky Martin and other celebrities.

With the rebrand, Mega 96.3FM will also do some on-air talent changes, which will be announced soon.

Bill Shadorf, VP West Coast Market Manager of SBS, who last year jumped ship from Univision Radio, also present at the conference, assured the refeshing of the brand and format will help reach a wider variety of listeners.

SBS also owns Regional Mexican format station 97.9 FM La Raza.