Meruelo Media appoints Haz Montana as Vice President, Audio Brands
It’s a big day for Meruelo Media as they welcome well-seasoned programmer, Haz Montana as the new vice president of Audio Brands.Â
Montana will oversee Audio Brands leading the content department of its Los Angeles cluster — Throwback Hip-Hop 93.5 KDAY/KDEY, Hip-Hop KPWR (Power 106), Classic Rock 95.5 KLOS, and Latin Rhythmic KLLI (CALI 93.9).
Montana will be reporting to Otto Padron, President/CEO of Meruelo Media, who excitedly exclaimed, “We ‘Haz’ Montana and Montana ‘Haz’ Us!
After an exhaustive national search getting to know some of this country’s most amazing leaders in our craft of audio — we’re happy that Haz chose us!” Padron continued, “Haz brings the right balance of audio art and hard science perfectly nested within his steady brand of leadership, personal values, and the confident entrepreneurial spirit we energetically embrace here at Meruelo Media. These very essential qualities are must-have requirements to steer our team and legacy audio brands.”
Background
Montana is a highly experienced media executive who has spent the last 16 years with Univision/UFORIA Los Angeles, to the point of rising to VP of Content, leading legacy Spanish-language AC KLVE, Oldies KRCD, and Regional Mexican KSCA.
During his time at Univision tenure, he drove and developed operational and programming strategies for Univision’s Rhythmic (Reggaetón/Hip-Hop) brand, and launched the national Latino Mix Spanish CHR brand.
Montana was the brain behind the Top 40 and Rock. He originally programmed and was an on-air talent in this show, which evolved into a consulting gig with Critical Mass Media. The success of this gig led to the introduction to Spanish radio in Miami, and eventually to the launch and growth of pioneering Spanish CHR “Super Estrella” in Los Angeles. It further grew and developed into a 10- year concert event franchise.
Montana’s remarks on the appointment were sentimental as he expressed his passion for the audio market. “Hip-Hop, Rock, Throwbacks, Latin Rhythm, and passionate talent. “This opportunity is a dream come true. I’m honored to be starting today with Team Meruelo and looking forward to working with some of this country’s most iconic audio brands and lead a great team of format captains as we continue to develop and grow these legendary call letters towards a market-agnostic and boundless digital horizon. Above all, I’m excited about chartering a bold path in this newly re-imagined role of VP/Audio Brands here at Meruelo Media.” A happy” Montana remarked!