El Hartford Post
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Is Community Radio the Wave of the Future?
by andy Hartt, The Hartford News
With a tiny transmitter and a broadcast range of only two miles, WEPA-Radio, 1700-AM is certainly a
David among the Goliaths that dominate today’s radio airwaves.
But just as David slew Goliath with one perfectly aimed pebble, WEPA Manager Hipolito Cuevas says the
small signal of his Spanish-language radio station is perfectly targeted at thousands of Hispanics living in
the Frog Hollow, Parkville and Behind The Rocks neighborhoods. Eventually, he hopes to cover all South
and central Hartford.
“Real local radio like this was made possible new technology which allows community broadcasters to
finally take advantage of a FCC regulation called Part 15, which permits low-power stations to broadcast
to the local community,” said Cuevas. “Before this new technology, the investment required to set up a
radio station was too expensive for people who just want to serve the local community.”
WEPA-Radio, which is headquartered on Arbor Street in the Parkville neighborhood, has been
broadcasting in Hartford 24-hours a day, seven days a week since the beginning of the month. The
station has been broadcasting in New Haven since September 2007.
WEPA-Radio’s flagship show is “La Brega Mañanera,” a morning talk show that runs from 6 - 10 am and
makes extensive use of listener participation. “It’s mostly talk, and that’s what I’m good at,” laughs Cuevas.
“Sometimes we talk about Obama, sometimes we talk about what’s going on in Puerto Rico. But we also
talk about what’s happening on Park Street, new stores that are opening, concerts that are coming up,
real local things like that.”
“La Brega Mañanera,” also includes news reports from “Notiuno de Puerto Rico” at the top and bottom of
each hour. “La Brega” is followed by a broadcast from a community radio station in Cidra, Puerto Rico,
from 10 am - 2 pm. “La Brega Mañanera” is re-broadcast from 2-5 pm each day. The remaining hours are
filled by music and news plus a Mexican show from 1270-AM “La Jefa,” from 5-8 pm.
In addition to the radio station, Cuevas also operates an online newspaper, El Hartford-New Haven Post,
and an internet TV station, WEPA-TV, which shows “La Brega” live as well as Latino music videos and
classic Puerto Rican television shows. In addition, WEPA-TV produces a program called, “El Big Show with
Hipolito Cuevas,” which includes the best clips from past broadcasts of “La Brega.” The program is shown
on Hartford Public Access Television (HPA-TV) every Wednesday from 4-5 pm. Cuevas said he is also
planning to produce several more community programs to be broadcast on HPA-TV.
WEPA-TV is the latest venture for a man who has been a familiar voice to Greater Hartford’s Hispanic
community for almost two decades. A graduate of the University of New Haven, Cuevas has worked for
several local radio stations over the years and was also founder and editor of El Reportero, a Spanish-
language supplement to the Hartford News, and El Imparcial, a Spanish-language community newspaper.
When asked about his market research, Cuevas laughs. “My research was living here for all these years.
That’s the best research. Some company could spend thousands sending out surveys, doing telephone
interviews, and all that stuff and they still wouldn’t know what the community likes and doesn’t like as well
as I do...in all my years on radio, I was known as a good talker but I’m a good listener, too. I know what the
community want to listen to, what they want to watch and what they want to read. And that’s what I’m
providing,” said Cuevas.
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