Boricua Broadcasting files for Ch. 7 liquidation
Boricua JE Broadcasting Corp., the company that until last year managed the programming of the 740 AM station formerly known as “Boricua 740,” filed for Chapter 7 liquidation at the U.S. Bankruptcy court in San Juan this week.
The company had essentially been operating for the past 12 months with the sole purpose of collecting outstanding debts and was not related at all to the mostly talk radio station, a source told this media outlet Thursday.
In the filing, Boricua JE Broadcasting listed nearly $719,000 in debt and its extensive list of creditors includes some familiar on-air personalities, including analysts José Arsenio Torres and Julio Fontanet, who are owed $33,480 and $24,000, respectively, as well as journalist and meteorologist Susan Soltero and sexologist Wanda Smith, who are in the red for $9,700 and $46,126, respectively.
The company’s list of creditors also includes the Internal Revenue Service, which is owed more than $122,000, the Puerto Rico Labor Department, with $19,365 and Bestov Broadcasting Corporation, which stands to collect $55,675.
This latter creditor owns the 740 AM signal, which it had leased to Boricua JE Broadcasting Corp. in January 2012. However, the relationship soured after the first few months, prompting Bestov to cancel the contract in September 2012.
Two months later, in November, WIAC 740 presented its new lineup — which changed from news and information to Spanish-language variety programming — that included many of the personalities that worked for the prior incarnation of the station, plus several new voices.
WIAC was founded in 1942 and is currently being operated by third-generation members of broadcasting pioneer Alan Mejía’s family.
