24575: Hermantin (news) Brothers want to expand holdings in radio

[sak-pase@bimini.ws]

leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Posted on Sun, Mar. 27, 2005


HAITIAN AMERICANS
Brothers want to expand holdings in radio
Two brothers are trying to enlarge a budding radio business through their 
planned purchase of another popular AM station catering to West Indians.
BY DARRAN SIMON
dsimon@herald.com

Manny and Jean Cherubin hope to alter South Florida's radio landscape with a 
plan to purchase their second Caribbean-format radio station in less than a 
year.

With their proposal to buy WSRF-AM (1580) for $1.75 million, the two 
brothers want to own a web of radio stations by first adding another stop on 
the dial.

The two, who immigrated from Port-au-Prince decades ago, bought the 
Davie-based WAVS-AM (1170) for $2 million last year. Like WAVS, WSRF, also 
known as Mystik, is one of South Florida's premier stations that 
English-speaking West Indians turn to for news, music and information.

The Cherubins cannot legally talk about the sale, now pending before the 
Federal Communications Commission, but it shows the growing business clout 
of Haitian Americans.

''It just goes to show that we are more productive in the community than 
people give us credit for,'' said Harry St. Louis, 52, host of a public 
affairs talk show on WHSR-AM (980) in Boca Raton.

''We produce in the community like every ethnic background,'' said St. 
Louis, owner of an Exit Realty franchise in Margate.

Census figures put the number of Haitian Americans in Broward County at 
slightly more than 65,000. But Haitian-American leaders say the number is 
much higher -- about 100,000, in their estimation.

Miami-Dade County is home to some 98,000 Haitians -- the largest group of 
West Indians in that county, according to census figures.

Advertisers slowly are taking notice of Haitian-American consumer buying 
power.

Earlier this year, Haitian Television Network, Florida's first 24-hour 
Haitian cable station, expanded its French and Creole programs to Comcast 
customers from South Broward to all of Broward and North Miami-Dade and 
Miami to the rest of the county.

Last year, HTN signed a national agreement with Comcast that enables it to 
debut in Boston, Chicago and Atlanta.

The Cherubin brothers, who moved from Port-Au-Prince to Brooklyn, N.Y., 
about 30 years ago, have the same kind of vision for their radio ownership.

They hope to build a network of stations in South Florida, Boston and New 
York to reach African Americans and West Indians who speak English and 
Creole.

When the Cherubins purchased WAVS, listeners were concerned the brothers 
would change the format from English to Creole. But the two say they have no 
plans to do so.

Jean Cherubin declined to talk about their plans for Mystik, if the sale is 
approved.

They are purchasing Fort Lauderdale-based Mystik from its owner, Urban Radio 
of Florida, through their own company, Niche Radio in Miami.

Urban Radio, whose parent company is New York's Inner City Broadcasting 
Corp., holds the license for Mystik, whose president, Carl Nelson is an 
officer in Gallery Broadcasting, which owns a percentage of Urban Radio.

Mystik general manager Lynda Hudson declined to talk about the pending sale.

Gallery has the right to match the offer before Niche Radio can buy it.

The FCC has received an application for the station's sale, spokeswoman 
Rebecca Fisher said. She did not have a timeline on when the FCC would make 
a decision.

The Cherubins once bought time on two South Florida stations, but they 
haven't always been in the radio. Joint business ventures included car 
dealerships in New York and a Miami restaurant they sold. Several years ago, 
the Cherubins launched Choice One Telecom, a Miami-based telephone and 
Internet service provider, after selling phone cards for another company. 
Choice One has about 40 employees and is now worth about $12 million, 
according to Manny Cherubin.