SBS’s Raúl Alarcón is Radio Ink’s Executive of the Year

By Radio Ink

When Raúl Alarcón announced his return as President of Spanish Broadcasting System in February 2024, it signaled a new focus for the company he co-founded with his father in 1983.

Now back at the helm, Alarcón – who has held a spot on Radio Ink’s 40 Most Powerful People in Radio list for a record-breaking 27 years – is optimistic about the future of SBS and Hispanic radio as a whole.

For his commitment to creating top-tier entertainment for listeners while helping brands understand and capitalize on the potential of the Latino market, Radio Ink is proud to name Raúl Alarcón as Radio Executive of the Year.

“The power, and the reach of Latinos in the United States is unbelievable. I tell this to people, I give them the facts, and they look at me like I’ve got three heads. If you took it separately, just the Latino core in the United States, it would be the fifth largest economy in the world as defined by GDP and buying power. I tell people this and they say ‘Nah, that can’t be right.’ It’s right,” Alarcón tells Radio Ink.

He adds, “And here is what is so frustrating and perplexing: We are not getting anywhere near to what we should be getting in terms of advertising expenditures and all that you think would go along with being a primary economic factor in this country.”

Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1956, Alarcón immigrated to New York with his family in 1960. His father, Pablo Raúl Alarcón Sr., was a prominent figure in Cuban radio before the family’s relocation.

Initially aspiring to become a physician, Alarcón studied biology at Fordham University. However, in 1983, he joined his father in establishing SBS, starting with the purchase of WSKQ in New York. By 1986, he would be the broadcaster’s President, rising to CEO in 1994. Under his leadership, SBS expanded its portfolio to include multiple radio stations across major US markets, the 300+ affiliate AIRE Radio Networks, digital platforms like LaMusica, and live entertainment divisions.

Radio Ink President and Publisher Deborah Parenti said, “Raúl Alarcón has been a driving force in the Hispanic media community for years. His strong and outstanding leadership and tenacity are qualities that everyone in the industry can look to and admire.”

HispanicAd CEO Gene Bryan remarked, “Raúl Alarcón and his company Spanish Broadcasting System are the true essence and character of Broadcasting to US Hispanics, PUNTO!”

In Radio Ink‘s January issue, Alarcón reflects on the past year for SBS including the company’s expansion into digital platforms, the challenges of bilingual programming, the persistent struggle for Hispanic media to secure ad dollars, and his own approach to executive leadership.

When it comes to that digital expansion for SBS through the La Musica platform, Alarcón tackles the topic with honesty, saying, “I take all of the blame for possibly moving in that direction a little slower than I should have. Nonetheless, particularly in the last two years or so we’ve been doing a lot digitally and that’s both on the content end of our offerings and platforms, as well as the revenue end of those efforts. Just pruning and producing our product in a way that’s, appealing to our listeners and to the public at large.”