(Part 3 of a three-part story)
While you may have heard Rickie Ricardo on the airwaves in English and Spanish on WBLS, WADO, Hot 97, WFAN, WIP (Philly), he’s more than just a silky voice. He also made his mark off the mic as a radio consultant for Spanish-language stations around the country, creating a music formula on a grand scale. Try La Mega 97.9 (WSKQ-FM).
Simply put, Ricardo and Alfredo Alonso went to Spanish stations around the country to juice up their on-air sound. Miami was the last area that needed to be flipped to Mega. The (then Florida, now Miami) Marlins had just captured their second World Series (2003), and like the first time (1997), they rid their stars with another salary dump.
Management wanted Ricardo to energize the unhappy fanbase by getting the players, the young Latinos, to be DJs and do other promotional ideas. He realized the Reggaeton style was growing, and with Daddy Yankee’s hit “Gasolina” in heavy rotation, the station exploded. They also realized Ricardo was a special talent and told him they’d put him on the air doing Marlins games. “Once I got my feet wet in Miami, doing those games for a couple of years,” he states, “I caught the bug.”
He heard the Phillies were interested in him, but he wanted the same deal. “If you let me do anything, you won’t let me out this booth,” he says to Bill Kulik, who had the Spanish language rights to 1680 AM, with typical East Coast bluntness. “About after the fifth inning, Kulik said, ‘Okay. It’s yours.’”
Ricardo is also a savvy businessman. “In conjunction with some very talented salespeople and very shrewd management at Audacy,” notes Ricardo, “we’ve been able to take what was about a $250,000 a year revenue product, Yankees in Spanish, and make it a multi-million dollar revenue stream, a legitimate business, year after year.”
Many broadcasters have a catchphrase, and Ricardo’s went viral in Sept. 2017 when Eagles rookie kicker Jake Elliott hit a 61-yard game-winning field goal. Ricardo screamed, “Si, Senor!” (Yes, sir!) about four times. It went national, and even WFAN played his passion.
For those who might follow Ricardo’s huge footsteps, he has three simple rules. “Treat the job, the profession, that it commands. Respect the position. It is a place of business,” he stated.
“Realize that you’re dealing with multi-millionaire athletes with different personalities. You’ve got to really know when to pick and choose how you treat these guys because they are the best at what they do.”
And finally? “Be humble enough to realize that the audience is why you’re there.”
On the other side, which athlete gets the media? “I came along at the tail end, and Derek Jeter got it,” remembers Ricardo. “Derek played the media instead of the media playing Derek. I’ve never seen anyone handle the New York media the way Derek Jeter did.”
“The closest thing these days happens to be the other captain, Aaron Judge, because part of being the Yankee captain is handling the New York media and playing them instead of the other way around.”
From an on-and-off-the-air talent, being on the ground floor when Frankie Crocker created the urban adult contemporary sound, to broadening the reach to the Latino market in sports and music, Rickie Ricardo has done it all.
What’s next? “Hockey,” he said without missing a beat.
