Napa Valley’s radio stations increase commitment to the community
By Paul Franson
NAPA, Calif. — Will and Julissa Marcencia bought the local radio stations in Napa Valley on July 17, 2017, with the intention of serving the local community. The Tubbs Fire three months later made them double down on that mission. Since then they have become hyper-local, even switching one station to Spanish to better serve a large unserved local community.
Their work is an interesting complement to what’s happening at local newspapers.
If you’re reading this, you likely know the state of Napa Valley journalism. The shrinking of the Napa Valley Register is why Napa Valley Features came into existence, and locally owned Highway 29 Media bought the Calistoga Tribune and Yountville Sun to keep them from closing.
But you might not realize that we are blessed with another medium. Napa Valley is one of the few prominent areas in the country that has locally owned independent radio stations whose owners are committed to serving the community.
Wine Down Media, parent of KVYN The Vine 99.3 FM and KVON Megamix 1440 AM, is owned by the Marcencias, who have an impressive background at major broadcasting companies and a passion to serve their adopted community. That is significant because, like newspapers, radio and TV station ownership in this country has become highly concentrated in a few large chains that care little about their communities and more about the money or the political messages they broadcast in some areas.
In response to the Register’s cutbacks of staff and local reporting, however, KVYN and KVON have beefed up local news coverage and community programming to augment their adult alternative music format. Their mission is to deliver entertainment, information and empowerment to the Napa Valley as they guide the media platforms’ evolvement with today’s technology.
“Our advantage is community involvement,” Will said. “Our staff is live and local, not far away. It’s hyperlocal, and the pandemic heightened the need for local news.”
On-air features include:
“Adoptable Pet of the Week” and “Pet Life” by Napa Humane and the Napa County Animal Shelter
“Dealing With Dementia,” by Providence-Collabria Care
“Medical Minutes,” by OLE Health
“Senior Moments” by Molly’s Angels
“The Sporting Life” with Mark Ibanez
Quite a ride since 2017
It has been quite a ride for the couple since they bought the stations. Just months later the Tubbs Fire hit in October, and cellular and many internet services failed. The Marcencias improvised to turn the station into a primary information source for the community with help from staffers, vintner Judd Finkelstein, volunteers, local politicians and officials. This experience led the couple to further emphasize local coverage. The pandemic two years later also pointed out the need for local focus and crystalized their commitment to local news and coverage.
“We’re most excited about filling the void in the local community,” Will said. “People never complain that our coverage is too local.”
Last year, they converted their KVON AM station to Spanish to serve the large population whose first or only language is Spanish and who don’t have any local newspapers in their native language. Currently the station is looking for a bilingual reporter who could share stories with Highway 29 and even the Register, thanks to a grant from the Napa Valley Community Foundation.
“We don’t just want translation,” Julissa said. “We want reporting in Spanish.”
KVYN also broadcasts on 103.5 Upvalley and streams on the internet. It has a license for an FM station to carry the Spanish programming from KVON AM, but that has been delayed in the aftermath of the fires.
Big broadcast backgrounds
Will Marcencia grew up in Southern California of diverse Hispanic roots. His grandparents are from Costa Rico, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Cuba. He began his career in marketing in the banking industry after graduating from Loyola Marymount University but quickly realized it wasn’t for him. He switched to entertainment, joining the advertising sales team at Univision Communication Inc., the leader in Spanish-language broadcasting. After some promotions, he moved over to the company’s newest revenue-generating division, Content Distribution. He had a bright future ahead at big broadcasting.
Julissa grew up in a Mexican American family in the seaside Ventura County city of Oxnard. During her freshman year of high school her family moved to neighboring Camarillo, where she participated in service organizations, played volleyball and basketball, and was active in summer and winter camps. After attending Santa Monica College, she transferred to Chapman University in Orange to study marketing. There she learned about an open internship at Viacom Media Networks’ Music and Entertainment Group (MTV, VH1, Comedy Central). This would be her first step in a 15-year media career.
After graduation she was hired by the Nickelodeon Group (Nickelodeon, Nick Jr.) in their network sales team. After promotions within Viacom, she moved to Barcelona, Spain, to pursue her MBA at United International Business Schools. From there she worked for Prisa Radio, the world’s largest Spanish-language radio group.
When she moved back to Southern California with her MBA, she was offered a marketing position at Univision, where she met her future husband. She replaced him in a job, but they ended up working together. Then seeking a different life, they resigned their corporate jobs at UCI to elope abroad, blended their last names (Will Martinez and Julissa Placencia) to start their own legacy, and began their entrepreneurial journey.
They first considered real estate development, then decided to play to their strong experience in media by creating Wine Down Media, which bought not only the radio stations but their digital and social assets, as well. Now she is chief visionary officer, he the chief executor.
Both are heavily involved in the community. Will serves on the boards of Highway 29 Media, Providence Community Health Foundation Napa Valley, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Friends of Napa County Animal Shelter. He is also a member of the Sunrise Rotary Club, former member of Napa Valley Community Foundation’s Community Programs and Grants committee, and alumnus of Leadership Napa Valley’s Class 32. He is a recipient of the North Bay Business Journal Latino Business Leadership Award, Cablefax’s Top 30 Under 30, the Harvesting Pride Award from the Napa County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Napa County’s Neighboelping Neighbors recognition.
Julissa serves as the vice presidon board of directors for Napa Humane and as board secretary for mental health services provider Mentis. She is an alumna of Leadership Napa Valley’s Class 33 and was named in "Top 40 Under 40” by the North Bay Business Journal in addition to receiving its Latino Business Leadership Award previously.
As chief visionary officer, Julissa oversees the Spanish programming and many specials, such as small sessions with visiting musicians at the station, some that listeners can attend, and programs around the community as well as promotion. Will handles administration that includes human resources, accounting, operations and engineering. They have a year-old daughter, Julivia, as if they weren’t busy enough, and they created the Sabor + Ritmo festival that recently drew a large crowd to Silverado Resort for an upscale Latin cultural experience.
The news and more
The stations have a number of on-air personalities, some more involved in the news than others.
Here’s the daily schedule for KVYN:
6 to10 a.m.: Wine Country Live with Barry Martin, Cara Mae Wooledge, Taylor Bartolucci and guests
10 a.m. and 10 p.m.: 10@10 with Big Rick Stuart and Nate Campbell. Music from one particular year
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Bob St. Laurent
3 to 5 p.m.: Afternoon Mix With Robin Bright
5 to 7 p.m.: 501 Blues and 530 Oldies With Robin Bright
Top of the Hour News With Nate Campbell
In the spirit of full disclosure. I appear on Barry Martin’s Wine Country Live most Thursdays at 7:30 a.m. to talk about what has happened throughout the week, drawing mostly from the contents of that week’s (and sometimes next week’s) NapaLife. But though I’ve had four paid radio gigs in the past, one on KVON under former owners, I don’t get paid for this one.
Paul Franson is the publisher of NapaLife, a weekly newsletter that focuses on news and events about food, wine and the arts – visual, literary and performing. It’s $50 a year for individuals here, where you can find a recent sample.
Will and Julissa are icons in Napa Valley! Their commitment to our local community is unmatched.
As a former host of my own show on their station I can attest to their commitment to our community and fortunate to call them friends.