Jack Rattigan had a hunch. Rattigan, the general manager of Davidson Media's WVXX in Norfolk, VA, believed the time was right for Norfolk's first-ever fulltime Spanish language station. So just before sunrise on the last day of February, Rattigan switched the classic rock station to round-the-clock Spanish.
   The hunch paid off. "It's unbelievable how fast this is growing," says Rattigan, who at 76 has been in the broadcast business for more than 50 years. "I've never experienced anything like this."
   WVXX's success with Spanish radio or "Selecta 1050" has been mirrored many times over in scores of cities. The number of Spanish stations has nearly doubled in the last 10 years, from 400 in 1995 to about 750 today. Overall, the Spanish language audience has grown about 37% since 1998 and represents about 9% of all radio listeners.
   The success of Hispanic radio outside the West and Southwest can be traced to the migration of Spanish speaking immigrants to the North and Eastern seaboard, says Felipe Korzenny, professor of advertising and integrated marketing at Florida State University in Tallahassee.
   "Radio is a voice that has many functions in the Hispanic community," Korzenny says. "It has become the town crier, the watering well." Stations serve as a message board for listeners, exchanging information, broadcasting job openings, child care and marital advice, health and finance programs, and information on immigration. "Latin America has a heritage of small town radio stations where radio is the community, and it has been largely replicated in the U.S.," Korzenny says.
   WVXX offers a combination of locally programmed music and personalities along with programming from Bustos Radio Networks in Sacramento. While listeners immediately were attracted to the station's broad playlist, the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area business community quickly embraced the station's new format. Rattigan reports that car dealers, furniture stores and big retailers bought advertising and signed on for sales promotions.
   "Most of the advertising came to us. We haven't had time to get out and sell," says Rattigan, who is hiring staff as quickly as he is able.