Two members of the 2025 class of the Rhode Island Radio and Television Hall of Fame are making history this year: Mario Hilario and Tony Mendez are the first Latino inductees. Hilario is a news anchor at Channel 10 WJAR, and Mendez is the CEO of Spanish-language radio station Poder. They joined morning host Luis Hernandez in the studio to reflect on their work and what the recognition means to them.
Transcript:
Luis Hernandez: What was your reaction when you found out that you’re an inductee? Mario, you were on air. You were actually doing the news.
Mario Hilario: I was live on air. My producers, they pulled one over on me during our morning newscast at about 6:45 in the morning. At that time, we always do, like, a talker. Whatever’s trending for the day, something a little lighthearted to talk about. A lot of times it’s not scripted. So my co-anchor, Allison, right before we went on, got a text from our executive producer and said “Gene’s coming on, just go with it.” So we come up and then Allison said, “Gene joins us now.” And they roll a tape of Gene Valicenti and he’s doing this bit and he’s saying, “Oh, the next inductee of the Hall of Fame is…” and he says my name. And it, you know, you’re processing it as it’s happening. I honestly was speechless. I was shocked.
Hernandez: It was a great reaction watching the video. It really was. Yeah, it was a very lovely moment, actually, to see that.
Hilario: Yeah. I mean, I was touched by it. I really was, because it’s an honor that I had never really even thought of. So, I mean, it was fun. It was nice.
Hernandez: Tony, what about you? Where were you when you found out, and what was your reaction?
Tony Mendez: Actually, I was in the office and I get this unexpected phone call. I am listening to Mario right now and all the emotions are coming back to me, because I had all those emotions, you know, unexpected, not even in my radar, being speechless, not knowing what to say. It’s an amazing honor.
Hernandez: What does it mean for you to be an inductee?
Mendez: I think it’s bigger than me. I was born in the Dominican Republic. I am an immigrant. I came with my family directly to Rhode Island. I had brothers who were living here at the time. So when you receive a recognition like this, you look at the whole journey, but then you think, this is not really about me. It is about a Hispanic name in this list of very prestigious individuals who have contributed so much to the history of broadcasting here in Rhode Island. So you start becoming small when you compare what this means to the Hispanic community, because I know how I feel when I read news about other Hispanics that have done good things for the state. You feel proud and sometimes you don’t even know those individuals.
Hernandez: Mario, you’re a New England kid, but you arrived in Rhode Island in 1997, right?
Hilario: A year before that. I moved here. I was freelancing, but then I got my full-time gig at Channel 10 in ‘97. I signed my first actual contract.
Hernandez: That’s what brought you to the Ocean State?
Hilario: Yes. It was the job. I grew up in Connecticut. I went to school at Emerson College, but I grew up in eastern Connecticut, so near the Rhode Island border. So growing up back in the day before cable, I was in a rural neighborhood, so I was one of the last of my friends to get cable TV and we had the over-the-air antennas, so the Rhode Island stations came in stronger than the Hartford stations. So I grew up watching Rhode Island stations. So I remember Doug White, Walter Cryan growing up and watching and my parents watching that news. Now to be at the same station as the legendary Doug White and then not only to be working at a station that I grew up watching, but now to be inducted, like you said, Tony, it’s bigger than me. I mean, I could never have imagined that I’d be in the Hall of Fame for Rhode Island radio and television. There’s the young kid growing up and not even sure what I was gonna do when I was growing up.
I think part of it for me is just how wonderful it is moving here, the Rhode Island community just embracing you. I think it’s the power of Channel 10. Not to boast, but our audience, our viewers, are very, very loyal. When they take to you, they take to you and it’s a great feeling. You feel like you’re really having an impact on the community because you walk down the street, you’re at the grocery store, you see the people that are watching you and they interact with you. They tell you how much they love to watch you and they’ll even make comments, specific things about what you said that morning or what you did, or “I saw this.” So you really just feel like you’re part of their lives and it’s such an honor that they welcome you into their homes every day.
Hernandez: Tony, you co-founded the State’s first 24/7 Spanish language radio. What was the inspiration behind that?
Mendez: It was a long journey getting there. I was first in high school doing an internship at a local station, 1290 AM, which is now affiliated to The Public’s Radio. So I already knew what I wanted when I went to college. My freshman year at URI, I went directly to the FM station, 90.3. I asked them to do a Spanish program and they said yes. And then later, we got involved with another radio station in New Bedford part-time, so we knew the market. We were already working with Providence, so we knew that the market could handle a 24-hour operation.
Hernandez: For both of you, give me one of your greatest highlights of your career. Some moment for you that’s really special.
Hilario: Oh, my goodness. People ask me that all the time. It’s hard to say. I guess most recently, when the station asked me and selected me to succeed Frank Colletta. I mean, Frank, as we all know, he’s a Hall of Famer, legendary in Rhode Island. He was at the station for 40-plus years. He started the morning news. He was the morning news on Channel 10. Carrying on his legacy and the weight of that was just such an honor. He taught me to really just be yourself. And that’s what I think people like about newscasters, radio personalities. They just want you to be yourself. And I think people see that when you are genuine, and then they embrace you. I think that’s what I try to do each and every day.
Hernandez: Tony, what’s one big highlight for you? Come on, you’ve got a bunch of them.
Mendez: Yeah. Sometimes it’s hard to select one. But I want to pick a very recent one. Lately, I have been participating in the morning show. Most of the time, I am working in the office. We were talking about an issue in Providence and it has to do with taxes. There was an individual, Rita Hernandez, she’s a single mom and has lived in Providence for a long time. She struggles with the English language. Because we were talking about that particular issue, she went to the Statehouse. She testified. She did it in Spanish. Someone was there to translate. She called us the following day to talk about her experience. And to know that you have that impact to influence someone who has never done that. I have been to the Statehouse; it’s intimidating. It’s intimidating even as a broadcaster, and she did it. You know what? Everything’s worth it just to know that you can have that impact in society, a very positive impact. That is all part of the cultural tapestry of this state.
