Select Univision Radio Stations Sold

[davideduardo]

The cost of living is also 35% higher in San Antonio.

And many think it is worth it. I have friends in a family from Laredo, Texas, that I have known since I was a teenager. They have lived there for 5 generations, and even a school and a park and a city building are named after them. Half of them have also moved to San Antonio.

Yes, San Antonio is more expensive. It is also a lovely city. We joke about calling McAllen "McAwful" as it has the same crazy zoning as Houston and is less than attractive in that sense. But it used to have the nicest people of any of the US mainland markets I'd visit; now they are all scared.

Real estate values from the Gulf to Del Rio have declined in the last two years, while in San Antonio and Austin they have increased 50% to 100% depending on the area.

I'm about 100 miles from the border and have new neighbors from Brawley and Calexico and El Centro who have farms in Imperial County. They had such fear for their families that they now commute three or four times a week to their business, and do the rest online from the Coachella Valley. Yet even our area has a huge increase in shoplifting, car theft, burglaries and the like.

 

[Kent]

We joke about calling McAllen "McAwful" as it has the same crazy zoning as Houston and is less than attractive in that sense. But it used to have the nicest people of any of the US mainland markets I'd visit; now they are all scared.

A friend of mine taught elementary school in McAllen in the 90's. Don't know why an Iowa girl decided to take her first teaching job down there (even she admitted she didn't know what she was thinking!), but she always referred to the exit off of I-37 that she took to get back to McAllen as the "Highway to Hell."

 

[davideduardo]

A friend of mine taught elementary school in McAllen in the 90's. Don't know why an Iowa girl decided to take her first teaching job down there (even she admitted she didn't know what she was thinking!), but she always referred to the exit off of I-37 that she took to get back to McAllen as the "Highway to Hell."

Besides agriculture and ranching, a leading element of the economy all along the border has been retail. In the area we are talking about, people from the nearby cities in Mexico such as Monterrey would often drive up to the border and do a lot of their shopping.

One dear friend from Monterrey had a home in one of the LRGV towns and they would visit for about a week every month to shop, socialize and even order stuff online that could not be sent to Mexico. They sold the home last year and won't go near the border.

 

[BamaTX]

The FMs in NYC, Miami, Chicago, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, LA, San Francisco and San Diego remain in the Televisa/Univision portfolio.

KFZO 99.1 is part of the package deal.

 

[Radiomusik]

So for this transition will Latino Media Network likely acquire the naming rights of the station brands from TelevisaUnivision through an agreement? Or will they keep the formats and just rebrand the stations to avoid conflicts from TU?

 

[BamaTX]

More recently, the group that was funding the monitoring decided that, rather than spending their cash on the monitoring, it would be a better use of their funds to simply buy up this group of stations and attempt to make them more moderate and fact-based, to better serve the Latin populace that listen to them, and provide truthful and fact-based information rather than hosts that often spewed gossipy information and hearsay.

If you look at the list of investors, this seems about right. This network of AM stations are likely going to become left wing propaganda outlets, en español. I'm not even sure they're in this for the money when this is all said and done.

Having said that, it is extremely odd that no one has bothered to cater to the Hispanic community with conservative talk radio. Hispanics, especially the Catholic ones, tend to lean more conservative when it comes to social issues. An Hispanic coworker told me a funny story about how he visited his parents a few years ago. He walked in as an LGB/Transgender segment was being played on Univision. He said the look on their face was the funniest thing he has ever seen. He compared it to a dog getting their temperature checked at the vet 🤣 (you can use your imagination as to where the thermometer goes).

 

[TheBigA]

Having said that, it is extremely odd that no one has bothered to cater to the Hispanic community with conservative talk radio.

Maybe not near you, but if you go to Miami, you'll find a few.

 

[BamaTX]

So for this transition will Latino Media Network likely acquire the naming rights of the station brands from TelevisaUnivision through an agreement? Or will they keep the formats and just rebrand the stations to avoid conflicts from TU?

If you look at the list of investors and people involved, the new company is likely launching a spanish language, left wing syndicated network. It's literally funded by George Soros.

I doubt all of these influential people are coming together to talk about Mexico's soccer team getting embarrassed by Uruguay last night.

 

[Kelly A]

Yes, San Antonio is more expensive. It is also a lovely city.

It really is a great city. Used to love visiting San Antonio in my work travels. Outstanding restaurants.

 

[davideduardo]

So for this transition will Latino Media Network likely acquire the naming rights of the station brands from TelevisaUnivision through an agreement? Or will they keep the formats and just rebrand the stations to avoid conflicts from TU?

They are going to be full affiliates of TUDN for at least the first year of new ownership under a contract with Univision to provide programming services.

TUDN is not exclusive to UVN owned and operated stations. It is a network with lots of affiliates.

 

[davideduardo]

It really is a great city. Used to love visiting San Antonio in my work travels. Outstanding restaurants.

Nothing like wandering up and down City Walk after a long day. Wonderful cuisine, lovely people.

 

[davideduardo]

If you look at the list of investors and people involved, the new company is likely launching a spanish language, left wing syndicated network. It's literally funded by George Soros.

As I already mentioned, there is a section of the deal that has Univision providing TUDN and other programming to the new owner for at least the first year of operation.

I doubt all of these influential people are coming together to talk about Mexico's soccer team getting embarrassed by Uruguay last night.

Actually, they are because it is in the deal. What they do after the first year is not disclosed.

But there have been three failures of attempts to do national talk networks for Hispanic markets. There is not enough commonality of ethnicity, culture and language use to make that work.

 

[Mediafrog+]

They are going to be full affiliates of TUDN for at least the first year of new ownership under a contract with Univision to provide programming services.

TUDN is not exclusive to UVN owned and operated stations. It is a network with lots of affiliates.

What would they do in Houston, where TUDN is on the to-be-sold KLAT 1010 but is also simulcast on KQBU 93.3, which is being retained by Univision?

Wouldn’t surprise me to see one or more of the stations flipped to another owner one the initial sale is complete…?

 

[davideduardo]

I heard an interview on NPR within the past hour about this sale. They explained that a more moderate to slightly left group had been employing folks to monitor several stations that target Latin listeners to see see how much blatant disinformation their hosts were spewing out to the listeners who took it as fact - Including telling them during the last Presidential election that Joe Biden is a socialist and if he were to be elected, he was aiming to turn the USA into another Venezuela or Cuba.

I don't know what they were monitoring. The TUDN stations are all sports. Only one in Miami, WAQI, is very political and very conservative due to being principally targeted at Cubans.

NPR got it 110% wrong here. They are judging a whole group of stations based on one station in Miami that has four decades of history as being the strong voice of the Cuban exile community.

Heck, eight of the stations they are buying are music stations!

More recently, the group that was funding the monitoring decided that, rather than spending their cash on the monitoring, it would be a better use of their funds to simply buy up this group of stations and attempt to make them more moderate and fact-based, to better serve the Latin populace that listen to them, and provide truthful and fact-based information rather than hosts that often spewed gossipy information and hearsay.

All of that is as big an exaggeration as I have ever heard. That is shameful, distorted reporting.

All the AMs except for WAQI are sports formatted. WAQI presents the true Cuban exile position on Cuba and the beliefs of the exile community.

Whoever NPR interviewed is poorly informed and drawing erroneous conclusions.

 

[davideduardo]

The cost of living is also 35% higher in San Antonio.

And average household income is even higher than that.

 

[BamaTX]

As I already mentioned, there is a section of the deal that has Univision providing TUDN and other programming to the new owner for at least the first year of operation.

Technicality, sure.

But what we are speculating on is what they'll do after that. That should have been obvious.

 

[BamaTX]

I don't know what they were monitoring. The TUDN stations are all sports.

I don't think he meant to say they were monitoring the stations they bought. They were monitoring all media in general. The stations they purchased will likely become the foundation for their own propagan...err, I mean "News/Talk" radio network down the road.

 

[TheBigA]

I heard an interview on NPR within the past hour about this sale.

NPR got it 110% wrong here. They are judging a whole group of stations based on one station in Miami that has four decades of history as being the strong voice of the Cuban exile community.

Whoever NPR interviewed is poorly informed and drawing erroneous conclusions.

NPR didn't do a story on this sale. The closest thing I can see is this report from WLRN, the Miami public radio station:

A new Latino media group is buying up — and shaking up — Spanish-language radio

Univision is selling many of its Spanish-language radio stations — including Miami's ultraconservative Radio Mambí — to a group led by Democrats.

www.wlrn.org

 

[davideduardo]

Technicality, sure.

No, it actually has UVN administering all the programming for at least the first year.

But what we are speculating on is what they'll do after that. That should have been obvious.

It should be obvious that they plan to supplement the sports coverage with social issues. But they have a bunch of totally assimilated, mostly second or later generation Hispanics talking about what they think first generation Spanish dominant Hispanics want.

Three national network attempts were made in the last 22 years to attempt to reach Spanish dominants. All three failed quite magnificently.

 

[davideduardo]

I don't think he meant to say they were monitoring the stations they bought. They were monitoring all media in general. The stations they purchased will likely become the foundation for their own propagan...err, I mean "News/Talk" radio network down the road.

But if they were talking about Spanish language media, then they don't realize that there is no national talk network dealing with sociopolitical issues and when that has been tried, it failed quite horribly.