FM Globo 99.3 incorporates English AC songs with Spanish-language

[Radiomusik]

Started this morning from the other side of the border. XHOCL FM Globo in Tijuana started to mix both English AC and Spanish AC songs, all in one signal. Most of the times English songs are played every 30 minutes.

Playlist:
OutKast - Hey Ya!
Reik - Que Vida La Vida
Shakira - No Creo
Ricky Martin - La Mordidita
Magneto - La Puerta del Colegio
Sandoval - A Quien Tu Decidiste Amar
Avril Lavigne - Complicated

 

[davideduardo]

Started this morning from the other side of the border. XHOCL FM Globo in Tijuana started to mix both English AC and Spanish AC songs, all in one signal. Most of the times English songs are played every 30 minutes.

Playlist:
OutKast - Hey Ya!
Reik - Que Vida La Vida
Shakira - No Creo
Ricky Martin - La Mordidita
Magneto - La Puerta del Colegio
Sandoval - A Quien Tu Decidiste Amar
Avril Lavigne - Complicated

English language songs are very common on many if not most CHR, Hot AC, AC and rock stations all over Latin America. Some stations only play music in English, others a blend.

My Top 40 stations in Ecuador in the 60's played about 30% English language songs, along with about 50% in Spanish and the rest Italian and French hits.

 

[exbloguero]

English language songs are very common on many if not most CHR, Hot AC, AC and rock stations all over Latin America. Some stations only play music in English, others a blend.

My Top 40 stations in Ecuador in the 60's played about 30% English language songs, along with about 50% in Spanish and the rest Italian and French hits.

Correct!, and there is more priority if it is near the US border.

 

[powers]

I remember listening to (I think) 104.9 FM a few months ago - it was running a general Spanish format (I don't remember hearing any English songs) but the jocks were speaking Spanglish with a stronger emphasis on English and there were a couple of ads in the stopsets that were in English. I wasn't sure what their focus was on, but it appeared to be English to target young San Diego listeners, but musically was a Spanish format. It didn't make a lot of sense to me, but....there must be some reasoning behind that.

 

[davideduardo]

Correct!, and there is more priority if it is near the US border.

Not really. When I was programming an FM in Lima, Perú, of about 21 FMs, 18 played 100% English language music, ranging from pop to AC and rock. There are several high rated FMs in Buenos Aires, like Aspen FM, that only play English AC / Pop.

The leading FM in Socioeconomic levels A and B in Mexico City is all English, and there are several other stations there that have all English language music.

Here is the top 20 for one Mexico City station:

And here is the list from one San Juan station

 

[CTListener]

English language songs are very common on many if not most CHR, Hot AC, AC and rock stations all over Latin America. Some stations only play music in English, others a blend.

My Top 40 stations in Ecuador in the 60's played about 30% English language songs, along with about 50% in Spanish and the rest Italian and French hits.

I'm surprised to see "Complicated" on the playlist -- a guitar-heavy alt-rock sound among all that rhythmic music. Is Avril Lavigne popular in Mexico?

 

[davideduardo]

I'm surprised to see "Complicated" on the playlist -- a guitar-heavy alt-rock sound among all that rhythmic music. Is Avril Lavigne popular in Mexico?

Remember, there are about 60 fulltime full signal stations in Mexico City, so just getting a 1.5 or a 2 share is significant... so what seems like niche material in the US may be perfectly acceptable there. And one thing I learned over the years: the same songs that are hits in the US may be bigger or lesser in Latin America or not a hit at all.

 

[Marcos_C]

Here is the top 20 for one Mexico City station:

The Mexico City station has a good mix of English-language music. I especially like the inclusion of "Snap" by Rosa Linn. "Snap" was Armenia's entry at this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Thanks to TikTok, the song has been gaining popularity beyond Europe. In the US, it is number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100.

 

[Identnut]

The Mexico City station has a good mix of English-language music. I especially like the inclusion of "Snap" by Rosa Linn. "Snap" was Armenia's entry at this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Thanks to TikTok, the song has been gaining popularity beyond Europe. In the US, it is number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Mexico will often play artists like Robbie Williams who sing in English and are stars in Europe, but never quite caught on in the US.

There is an article about KXOS in Los Angeles playing Robbie Williams during the early CHR Radio Centro days. Obviously not a good match for LA at all, but perfectly natural in GRC's base in Mexico City.

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/ross-on-radio-first-listen-las-new-exitos-939-1082827/

 

[Signal Geek]

About 11 years ago, 95.3 in Tecate/Tijuana was ONLY playing English-language songs. Many were lesser-known soft-rock hits from the 1970s you never hear anymore on U.S. stations. But that format only lasted about a year before they went back to all-Spanish.

 

[KilowattKat]

About 11 years ago, 95.3 in Tecate/Tijuana was ONLY playing English-language songs. Many were lesser-known soft-rock hits from the 1970s you never hear anymore on U.S. stations. But that format only lasted about a year before they went back to all-Spanish.

Yes, that was Milenio Radio. A failed attempt to do a radio version of their TV news organization. The music was supposed to air at night and weekends, with news by a local TJ staff airing on weekdays. But outside of a few 15-30 minutes blocks of news,, you mostly heard English Soft AC/Classic Hits that are popular in Mexico It was the only time I ever heard Marianne Faithful's "Beautiful People" played on the radio. Back then, it was the most interesting station music wise on the SD radio dial.

 

[davideduardo]

Yes, that was Milenio Radio. A failed attempt to do a radio version of their TV news organization. The music was supposed to air at night and weekends, with news by a local TJ staff airing on weekdays. But outside of a few 15-30 minutes blocks of news,, you mostly heard English Soft AC/Classic Hits that are popular in Mexico It was the only time I ever heard Marianne Faithful's "Beautiful People" played on the radio. Back then, it was the most interesting station music wise on the SD radio dial.

And that goes to show that even with English language music, the hits are not always universal. I'm reminded of the years I was in Ecuador where the Stones were much more popular than the Beatles, and CCR beat both of them!

 

[kevtronics]

And then there's Germany and Japan, where artists and groups which failed or were one-hit wonders in the U.S. went on to achieve great success, such as Mr. Big, Scatman John, David Hasselhoff, and (initially) the Backstreet Boys.

 

[powers]

I remember dating back as far as 1987, the eclectic playlists and mostly English music formats in the Mexican radio markets. I was working at a Top 40 station in Monterey and took a cruise with my family to Mexico. More than half of the stations in Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan played English songs, at least 75% of their playlists. Los Cabos seemed to be more Spanish-heavy as I recall. I still remember loving the jingles to Estereo Amistad in Puerto Vallarta. It did tend to have a more international flavor, as many of the songs were from Canadian and British artists that either did not do well in the US or were never played here. For the most part border cities didn't play a lot of English songs because American cities on the other side had those songs covered. In the late 80s and 90s there was StereoRey in Tijuana and Mexicali which came very close to the typical Mexican market AC station. There are only a couple of StereoReys left today, but they seem to do well with the same format. We also had the predecessor to More FM, that played a lot of pop and alternative with a mixed English/Spanish format. I also remember Galaxy FM/91.7, which appeared to target San Diego with a primarily English AC format. By the way, I'm not counting the obvious border blasters that are targeting outside Mexico. More recently, I remember 1550 and 800 playing a News/Talk format by day and rebroadcasting an AC FM station from Guadalajara or Mexico City all night that played mostly English songs.