Re: What to expect from 95.3 in Tijuana
Here is what Jaime Barrera, one of the executives of Milenio (newspaper, radio and tv) has to say about the build-out of Milenio. This is part of a longer, more detailed explanation I got:
"....Milenio Radio viene a reforzar la estrategia multimedia del grupo, que también incluye a Milenio Televisión. Diariamente se transmitirá, además del informativo matutino de 6:00 a 9:00 horas, otro noticiario de 13:00 a 15:00 horas..., y uno más, de 19:00 a 20:00 horas... todos conducidos por el equipo de Milenio. Habrá también reportes viales y cortes informativos cada hora, y un programa de deportes a las 18:00 horas. Por la noche la estación se enlazará a la señal de Milenio Televisión y en el resto de los espacios se escuchará por lo pronto música de los setenta, ochenta y noventa."
Or, "Milenio radio will come to reinforce the multimedia strategy of the (newspaper) group, which also includes Milenio television. Every day, besides the morning newscast from 6 to 9, there will be an aftermoon one from 1 PM to 3 PM and another from 7 to 8 PM with a sportscast from 6 (to 7) PM. At night, the station will simulcast the audio of Milenio Television, and, for the moment, the other times will be filled with music from the 70's, 80's and 90's."
Further, I'm informed that each market which has a separate edition of the Milenio newspaper will also have some local talk and news shows.
This project began in the first week of May with the conversion of the 35-year-old "FM Tu" (You FM), XHFMTU, 103.7 in Monterrey, from music to Milenio. The conversion has been done step by step, and is not yet complete as they are in only the 10th week of operation with the new format which is a mix of content from the newspaper group, the TV cable news network and radio-only commentators and newscasters.
While I did not get any answers on when the Tijuana project will be built out, this gives a sense of how the project unfolds. I specifically wanted to know if this Tijuana move meant that a new edition of the Milenio newspaper will be started in Tijuana, but have not gotten a yes or no to that question... making me suspect that there is a shroud of secrecy to some aspects of the national rollout of Milenio in both print and radio.
At the moment, all the Milenio radio stations are owned by Multimedios, but it would seem likely that they would seek affiliates, at least to cover the top 20 markets, once the whole day of news and commentary is built out.