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97.7 flipped to Latin at Noon

No one saw this coming! Boston's first legal Spanish-language FM, albeit with a signal that will be sub-optimal in some places north of the city that have sizeable Hispanic populations.

(This is all written assuming that the station is broadcasting in Spanish, not "Latin.")
 
No one saw this coming! Boston's first legal Spanish-language FM, albeit with a signal that will be sub-optimal in some places north of the city that have sizeable Hispanic populations.

(This is all written assuming that the station is broadcasting in Spanish, not "Latin.")
Well, I guess that they saw a market that wasn't being served at all. I bet that the new format cannot do any worse than the last one. In fact, it may actually do better! That and the fact they are now targeting a niched audience also.
 
If they can get a translator in the Merrimack Valley like the other Spanish outlets do, that would be even more optimal. HD Radio can only get you so far... They won't spend much as they'll likely just plug in Enrique Santos in the morning anyway.
 
If they can get a translator in the Merrimack Valley like the other Spanish outlets do, that would be even more optimal. HD Radio can only get you so far... They won't spend much as they'll likely just plug in Enrique Santos in the morning anyway.
Yeah, that's the area I had in mind. Lots of ears (and potential advertisers) for a station like this in Lawrence, Lowell, etc.
 
I was referring to music industry's term that describes the music. I saw it coming.
The term is "Latino" and not "Latin". However, "Latino" refers to both Portuguese and Spanish speakers, so the best definition is "Spanish language" as even "Hispanic" or "Latinx" defines a culture, which may or may not include the speaking of Spanish.
 
So what is iHeart's "Rumba" format? Reggaeton-based? Tropical? Is it one-size-fits-all, a plug-and-play format-in-a-can that can be operated out of a closet, or one that iHeart tailors to its individual markets? Any chance of local talent, or will it be run on the ultra-cheap with iHeart in-house jocks (from afar) in key dayparts and music on autopilot in others?
 
The term is "Latino" and not "Latin". However, "Latino" refers to both Portuguese and Spanish speakers, so the best definition is "Spanish language" as even "Hispanic" or "Latinx" defines a culture, which may or may not include the speaking of Spanish.
Billboard designates it as Latin pop while Nielsen has it as Spanish Contemporary. Both work.
 
Billboard designates it as Latin pop while Nielsen has it as Spanish Contemporary. Both work.
And that is why essentially nobody in US Hispanic radio reads Billboard. I have not seen a copy in a US Spanish language station for over 25 years.

Billboard's use of "Latin" is a throwback to the era of "Little Latin Lupe Lu" and "My Name Jose Jimenez" degradations of the culture.
 
So what is iHeart's "Rumba" format? Reggaeton-based? Tropical? Is it one-size-fits-all, a plug-and-play format-in-a-can that can be operated out of a closet, or one that iHeart tailors to its individual markets? Any chance of local talent, or will it be run on the ultra-cheap with iHeart in-house jocks (from afar) in key dayparts and music on autopilot in others?
Rumba is just a name, not a format. Names are very hard to register today, so when a company has one that is "free and clear" they use it for a variety of formats. Look at "Kiss" which can be AC, CHR or even Urban.

I suspect that the iHeart team in South Florida consisting of Pedro Javier and Enrique will adapt one of the existing formats to Boston, where the market can't justify a totally local approach.

 
If they can get a translator in the Merrimack Valley like the other Spanish outlets do, that would be even more optimal. HD Radio can only get you so far... They won't spend much as they'll likely just plug in Enrique Santos in the morning anyway.
Power 800 and its 102.9 translator, Lawrence
 
We knew WKAF was the weakest link. Apparently they had used this format and branding on WKOX before spinning it off.

I see Hispanic counts for 10% of the population. You can make money with that.
 
We knew WKAF was the weakest link. Apparently they had used this format and branding on WKOX before spinning it off.
Not necessarily the format... just the name. That implementation was prior to Pedro Javier's involvement with iHeart and the improved stratification of the Hispanic targeted formats.
 
And that is why essentially nobody in US Hispanic radio reads Billboard. I have not seen a copy in a US Spanish language station for over 25 years.

Billboard's use of "Latin" is a throwback to the era of "Little Latin Lupe Lu" and "My Name Jose Jimenez" degradations of the culture.
what about Latin Grammys?
 
Rumba name was used on 1200 and 1430 around 2006 after the prog talk format (Oct 04-Dec 06) was dropped.
By early 2010 1200 went to Rush Radio talk
and later did Bloomberg Business then went back
to talk. 1430 was either Rumba or Mia for awhile, became talk then back to Spanish language.
It was later donated to another owner.
 
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