FCC approves Latino Media Network acquisitions

[davideduardo]

So they have a year to find another station. Most of the hosts have already left, so who cares?

The team that had been with Radio Martí for multiple decades can't be replicated... right down to the emotionally historic name.

We're talking about a group of 18 stations, not just Miami.

Of course. The only two stations out of 18 that had measurable audience were WAQI and WADO, and WAQI had much greater audience than Wado did.

Then it doesn't matter. Nobody will listen and the stations will all go silent.

And that is why Televisa sold them.

There are several other stations, including one owned by Audacy, that have taken up the "Joe is a socialist" banner. How many stations do they need?

Not the same complete team, not the same heritage. And the issue here is not about Biden except in how his government deals with Cuba. They issue is the totalitarian, repressive and torturous regime in Cuba. That is why the station is named Mambí.

"The term mambises refers to the guerrilla Cuban independence soldiers who fought against Spain in the Ten Years' War (1868–78) and Cuban War of Independence (1895–98). The term is found applied in different history texts to any person who fought for independence during the wars of independence"

These LMN people are community organizers. The FCC rules are all about serving the community. They know how to do that.

But they are very clueless about radio or they would not have bought a bunch of AM stations, nearly all of which are terrible signals... from 1280 in New York to 870 in Las Vegas to 1010 in Houston to 1200 in Chicago to 1350 in San Antonio.

They can hire radio people. They have money left to do that.

But they have as yet to even hire a COO. Several people with knowledge have offered to consult them... people with great depth and experience... and none have even been contacted despite having filled in the online application.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Meanwhile, promising an expanded news source for Hispanics: VOZ MEDIA TO ADQUIRE MEGA TV TO BECOME THE PREMIER NEWS SOURCE FOR HISPANICS

Mega-TV was a nothingburger during its time in Houston. Gotta wonder how Voz Media is going to expand and become relevant.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Thread bump: CEO named at LMN: Latino Media Network begins radio takeover with new CEO

And: We Talk With Latino Media Network’s New CEO

Edit to add: The CEO interview shows that they are completely clueless about the current state of AM radio.😖

 

[RadioGuy1864]

Looks like the smartest guys in the room was Televisa, they sold when they could and got out with some cash. I'm sure they have no regrets.

 

[Mrtejano]

Meanwhile, promising an expanded news source for Hispanics: VOZ MEDIA TO ADQUIRE MEGA TV TO BECOME THE PREMIER NEWS SOURCE FOR HISPANICS

Mega-TV was a nothingburger during its time in Houston. Gotta wonder how Voz Media is going to expand and become relevant.

MEGA TV was catering to the wrong community here in Houston. Houston is not Miami, what works in Miami doesn’t necessarily work here. I hope SBS knows what they’re doing with KROI. I hope they don’t do the mistake that RUMBA, LA CALLE and POWERFM did. Yes they’re small translators but still would have had a big enough followers to stick with the format.

 

[davideduardo]

Thread bump: CEO named at LMN: Latino Media Network begins radio takeover with new CEO

And: We Talk With Latino Media Network’s New CEO

Edit to add: The CEO interview shows that they are completely clueless about the current state of AM radio.😖

One has to give them credit for looking for a CEO with broader media experience than just radio. However, the new CEO has truly zero radio experience and does not, obviously, understand that many of the AMs they bought are bark-at-the-moon dogs.

And when they started talking about "recipes" I knew this was going in the wrong direction.

Note: to be totally transparent, I have to mention that I applied for the position and did not even get a reply. David Gleason's illustrated biography resume and history covering 52 years in radio

 

[TheBigA]

One has to give them credit for looking for a CEO with broader media experience than just radio. However, the new CEO has truly zero radio experience and does not, obviously, understand that many of the AMs they bought are bark-at-the-moon dogs.

David Field is a second generation radio brat. Look at what all his radio experience did for him.

The same could be said for Lew Dickey.

 

[davideduardo]

David Field is a second generation radio brat. Look at what all his radio experience did for him.

But he had little or no hands-on-experience and came to Entercom as a finance guy, fresh out the Wall Street world with no practical radio experience except, it appeared, a liking for alternative rock.

 

[TheBigA]

But he had little or no hands-on-experience and came to Entercom as a finance guy, fresh out the Wall Street world with no practical radio experience except, it appeared, a liking for alternative rock.

And yet the company's primary failing is financial, not broadcasting.

 

[davideduardo]

And yet the company's primary failing is financial, not broadcasting.

Not really. The expectations of growth with the mature and End of Life CBS stations was simplistic and unfounded. They were projecting growth with stations that that, realistically, had no growth potential.

Take "no growth" and add in the 2008 recession, loss of about 30% of AQH rating levels in PPM markets and the rise of the smart phone and the real issue was not realizing that there was no ratings upside to begin with.

Being a Philly boy, I am that sonny-boy Field did not follow the Philadelphia PPM tests starting in 2002 where he could have seen how the CBS traditional AM talkers would be decimated in the new ratings system, while some of the music formats would not benefit from the lack of "phantom cume" that made some other formats grown in the PPM.

 

[TheBigA]

Not really. The expectations of growth with the mature and End of Life CBS stations was simplistic and unfounded. They were projecting growth with stations that that, realistically, had no growth potential.

But once again, that is a financial failing. He didn't read the financials, that were already pointing downward. That's why CBS wanted to get out. Les Moonves wasn't a radio guy. He had no emotional attachment to 880 or 1010. That's why it was so easy for him to sell. Field forgot his financial training, just as Farid forgot all he knew about finance. The biggest mistake this new CEO can make is spend too much time thinking about AM radio stations, and not enough time running the company.

 

[davideduardo]

But once again, that is a financial failing. He didn't read the financials, that were already pointing downward.

Looking at my old print-edition BIA books, it seems that the news stations in the group were still holding their own, even with adjustment for inflation. The problem is that there was no growth potential and there was nowhere near the economy of scale that consolidation promised 20 years prior to the CBS deal.

I think the Entercom folk thought that they were better radio operators than multi-faceted CBS and it turned out that they were not.

That's why CBS wanted to get out. Les Moonves wasn't a radio guy. He had no emotional attachment to 880 or 1010. That's why it was so easy for him to sell.

And radio was a small part of Sumner and Shari's enterprise and it's lack of sustained growth made the whole group of companies look weaker.

Field forgot his financial training, just as Farid forgot all he knew about finance.

In both cases, they fell victim of not seeing the forest due to the trees blocking the view.

The biggest mistake this new CEO can make is spend too much time thinking about AM radio stations, and not enough time running the company.

The problem is that nearly all they have are AM radio stations. Two FMs in Las Vegas, a horrible radio market. Three rimshots in Fresno, another mediocre market, and two FMs along the Mexican border in a market where the stations in Mexico undersell horrendously. The Dallas FM does not count as it is an ultra, unlistenable rimshot.

Most of what they bought is AM. Univision sold them all because they were not viable.

 

[TheBigA]

Most of what they bought is AM. Univision sold them all because they were not viable.

Based on what they said at the time of the sale, and also what this new CEO said, they will likely use the radio stations as a base of operations for creating digital & social media content. Not unlike what Tavis Smiley is doing in LA.

 

[davideduardo]

Based on what they said at the time of the sale, and also what this new CEO said, they will likely use the radio stations as a base of operations for creating digital & social media content. Not unlike what Tavis Smiley is doing in LA.

If that is their foundation, it is a weak one. They should have just started with a cluster of web and podcast offerings, not a bunch of bad stations and / or bad markets.

But all the talk I heard was that the project was principally funded to prepare for the 2024 elections.

 

[TheBigA]

If that is their foundation, it is a weak one. They should have just started with a cluster of web and podcast offerings, not a bunch of bad stations and / or bad markets.

But then Univision would have been stuck with a bunch of stations you describe as not viable.

 

[radiofan2023]

And when they started talking about "recipes" I knew this was going in the wrong direction.

I just read the interview and didn't see any talk about recipes. They seem to want it both ways - to expand beyond AM radio with podcasts, YouTube, etc. but then claiming they're going to lobby the NAB (futilely I think) to try to get carmakers to not dump AM radio from their entertainment systems.

Didn't they have anyone advising them financially that these stations were not good investments for what they want to do?

 

[davideduardo]

I just read the interview and didn't see any talk about recipes.

Different article. There have been reports today in Radio Ink, Inside Radio and several others.

They seem to want it both ways - to expand beyond AM radio with podcasts, YouTube, etc. but then claiming they're going to lobby the NAB (futilely I think) to try to get carmakers to not dump AM radio from their entertainment systems.

Right now, they have a bunch of stations using contracted Univision programming and no talent at all announced, whether for on-air or podcasts.

Didn't they have anyone advising them financially that these stations were not good investments for what they want to do?

None of the people involved have any reasonably current radio experience. Maybe they are waiting to see an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak.

 

[TheBigA]

Didn't they have anyone advising them financially that these stations were not good investments for what they want to do?

What they're doing is not a traditional investment. It's more of a mission.

The future of AM radio (if there is one) won't be based on Nielsen ratings and :30 spots. iHeart's BIN is a good example.

 

[davideduardo]

What they're doing is not a traditional investment. It's more of a mission.

The future of AM radio (if there is one) won't be based on Nielsen ratings and :30 spots.

But the fact that most of the investment capital (over 90%) comes from a Soros company and run by two past Democrat operatives, this is politically motivated. To be effective, it has to attract potential voters and by November of 2024.

iHeart's BIN is a good example.

I disagree. BIN was intended to defuse potential criticism of iHeart during the peak of activism a couple of years ago. There is no comparable Hispanic activism today.

 

[TheBigA]

But the fact that most of the investment capital (over 90%) comes from a Soros company and run by two past Democrat operatives, this is politically motivated. To be effective, it has to attract potential voters and by November of 2024.

But you say no Hispanics listen. So the venture will be a flop.

I disagree. BIN was intended to defuse potential criticism of iHeart during the peak of activism a couple of years ago. There is no comparable Hispanic activism today.

I use BIN as an example of a network that's sold on the basis of a mission, not programming, listeners, or Nielsen ratings. I expect that to be the case here.