LATIN POP / REGIONAL MEXICAN HYBRID?

[Joe Piazza]

I am seriously considering flipping my 6kw FM to Spanish. It's in a medium midwest market with about 25,000 hispanics per the 2000 census. That number is much higher now I'm sure.

My questions now is which format to go with. A spanish contemporary or Latin Pop format a la Super Estrella, or a Regional Mexican format? From what I hear the Regional Mexican format gets bigger numbers, but the Latin Pop format bills better. Is there any truth to that logic?

Actually I guess my real question is can these two formats be combined to create an eclectic format that serves the people who enjoy the Regional Mexican format, but also the people that prefer the pop sound.

Is this viable, or should I stick to one or the other?

I appreciate any opinions and advice.

 

[-juan-]

The best answer to that is, Ask David E. That is of course he is willing to give you some advice.

I would recommend to look at neighboring cities to see what kind of Spanish stations have surfaced and how many of them have been successful.
If you are talking about a Meixican Dominant market, a Regional Mexican format will be the best bet. If you have a fair mix of Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Central American descent, then Spanish Contemporary. But also take into consideration of any other station already offering Spanish programming.

A combination of both a Regional Mexican and Spanish Contemporary is possible. It is very rare to see one of those station. Clear Channel had a similar type in Atlanta as Viva, but stopped after the Launched sister station El Patron. Ever since then, Viva has stopped playing Regional Mexican and has dedicated itself to pure Spanish Contemporary. I don't really know how good that combination format billed.

But as a listener, If I was in your position and wanted to save money, I would get a satellite format from Bustos Media. I hear it is very cheap to run. Or if you are willing to spend some money, you can hire a small friendly staff to take in calls during the day and give the local news, weather and etc around the area. The best bet is that your area has no local Spanish news so you can cover that and bring in listeners. You know, build something like a local station that is behind the community, but in spanish.

Well, whatever your choice is, Good luck. I know other people have way better information so keep looking for advice.

 

[davideduardo]

The best answer to that is, Ask David E. That is of course he is willing to give you some advice.

I would recommend to look at neighboring cities to see what kind of Spanish stations have surfaced and how many of them have been successful.
If you are talking about a Meixican Dominant market, a Regional Mexican format will be the best bet. If you have a fair mix of Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Central American descent, then Spanish Contemporary. But also take into consideration of any other station already offering Spanish programming.

A combination of both a Regional Mexican and Spanish Contemporary is possible. It is very rare to see one of those station. Clear Channel had a similar type in Atlanta as Viva, but stopped after the Launched sister station El Patron. Ever since then, Viva has stopped playing Regional Mexican and has dedicated itself to pure Spanish Contemporary. I don't really know how good that combination format billed.

But as a listener, If I was in your position and wanted to save money, I would get a satellite format from Bustos Media. I hear it is very cheap to run. Or if you are willing to spend some money, you can hire a small friendly staff to take in calls during the day and give the local news, weather and etc around the area. The best bet is that your area has no local Spanish news so you can cover that and bring in listeners. You know, build something like a local station that is behind the community, but in spanish.

Well, whatever your choice is, Good luck. I know other people have way better information so keep looking for advice.

I am not editing Juan's response as it is very complete and well reasoned. All I can say is, "excellent."

Regional Mexican is the majority format in all the Southwest and where the Hispanic populaiton is predominantly Mexican. Generally, this format represents about 65% to 70% of total shares. The reason AC does well in LA (KLVE) is that there are 5 stations (KSCA; KLAX, KBUE, KHJ and KLYY) fragmenting the regional Mexican audience, and only one AC.

Regional in most markets gets the highest shares per station, too... with pop being an also-ran format and AC being not quite as limted but also much less than the regional format. The principal formats for Mexican heritage persons in the US are regional, adult hits, AC and pop. The ones with the most sales are genrally regional, as its active, 18-34 appeal makes for client pleasing remotes and promotions, while AC and Adult Hits don't draw as active an audience.

 

[Joe Piazza]

Thank you Juan and David for your input. I was actually thinking of Viva Atlanta when this idea to do a combined format came up. The goal was to create a format that would be listenable to anyone, whether they came from Mexico, or Puerto Rico.

Although about 75% of the hispanic population in the listening area is Mexican, I am also under the understanding that not every one from Mexico likes the Regional Mexican format. We also have a large military base in the area with a lot of Puerto Ricans and their families, and I did not want to exclude them, since they do have buying power also.

I have heard some stations on the east coast that mix tropical music with a pop and lite rock, so I figured maybe the same could be done replacing the tropical music with Regional Mexican....but maybe the idea of a station that is everything to everyone is too far fetched.