Something is up at 106.3. They are running what appears to be random clips in Spanish that sound like something out of a telenovela. There was an announcement and based on what I could understand mentioned something happening tomorrow (Cinco de Mayo) and giving the Spanish pronunciation of the frequency. So could we soon see another Spanish-language format in town? Vanguard took down their social media sites in March so there's no other way to tell what is happening. Can this market support another Spanish station?
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Spanish on 106.3?
- Thread starter AbqAnonymous
- Start date
No.
While the market is over 50% Hispanic, it's not predominantly Spanish speaking.
Nielsen does an evaluation of Hispanic language usage each year during the Fall book, which is implemented in the first book in the following year. While the number wobbles, only about one in five Hispanics in ABQ is Spanish dominant.
Of course, bilinguals are listed as English dominant by Nielsen, so the appeal of a station in Spanish could be slightly greater.
Still, that limits such formats to somewhere in the 5 to 7 share range; the reason it is low is that many Spanish dominant people like stations that play music in English, just as they do in all of Latin America where pop, rock and AC stations abound which play only or lots of music in the English language.
106.3 has exactly the same coverage area as KLVO. The signal fades out halfway between ABQ and Santa Fe, but you can hear it clear to Socorro if you drive south. Why would you want to build a McDonald's next to a McDonald's?
Vanguard doing Regional Mexican doesn't make much sense. I would have to agree with DavidEduardo. There's just no room for another Spanish station in Albuquerque. Look at KRZY-FM, their performance has been mediocre at best over the years.
They could be just stunting. You can stunt with anything you want. This is likely a smokescreen, but I could be wrong.
They would have to know how to sell the Spanish language format if that's what they decide to do.
Vanguard doing Regional Mexican doesn't make much sense. I would have to agree with DavidEduardo. There's just no room for another Spanish station in Albuquerque. Look at KRZY-FM, their performance has been mediocre at best over the years.
They could be just stunting. You can stunt with anything you want. This is likely a smokescreen, but I could be wrong.
They would have to know how to sell the Spanish language format if that's what they decide to do.
it'll be regional mexican "Zeta 106.3"
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/...T5PWkpfGQalnIrgCWvUcNyDHSn0NqOOIdMJPM1OUhzRIQ
Ok, Zeta 106.3 it shall be. Maybe they'll sell better Big Macs.
ABQ had one too many CHRs as well. Vanguard wasn't doing anything with Z106.3, it was a jukebox. But that would not have been my first choice. They don't subscribe or use ratings to sell, so they must know what they're doing. Or do they??
They own an AC, a Smooth Jazz, a Talk station and now a Regional Mexican station? Weird combo.
ABQ had one too many CHRs as well. Vanguard wasn't doing anything with Z106.3, it was a jukebox. But that would not have been my first choice. They don't subscribe or use ratings to sell, so they must know what they're doing. Or do they??
They own an AC, a Smooth Jazz, a Talk station and now a Regional Mexican station? Weird combo.
Gave La Zeta a listen today. Sounds like they just reloaded the former Z106.3 jukebox with some Regional Mexican tunes and tossed in some pre-recorded liners in Spanish. Perhaps this will be fleshed out with a bit of time, but I don't see any hot competition for Radio Lobo (97.7) and La Suavecita (105.9) yet. We've had three Regional Mexican formats on the air at the same time before in ABQ - Radio Lobo, La Jefa and La Ley at one point but I'd say that was overkill for the audience. We also have Fuego (840, 102.9) which I think is doing a good job with a bilingual Reggaetón beat and KRZY AM with traditional Ranchera. Then there's the unique New Mexico Music format of local artists who perform in Spanish. They have a dedicated group of aficionados - a portion of whom are not fully fluent in Spanish but love the music. KANW (89.1) dedicates a good share of its broadcast day to the format, and there's the newer KNMM (1150, 102.1). Both stations announce in English.
On the question of whether another Spanish language station will be profitable. At one time, and it may still be true, Albuquerque had the highest number of stations per capita in the country. The upshot is, that no matter what the format, it will be difficult for any station to be wildly profitable.
I remember this was discussed a while back. I think Key West or some smaller markets had more but this may the largest market with the most per capita stations. 106.3 was one of about six stations added or moved in by the mid-1990s. They did do very well for a few years challenging KKSS but since flipping to talk in 2005 it seems it never was able to regain the same numbers even when doing hip-hop a second time. Z106.3 was always a weak effort and had mostly been a jukebox even when AGM owned it. 93.3 has always delivered current hits along with all the entertainment news that their audience cares about. Of course rhythmic CHR has always done better here apparently since the late 80s.
Here is an interesting chart of the market history from 1975-2003 https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Duncan-American-Radio/Duncan-1975-1992/Albuquerque.pdf
You can see all of the AMs with the exception of 770 were declining through the 80s. Then there were a bunch of new FM additions by 1985-86 and then more by 1994-95. Today the most profitable stations are likely owned by AGM, Cumulus, and iHeart. Vanguard seems to rely mostly on local business ads. AGM and Entravision already have ties with any buyers interested in Spanish speaking audiences. Then there's the question as to how the current crises is effecting all of this.
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