Too many Spanish Stations

[Surfer]

OK, I left Miami yesterday and discovered that you have WAY TOO MANY Spanish format stations. I understand a large portion of the population speaks the language but this is America! Get with the program! Speak the language! (Thank you Michael Savage)

Actually, I just was wondering WHY so many? Does anybody have an idea? Is the culture in that city so diverse that it requires more than 20 of the darn things? If so, that's amazing...at least to me.

 

[thechurchlady]

> OK, I left Miami yesterday and discovered that you have WAY
> TOO MANY Spanish format stations. I understand a large
> portion of the population speaks the language but this is
> America! Get with the program! Speak the language! (Thank
> you Michael Savage)
>
> Actually, I just was wondering WHY so many? Does anybody
> have an idea? Is the culture in that city so diverse that
> it requires more than 20 of the darn things? If so, that's
> amazing...at least to me.
>


I won't even bother responding to your racist diatribe...

Just remember that in the end, radio, just like all other big business is all about the money. If a corporation thinks they can make money with a format, they'll put it on the air.

There's your answer.

 

[Ivan]

> OK, I left Miami yesterday and discovered that you have WAY
> TOO MANY Spanish format stations. I understand a large
> portion of the population speaks the language but this is
> America! Get with the program! Speak the language! (Thank
> you Michael Savage)
>
> Actually, I just was wondering WHY so many? Does anybody
> have an idea? Is the culture in that city so diverse that
> it requires more than 20 of the darn things? If so, that's
> amazing...at least to me.
>
Thank you for your well thought out and extensive conclusion. You did not really have to go into so much detail and factual support to prove your point. For example, explaining how many radio stations have flipped from Spanish to any other format or how many of them are currently losing money or failing to reach target demographics.

Thank you for explaining how each station caters to a certain market segment and how lucrative each of those markets are to the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood market.

Thank you for going into such painstaking detail of how the market is broken into demographics by age, gender, income, culture, and TSL habits.

You are not only a gentleman but a scholar. I hope you are immediately hired to replace Trump on the Apprentice.

Please acccept this as an invitation to use this board as a venue (only as a starting point until you hit television) for you to share more conclusions based on your thorough scientific approach.

 

[Ward]

OK, I have 3 responses here.

1) Too many Spanish Stations?!? And the reason for that would be...what?
2) Way too much scarcasm on the reply. Just tell it like it is.
3) And this was relevant to radio in what way again?

 

[davideduardo]

> OK, I left Miami yesterday and discovered that you have WAY
> TOO MANY Spanish format stations. I understand a large
> portion of the population speaks the language but this is
> America! Get with the program! Speak the language! (Thank
> you Michael Savage)

Language dominance (meaning the language you are most ocmfortable in) is formed in childhood and early adolescence. Music taste is formed in early adolescence. Over 70% of Miami MSA Hispanics were born outside the US, and will never cease to prefer using Spanish and will never become strong partisans of English language music, unless that was what they liked as kids in their native country.

Hispanics born here mostly listen to English stations or bilingual ones, like WMGE.

I am pretty good in English. But there is very little English langauge radio other than news that I enjoy listening to because I grew up on a different kind of music. I am not going to go from liking Los Corraleros de Majagual to liking Def Lepard. So I will listen to radio stations that play the music I have always liked.
>
> Actually, I just was wondering WHY so many? Does anybody
> have an idea? Is the culture in that city so diverse that
> it requires more than 20 of the darn things? If so, that's
> amazing...at least to me.

There are as many formats in Spanish as in English. Spanish is a language, not a format. The FMs are all different varieties of Spanish langauge music with different kinds of personalities. The AMs can be divided into several religious stations, such as WACC 830, and talk stations. One of the talk stations is focused only on Colombian interests, for example. Others appeal to Cubans. One appeals to multiple national origins.

All exist because they make more money in Spanish than in English.
>

 

[Radio-X]

> > Actually, I just was wondering WHY so many? Does anybody
> > have an idea? Is the culture in that city so diverse that
> > it requires more than 20 of the darn things? If so, that's
> > amazing...at least to me.

Uh...yeah! Let's see...Cubans, assorted Southern Americans, Puerto Ricans, and folks from Carribean countries!

Contrary to popular belief, they're not all 'Mexicans', nor do they speak 'mexican'...even as an Anglo-Saxon, that pisses me off when a person classifies hispanics as Mexicans...it's like calling us Englishmen because we speak english...

While I think folks should have a decent grasp of English, it's unfair to tell a person to "SPEAK THE LANGUAGE"...

Actually, it's a bit suprising there aren't more spanish stations in SoFla

<P ID="signature">______________
If a DJ talks into a microphone, and no one's there to listen to him, does he make a noise?</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by radiodxrichmond on 10/14/05 10:23 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[livingfruitvirus]

> OK, I left Miami yesterday and discovered that you have WAY
> TOO MANY Spanish format stations. I understand a large
> portion of the population speaks the language but this is
> America! Get with the program! Speak the language! (Thank
> you Michael Savage)
>
> Actually, I just was wondering WHY so many? Does anybody
> have an idea? Is the culture in that city so diverse that
> it requires more than 20 of the darn things? If so, that's
> amazing...at least to me.
>

Oh my f....YES! YES IT DOES! I know it sounds crazy, but radio is THE preferred medium of the Hispanic population. And your "Thank you Michael Savage" comment doesn't help the rest of your post.

 

[davideduardo]

> > OK, I left Miami yesterday and discovered that you have
> WAY
> > TOO MANY Spanish format stations. I understand a large
> > portion of the population speaks the language but this is
> > America! Get with the program! Speak the language!
> (Thank
> > you Michael Savage)
> >
> > Actually, I just was wondering WHY so many? Does anybody
> > have an idea? Is the culture in that city so diverse that
>
> > it requires more than 20 of the darn things? If so,
> that's
> > amazing...at least to me.
> >
>
> Oh my f....YES! YES IT DOES! I know it sounds crazy, but
> radio is THE preferred medium of the Hispanic population.

No, it's not. TV is used more than radio.

 

[russhaney]

> > OK, I left Miami yesterday and discovered that you have
> WAY
> > TOO MANY Spanish format stations. I understand a large
> > portion of the population speaks the language but this is
> > America! Get with the program! Speak the language!
> (Thank
> > you Michael Savage)
> >
> > Actually, I just was wondering WHY so many? Does anybody
> > have an idea? Is the culture in that city so diverse that
>
> > it requires more than 20 of the darn things? If so,
> that's
> > amazing...at least to me.
> >
>
> Oh my f....YES! YES IT DOES! I know it sounds crazy, but
> radio is THE preferred medium of the Hispanic population.
> And your "Thank you Michael Savage" comment doesn't help the
> rest of your post.
>

As bad as this may sound... spanish people cant afford satellite radio. its miami.. what do you expect?<P ID="signature">______________
www.1club.fm</P>

 

[davideduardo]

>
> As bad as this may sound... spanish people cant afford
> satellite radio. its miami.. what do you expect?

It sounds bad because it is wrong. It sounds bad because it is stereotypoical. It sounds bad because there is hardly anything on satellite for Hispanics who are Spanish dominant.

1. Wrong. The conusumer spendable income per household for Hispanics in Miami is greater than that of non-Hispanic whites or Blacks. As an example, early 70% of all bank officers of Vice President or higher level are Hispnic in the market. Over half the new car sales in the MSA are to Hispanics.

2. Stereotype. Not all Hisanics are poor, especially in Miami.

3. Satellite. Neither XM nor Sirius has anything special for Hispanics who prefer Spanish music that would make the investment worhtwhile.

 

[bossmsx]

XM's "Aguila", Taco Bell, and demos.

> It sounds bad because it is wrong. It sounds bad because it
> is stereotypoical. It sounds bad because there is hardly
> anything on satellite for Hispanics who are Spanish
> dominant.
>
> 3. Satellite. Neither XM nor Sirius has anything special for
> Hispanics who prefer Spanish music that would make the
> investment worhtwhile.

Something strange happened to Aguila, XM's Mexican leaning channel (maybe there is a better name for the format, I don't know) between the time XM took it off (a week after I subscribed, early '04), and as I dropped XM, a few months ago.

It was actually GOOD to listen to, for the brief time I had the original version. The imaging was in Spanish...It sounded like a slightly polished Real Spanish station (of Mexican background), but nevertheless had the essentials....I'm of Cuban background, but I'm fascinated by the Mexican culture, and I liked it...Nothing fancy that I recalled, but it suited me because it didn't have the "authentic"-ness of WAFC-AM, or WWCL, but hey, it was like an authentic but upscale Mexican restaurant.

Then XM got rid of it.

Then XM re-instituted a channel with the same name, that played alot of, but I don't know that exactly the same, music.

And all the imaging was in English, well, some was in Spanish, but I think WMGE says more Spanish than they did.

It was like walking into a Taco Bell.....I think I'll have a "Mexican Pizza" with that, please, and a plastic "peel and win" cup.....The music was good, but I went back to WAFC for my 'fixes', static and all. The jocks are funnier, well, they have a sense of humor, period. And they don't have linoleum tiles, hah.

I got rid of the durn XM, terrestrial radio is suiting me just fine, thx.

 

[davideduardo]

Re: XM's "Aguila", Taco Bell, and demos.

>
> Something strange happened to Aguila, XM's Mexican leaning
> channel (maybe there is a better name for the format, I
> don't know) between the time XM took it off (a week after I
> subscribed, early '04), and as I dropped XM, a few months
> ago.

Aguila was supposed to be a bit more eclectic a regional Mexican format than the ones found on terrestrial formats. I programmed it from sign-on to January, 2004. At that point, XM decided to cut the channel line-up and mess with the formats. I don't know why.
>
> It was actually GOOD to listen to, for the brief time I had
> the original version. The imaging was in Spanish...It
> sounded like a slightly polished Real Spanish station (of
> Mexican background), but nevertheless had the
> essentials....I'm of Cuban background, but I'm fascinated by
> the Mexican culture, and I liked it...Nothing fancy that I
> recalled, but it suited me because it didn't have the
> "authentic"-ness of WAFC-AM, or WWCL, but hey, it was like
> an authentic but upscale Mexican restaurant.

It was done out of studios in LA that were co-located with KLVE, KSCA and KRCD/V. Most of the airstaff consisted of part-timers from KSCA, in fact... who had a chance to be a bit different on Aguila.
>
> Then XM re-instituted a channel with the same name, that
> played alot of, but I don't know that exactly the same,
> music.

I have seen the lists... they are trying to bee too broad and adding tejano and other stuff. Very strange.

 

[Ivan]

> As bad as this may sound... spanish people cant afford
> satellite radio. its miami.. what do you expect?
>
Hey, I'm an American born in Cuba and I have and enjoy my XM radio. I don't really listen to a lot of Mexican music, but I do enjoy Aguila with its wide format. I picked up an appreciation for it when I was stationed in Texas while in the USAF. On the Spanish front I do like Alegria and Caliente.

What are the numbers for dumb bigots who have XM. Not many, huh?

 

[Markxxx]

> 1. Wrong. The conusumer spendable income per household for
> Hispanics in Miami is greater than that of non-Hispanic
> whites or Blacks. As an example, early 70% of all bank
> officers of Vice President or higher level are Hispnic in
> the market. Over half the new car sales in the MSA are to
> Hispanics.

Banking is one industry where VICE PRESIDENTS are handed out left and right. I PERSONALLY know Vice Presidents that make around $12.00/hr. YES they are vice presidents and paid by the hour. Banking is notorious for giving out titles to just about anyone.

Also new car sales say nothing. African Americans in Chicago make up a large segment of new car sales and an overwheming (near 70%) majority of repossed new car sales. Anyone can get credit.

So stats tell little of the reality.

Spanish stations exist cause they make money. Period. If they didn't they'd be off the air.

For instance in Chicago about 1 million people speak Spanish. Our metro are has just under 9 million (consolidated metro area.)

So 1,000,000/9,000,000 = or 11% of the population

But in for Spanish TV stations we have THREE full time, FULL POWER ones. We have 11 commercial stations in Chicago (not counting Ch 62 which broadcasts from Tinley Park and can't get much signal in the city).

3/11 = 27.2% of the TV station available are being used for 11% of the people who Speak the language. This is over TWICE as many.

So why do these Spanish stations exist. THEY ARE PROFITABLE.

As they say "Stick with the money."<P ID="signature">______________
Once I figured out the meaning of life....Then I forgot to write it down.</P>

 

[davideduardo]

> > 1. Wrong. The conusumer spendable income per household for
>
> > Hispanics in Miami is greater than that of non-Hispanic
> > whites or Blacks. As an example, early 70% of all bank
> > officers of Vice President or higher level are Hispnic in
> > the market. Over half the new car sales in the MSA are to
> > Hispanics.
>
> Banking is one industry where VICE PRESIDENTS are handed out
> left and right. I PERSONALLY know Vice Presidents that make
> around $12.00/hr. YES they are vice presidents and paid by
> the hour. Banking is notorious for giving out titles to just
> about anyone.

In the case of Miami, I should have specified "corporate vice presidents" and added "CFO's, EVPS, Presidents, CEOs and COOs." The banking industry in Miami is significantly int he hands of Hispanics.
>
> Also new car sales say nothing. African Americans in Chicago
> make up a large segment of new car sales and an overwheming
> (near 70%) majority of repossed new car sales. Anyone can
> get credit.

OK, how about th efact that over 70% of Lexus, Mercedes and Infinity sales in S. Florida go to Hispanics?

> So stats tell little of the reality.

Median Hispanic household income, Miami MSA is over $42,000. For non-Hispanic whites, it is barely $40,000.
>
> Spanish stations exist cause they make money. Period. If
> they didn't they'd be off the air.

And they make money because they get sales results because the Hispanic community overindexes on the consumption of nearly everything.
>
> For instance in Chicago about 1 million people speak
> Spanish. Our metro are has just under 9 million
> (consolidated metro area.)

In Chicago, there are just over 1,200,000 Hispanics. About 1/3 do not speak Spanish at all, as they are second generation or beyond. That makes about 800 thousand Spanish speakers.
>
> So 1,000,000/9,000,000 = or 11% of the population

The 12+ population, which is all that matters in radio, is 8.5 million and the Hispanic percentage is 15.6%.
>
> But in for Spanish TV stations we have THREE full time, FULL
> POWER ones. We have 11 commercial stations in Chicago (not
> counting Ch 62 which broadcasts from Tinley Park and can't
> get much signal in the city).
>
> 3/11 = 27.2% of the TV station available are being used for
> 11% of the people who Speak the language. This is over TWICE
> as many.

You are gratuitously discounting th enon-commercial channels. All are in English, and take share out of the market. You have to count them all.
>
> So why do these Spanish stations exist. THEY ARE PROFITABLE.

And the consumers buy things and they watch more TV than non-Hispanic whites because off air TV is about all that is available, since the cable offerings are very few.

 

[Ward]

> > OK, I left Miami

Good thing he's out of here. But he does raise a valid question. After reading all the posts for this thread I'm curious. Is there such a thing as "too much of one format" for a market? I think only as long as a market can support it should it be done. That may be why classical music is not here in Miami anymore. The market will not support it. Just a thought.

 

[PTWorm]

> Is there such a thing as "too much of one format"
> for a market? I think only as long as a market can support
> it should it be done.

I'm going to beat David E. to the punch and point out that Spanish is a language, not a format...there are multiple formats available in both languages.

But I agree with you entirely as far as what will the market support. I'm originally from southern Indiana, and one thing I always found interesting in the ARBs was that even though Indianapolis had 2 major country stations, the 12+ numbers would always have rimshot country stations from nearby (unrated) markets too.

I would say something like "You can't have too much of a good thing", but I'm not a country fan

 

[Ai4i]

I can appreciate peoples concerns over outsiders coming in and dominating the languages spoken. Ever since the Europeans started moving in, it has become more and more difficult to go into any business and order something in Seminole or Miccosukee, the two traditional languages in the area.<P ID="signature">______________
Proud 2 B a pioneering satellite radio subs¢riber
Ai4i is always on the trailing edge of technology
______________</P>