Tropical Latin only Spanish music channel?

[fredcantu]

I just don't get SiriusXM's fascination with tropical music, but they've decided that's the only genre of Spanish language music they're going to play. I guess it's an east coast thing. Here in Texas the top Spanish language stations offer a combination of Mexican Regional and Grupera music or Spanish language pop. And as far as I can tell that's the same for the rest of the country except the east coast. At least give us a choice. I'm downloading free phone apps from Mexican broadcasters to hear the music I want to hear, but I would prefer to hear it on the service I'm actually paying for.

 

[davideduardo]

I just don't get SiriusXM's fascination with tropical music, but they've decided that's the only genre of Spanish language music they're going to play. I guess it's an east coast thing. Here in Texas the top Spanish language stations offer a combination of Mexican Regional and Grupera music or Spanish language pop. And as far as I can tell that's the same for the rest of the country except the east coast. At least give us a choice. I'm downloading free phone apps from Mexican broadcasters to hear the music I want to hear, but I would prefer to hear it on the service I'm actually paying for.

When XM began, they had 5 Spanish language music channels provided by Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation. There was a Spanish rock channel, a salsa merengue channel, a ballad pop channel, a regional channel and a tejano channel. HBC was to benefit from having half the inventory of the channels

When XM took commercials off all the music channels it canceled the HBC deal. XM took over the channels, but went through a group of programmers who, mostly, were veterans of the Miami market. They ended up cutting out all but one of the channels.

Now, Karmazin has said that Hispanic car dealers have begged for more Spanish language channels, so the new "2.0" XM Sirius will likely have more. Given the inability to find programmers who actually know the preferences of most of the potential listeners, I don't see much promise, though.

 

[RadioStarOne]

Now, Karmazin has said that Hispanic car dealers have begged for more Spanish language channels, so the new "2.0" XM Sirius will likely have more. Given the inability to find programmers who actually know the preferences of most of the potential listeners, I don't see much promise, though.

David you forgot one promise that will be kept and that is the promise of higher prices as said by Karmazin in the news section of RadioInfo.com today, and that the increase will be more than the rate of inflation. All subscribers have to pay more just to please a group of spanish language auto dealers? SiriusXM deserves a decent return on investment but let's not get too greedy Mel. Remember Pandora's LastFM's Slacker's Yahoo's Rhapsody AOL box has been openned along with thousands of other choices. The service is good but not that GOOD! That (any companies) smartphone just keeps looking better and better! A lot of folks may be just looking for the right offer to fit the family budget and SiriusXM goes away. Be careful what you wish for guys!

 

[radiojomo]

All subscribers have to pay more just to please a group of spanish language auto dealers?

All subscribers will have to pay more because of Howard Stern

 

[CTListener]

What IS Sirius XM 2.0? Will it require new receivers? If so, and if the existing programming on the old receivers remains the same, how will SiriXM persuade its subscribers to junk their old radios AND buy new equipment AND pay more per month (as soon as this fall)? Or is it all about auto dealers and getting radios into cars on the lots, where they can be counted as "subscribers" even if the cars are sitting there unsold? (That's been standard Sirius operating procedure for years. Both companies were loaded with corporate slime, but Sirius was always slimier.)

 

[RudeBoy]

then need to reach out at me i have a ton of quality programmers capable of programing a ton of latin programming on there brand...the latin market is large and big bucks!

where do i sign up for them 5 channels hbc lost... i promise to bring over 100 djz from all over the us and the world to these channels! lets go

 

[JohnnyElectron]

XM had Aguila 92 - wonderful station with broad appeal - Mel axed it. My neighbor cancelled her sub as it was the ONLY reason she had XM. No reason not to 'spread the weath' in the music world when the merger arrived and can all the payola single-artist stations and have more genres of music represented, especially Latin.

 

[davideduardo]

then (they) need to reach out at(sic) me i have a ton of quality programmers capable of programing a ton of latin programming on there(sic) brand...the latin market is large and big bucks!

where do i sign up for them(sic) 5 channels hbc lost... i promise to bring over 100 djz from all over the us and the world to these channels! lets(sic) go

HBC did not "lose" the channels... they gave them up when XM decided to eliminate commercials from the music channels. Since the HBC deal was based on "owning" half the inventory, the XM move made it a losing proposition.

 

[CTListener]

then (they) need to reach out at(sic) me i have a ton of quality programmers capable of programing a ton of latin programming on there(sic) brand...the latin market is large and big bucks!

where do i sign up for them(sic) 5 channels hbc lost... i promise to bring over 100 djz from all over the us and the world to these channels! lets(sic) go

HBC did not "lose" the channels... they gave them up when XM decided to eliminate commercials from the music channels. Since the HBC deal was based on "owning" half the inventory, the XM move made it a losing proposition.

So what's your take on Siriius XM's narrow view of Latino music? You'd think that if a channel of tropical is a must-have in order to please Latino subscribers in the East, then Mexican and/or Tex Mex is just as necessary to get the Midwest, Southwest and West Coast. Is it really because Karmazin, Greenstein and company can't see beynd the borrders of New York City and have no clue that what works in New York doesn't necessarily work in all markets?

It doesn't look like any of the winning lessees of the government-mandated minority/special interest channels are going to be programming Mexican regional either -- the first of them just signed on, and it's BYU Radio. Mormon Tabernacle Choir but no Tigres Del Norte!!!

 

[magicjellybeans]

Theres enough spanish music on Terrestrial radio ,why would anyone want to pay for a format you can get for free?

 

[CTListener]

Theres enough spanish music on Terrestrial radio ,why would anyone want to pay for a format you can get for free?

Mainstream music without the commercials has always been a big selling point for satellite radio. Most people aren't musically adventurous; Sirius and XM would have gone broke long before the merger if they had catered only to fans of fringe genres. In the only Arbitron numbers ever leaked to the public, in 2007, the top-rated channel on XM was The Blend, which plays songs everyone has heard thousands of times on FM, but with no commercials.

 

[JohnnyElectron]

THe same reason SirXM has 15 crappy rock channels - no commercials. IMO, they still should have 3 Spanish MUSIC Channels if they have to have 5 French channels.

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"...why would anyone want to pay for a format you can get for free?..."