What's up with Spanish Radio in S.A.?

[saradio1]

S.A. Ratings-

No surprise- The Beat continues beating down all S.A. stations.

However, KROM and KCOR took some big hits this past trend. KCOR-Spanish Oldies shouldn't come as a shocker. Univision tried this same format almost 5 years ago and then flipped it to Spanish Top 40. Look for Univision or whomever buys Univision to flip 95.1. As for KROM, this station has been on a downward slide since 2005. This is further proof that just because S.A. is over 50% Hispanic doesn't mean that we all speak it and understand it. Univision flipped 95.1 from Reaggeton to Spanish Oldies to increase revenue. But now 95.1 is where Amor 95.1 was at before it went Reaggeton.

 

[sdh483]

How is KXTN doing? I think San Antonio in general is more of a Tejano city, not so much regional mexican. It's funny because Houston is very Mexican (refering to ppl from Mexico, not calling all hispanics Mexicans)and they have no tejano stations, just regional mexican, and hurban.

 

[purpledevil]

sdh483: you are absolutely right about the Houston market. We had one of the longest running Tejano outlets in the history of the format with KQQK. It seemed like after the Selena tragedy, the format lost a lot of it's drive and desire within the Hispanic community, and eventually led Univision to drop the format to a weaker signal, and ultimately removed Tejano from KQQK altogether. It now runs a Spanish AC simulcast as XO 107.9/96.9. We do, however, still have a Tejano station in the market. KRTX from Rosenberg is still formatted as Tejano, even after it's FM counterpart dropped it. KRTX sounds exactly like KXTN right down to the morning show with Johnny Ramirez. Confirming your point further, KRTX hasn't showed up in the Arbitron 12+ in many, many months, so it is basically a throw away station for Univision, with limited coverage of the Houston market during the day, and non-existent coverage at night.

 

[saradio1]

KXTN is near the Top 5 in S.A.

 

[purpledevil]

Absolutely, and this proves the point further. San Antonio is a population that still supports the format, when most others have long abandoned it. Very impressive that KXTN can remain one of the top tier stations in the market after other Tejano outlets around the state have fallen by the wayside. It goes to show that what works in one market, can not necessarily be applied to other markets, even in the same state, with roughly the same demos.

 

[-juan-]

Well, KRTX sounds exactly like KXTN, no doubt. But something that gets is why did KQQK drop after El Dorado put it on 107.9? KQQK was doing fine up to the point where it moved. Another thing, David Eduardo (now old gringo) stated that ever since KRTX started simulcasting in HD2 104.9, the demand for HD radio has gone up withing the Hispanic Population. He stated that many "tejanos" were buying up these radios because the AM signal was horrible. Now, can this be a sign that Tejano is well alive in Houston, or just not dead enough?

 

[Mediafrog+]

KQQK was doing fine up to the point where it moved.

Tejano had been slipping as a format even before KQQK's move to 107.9. Houston had two Tejano outlets for a while, but that didn't last. I'm no expert, but it appears the genre was simply running out of gas.

He stated that many "tejanos" were buying up these radios because the AM signal was horrible.

The KRTX signal is actually halfway decent, compared to many of the other AM's in Houston. But no blowtorch, so has the usual reception issues as far as casual listeners go.

Now, can this be a sign that Tejano is well alive in Houston, or just not dead enough?

Just not dead enough. Houston has a much higher percentage of 1st generation immigrants than San Antonio, therefore Regional Mexican is king. And I'm not sure what other, if any, more viable format Univision could put on 980.

 

[-juan-]

He stated that many "tejanos" were buying up these radios because the AM signal was horrible.

The KRTX signal is actually halfway decent, compared to many of the other AM's in Houston. But no blowtorch, so has the usual reception issues as far as casual listeners go.

Well, Im not a fan of Tejano music, but I do listen to it sometimes. And when that happens KRTX is horrible. Around the North part of Houston, the signal is covered by static. Now the only place this station is "halfway decent" will have to be just past the galleria area, after that Downtown and and the North, this station is static. And don't get started at night. Nighttime for this small suburban station is non existent.

 

[OldGringo]

S.A. Ratings-

No surprise- The Beat continues beating down all S.A. stations.

However, KROM and KCOR took some big hits this past trend. KCOR-Spanish Oldies shouldn't come as a shocker. Univision tried this same format almost 5 years ago and then flipped it to Spanish Top 40. Look for Univision or whomever buys Univision to flip 95.1. As for KROM, this station has been on a downward slide since 2005. This is further proof that just because S.A. is over 50% Hispanic doesn't mean that we all speak it and understand it. Univision flipped 95.1 from Reaggeton to Spanish Oldies to increase revenue. But now 95.1 is where Amor 95.1 was at before it went Reaggeton.

What we have here is an example of two phenomena at the same time.

First, trends are unweighted.

Second, Arbitron is still undergoing the fine tuning of the new Langauge proportionality variable in all markets. We have seen huge jumps in total Spanish share in individual months, based on too few Spanish dominant diaries. In San Diego, Recuerdo had a 0.0 in 18+ women in July, and bounced to #5 in the total makret in August extraps.

The same thing is going on in SA. We had, obviously, more English dominants in August. Since ther eis no weighting in a trend, the impact is instant. In fact, the 25-54 total Spanish share in August was 30% below the previous month, indicating severe month to month sample wobbles.

The "new owners" of Univsion are not going to change anything, as the current radio and TV management will continue on. KROM has been in a consistent 4 to 5 range and that makes it the #1 Spanish station in the market, with huge dominace in 18-34. One crummy, unweighted month does not affect anything.

KOVE in Houston in the PPM is in a virtual tie with KLTN, and has beautiful 25-54 numbers and an average age of 34. The Recuerdo format definitely performs well in the PPM, so it is no more endangered than any other station. San Antonio is on the list of already-scheduled PPM markets.

The Recuerdo in 2001 was a local production, and sucked big time. Today's Recuerdo is on in 12 markets and extremely successful everywhere. Agian, trends are not weighted and the language issue has added additional complications in balancing the sample in each phase of the book.

 

[OldGringo]

Well, Im not a fan of Tejano music, but I do listen to it sometimes. And when that happens KRTX is horrible. Around the North part of Houston, the signal is covered by static. Now the only place this station is "halfway decent" will have to be just past the galleria area, after that Downtown and and the North, this station is static. And don't get started at night. Nighttime for this small suburban station is non existent.

Tejano is now on the 104.9 HD-2 channel.

 

[OldGringo]

KXTN is near the Top 5 in S.A.

But not in 18-34, where it is beaten by KROM, KCOR, KSAH, KRIO and KLEY. This is a 35+ format, but a perfect complement for the younger statins in the cluster.