A few months ago, 1470 WSAN Allentown, owned by iHeart, switched from being a Fox Sports Radio affiliate (in English) to an affiliate of ESPN Deportes. Yet they still carry the Phillies in English. Does that make any sense? WSAN's website is in Spanish, supplied by ESPN Deportes. But the banner ads are for the Phillies English-language broadcasts.
Why iHeart switched the station I'm not sure. iHeart distributes Fox Sports Radio and usually puts it on all the AM stations they switch to Sports. Yes, the Hispanic population in the Delaware Valley (Allentown-Easton-Bethlehem) is growing. But there's only one other station broadcasting in Spanish in the market... and it's playing Tropical music, not Regional Mexican (1600 WHOL Allentown simulcast on 1400 WEST Easton). The Mexican/Central American population is still so small that no station, AM or FM, plays Regional Mexican music.
I'm assuming someone at iHeart Allentown didn't do his homework. He thought, "Hey we have so many Spanish-speaking residents here. Let's give them a format in Spanish that's great for AM Radio. I know... ESPN Deportes!" And probably the sales staff at ESPN Deportes said, "Sure, sign here!" They know, even if the local GM doesn't, that ESPN Deportes is really for Mexican-American immigrants. It's all about futbol... International Soccer, Mexican League soccer, Latin American soccer. It is NOT generic Sports in Spanish. Sports fans from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba have as much interest in soccer as English-speaking Americans do... which is very little. Yes, ESPN Deportes also covers some general sports, a bit of MLB, even some NFL and NBA. But not much. In fact, the ESPN Deportes feed is so Mexican-centric that some stations south of the border also carry it. I believe David Eduardo tells us that in Tijuana, there are TWO ESPN Deportes outlets... one for listeners in San Diego with U.S. ads and one for those in Mexico with Mexican ads.
The funny thing is, 1050 WEPN can be heard quite well in the Allentown market. WEPN carries ESPN Deportes for a NYC audience that also has little interest in Mexican-accented guys discussing the Mexican soccer scene. So the Spanish-speaking audience in the Lehigh Valley that cares about Soccer has two stations to listen to for ESPN Deportes, one local and one from NYC. So when the Phillies are playing, they'll have to switch to the NYC station.
Why iHeart switched the station I'm not sure. iHeart distributes Fox Sports Radio and usually puts it on all the AM stations they switch to Sports. Yes, the Hispanic population in the Delaware Valley (Allentown-Easton-Bethlehem) is growing. But there's only one other station broadcasting in Spanish in the market... and it's playing Tropical music, not Regional Mexican (1600 WHOL Allentown simulcast on 1400 WEST Easton). The Mexican/Central American population is still so small that no station, AM or FM, plays Regional Mexican music.
I'm assuming someone at iHeart Allentown didn't do his homework. He thought, "Hey we have so many Spanish-speaking residents here. Let's give them a format in Spanish that's great for AM Radio. I know... ESPN Deportes!" And probably the sales staff at ESPN Deportes said, "Sure, sign here!" They know, even if the local GM doesn't, that ESPN Deportes is really for Mexican-American immigrants. It's all about futbol... International Soccer, Mexican League soccer, Latin American soccer. It is NOT generic Sports in Spanish. Sports fans from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba have as much interest in soccer as English-speaking Americans do... which is very little. Yes, ESPN Deportes also covers some general sports, a bit of MLB, even some NFL and NBA. But not much. In fact, the ESPN Deportes feed is so Mexican-centric that some stations south of the border also carry it. I believe David Eduardo tells us that in Tijuana, there are TWO ESPN Deportes outlets... one for listeners in San Diego with U.S. ads and one for those in Mexico with Mexican ads.
The funny thing is, 1050 WEPN can be heard quite well in the Allentown market. WEPN carries ESPN Deportes for a NYC audience that also has little interest in Mexican-accented guys discussing the Mexican soccer scene. So the Spanish-speaking audience in the Lehigh Valley that cares about Soccer has two stations to listen to for ESPN Deportes, one local and one from NYC. So when the Phillies are playing, they'll have to switch to the NYC station.