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Could Detroit support a FM commercial Spanish language station?

Discussion pertaining to Detroit, Ann Arbor, Port Huron, and SW Ontario
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craig11152
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Re: Could Detroit support a FM commercial Spanish language station?

Post by craig11152 » Thu Jan 06, 2022 6:36 am

I found these 2020 estimates for SE Michigan on SEMCOG

Race and Hispanic Origin
Non-Hispanic 4,587,818 95%
White 3,108,251 64.3%
Black 997,657 20.7%
Asian 245,417 5.1%
Multi-Racial 205,178 4.2%
Other 31,315 0.6%
Hispanic 242,671 5%
Total 4,830,489 100%

https://semcog.org/community-profiles


I no longer directly engage trolls

SoutheastMIViewer
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Re: Could Detroit support a FM commercial Spanish language station?

Post by SoutheastMIViewer » Thu Jan 06, 2022 3:29 pm

The market for a full FM station is not there. Its about the same as the polish population(the ones that have homes or know family back in Poland) in metro detroit. Very limited.

I can see a FM station like the AM station having time block segments of Spanish/latin music though.

Once we see livonia, warren, Detroit demographics being majority latin, a all fm station can be feasible.


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Ben Zonia
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Re: Could Detroit support a FM commercial Spanish language station?

Post by Ben Zonia » Thu Jan 06, 2022 3:59 pm

Townsquare's Corporate Engineer that retired a few years ago lived in California, and as they say in "Rock Island" in "The Music Man", "he doesn't know the territory". Like many in California, he may have not thought Michigan was much of a concern. I approached someone at Townsquare before the Translator Window about applying (there were several possible frequencies at the time), and they weren't interested. It was after Bill Sanderson and John Risher left.


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lush.rimbaugh
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Re: Could Detroit support a FM commercial Spanish language station?

Post by lush.rimbaugh » Fri Jan 07, 2022 4:02 am

SoutheastMIViewer wrote:
Thu Jan 06, 2022 3:29 pm
The market for a full FM station is not there. Its about the same as the polish population(the ones that have homes or know family back in Poland) in metro detroit. Very limited.

I can see a FM station like the AM station having time block segments of Spanish/latin music though.

Once we see livonia, warren, Detroit demographics being majority latin, a all fm station can be feasible.
Yes but you're all assuming that only latin Detroiters would listen.



billmich88888
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Re: Could Detroit support a FM commercial Spanish language station?

Post by billmich88888 » Fri Jan 07, 2022 8:28 am

that's a great point, so in other markets with similar sized latin % populations, what % of non-latins listen to the latin station (for comparison) - would be interesting to know how much cross-ethnic pull there is for that format



SoutheastMIViewer
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Re: Could Detroit support a FM commercial Spanish language station?

Post by SoutheastMIViewer » Mon Jan 10, 2022 1:12 pm

lush.rimbaugh wrote:
Fri Jan 07, 2022 4:02 am
SoutheastMIViewer wrote:
Thu Jan 06, 2022 3:29 pm
The market for a full FM station is not there. Its about the same as the polish population(the ones that have homes or know family back in Poland) in metro detroit. Very limited.

I can see a FM station like the AM station having time block segments of Spanish/latin music though.

Once we see livonia, warren, Detroit demographics being majority latin, a all fm station can be feasible.
Yes but you're all assuming that only latin Detroiters would listen.
Yeah but you're also assuming that a lot of Metro Detroiters listen to Latin music.

Lets be realistic, the bulk majority of listeners would be Latin descents.


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Ben Zonia
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Re: Could Detroit support a FM commercial Spanish language station?

Post by Ben Zonia » Mon Jan 10, 2022 1:28 pm

And a lot of people of Hispanic origin in Michigan are second and third generation, and are culturally mainstream. They don’t eat Mexican every night, just like Italians here don’t eat pasta every night, and Poles here rarely eat borscht. They do sometimes speak their native languages at home with their ancestors though. Joes are Josephs, not Jose(s), in accordance with Roman Catholic tradition.


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lush.rimbaugh
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Re: Could Detroit support a FM commercial Spanish language station?

Post by lush.rimbaugh » Tue Jan 11, 2022 4:54 am

I'm not even saying the station has to broadcast fully in the Spanish language. There is quite a lot of latin crossover in the charts, including a fair bit of gold that could be mixed in to appeal to a more mainstream audience. I mean, it can't really do much worse than Alt98.7's 1.5 or 931.'s 1.6 ratings.



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WOHO
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Re: Could Detroit support a FM commercial Spanish language station?

Post by WOHO » Tue Jan 11, 2022 9:25 am

NO. Arabic or Mandarin are more likely than Espano in the D.



tivoking
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Re: Could Detroit support a FM commercial Spanish language station?

Post by tivoking » Wed Jan 19, 2022 11:57 am

107.9 comes in great at Stony Creek in Washington Twp and Rochester. I believe it is all Spanish. I think it comes in well because the park is on a hill even with the top of the RenCen.



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Art Van Damme
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Re: Could Detroit support a FM commercial Spanish language station?

Post by Art Van Damme » Sat Jan 22, 2022 10:39 am

I think the original question is a bit too broad for a yes/no answer. In reality, anyone can support anything. A population can ‘support’ a business with an unsustainable business model for a long time. Much of the analysis previously posted, narrows down the scope of the question.

I submit: given the two existing full-time AM Latino stations (1310 & 1480) and not counting W300DI-FM (107.9), a full-time, full-power commercial Latino FM could come to air.

Now, a lot of things would have to line-up. That’s wherein lies the catch.

An existing full-power station on a commercial frequency would have to come-up for sale at a bargain basement price. The potential owner(s) would need a rock-solid business plan and backing. They might even need a pre-commitment to advertising from local businesses and agencies. I’m not a financial guy, but it would be an uphill climb.

The programming would have to be something that you cannot already get. Just being available on FM isn’t going to cut it. Maybe Tigers PBP in Spanish? Salsa? Mainstream Latino Pop? Local news?

The probability of it happening, at this moment, I would say, not very likely. Commercial FM doesn’t seem to be in the same world of financial hurt as commercial AM is. W300DI-FM may already be doing the job of serving the Latino population just fine as it is. It has a pretty solid signal around the metro for a translator. The two previously mentioned AMs seem to be filling the need as well.

I have not looked into the most-recent census for size of the Latino population in Metro Detroit. Nor, do I have access to the the magic number of current homes using radio (HUR). In this radio climate, you don’t always need top ten ratings to bill a good chunk of change. Of course, it makes it easier. At the end of the day, it’s the billing that counts.

Post Script. There might be apps already providing programming to Metro Detroit Latinos, bypassing radio.

Thanks for reading. Wishing you good health.
Art



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MWmetalhead
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Re: Could Detroit support a FM commercial Spanish language station?

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Jan 22, 2022 10:51 am

I just wanted to interject that Reggaetón music is garbage. Vast majority of hip-hop aficionados who live in Metro Detroit would NEVER embrace that stuff. Not in a million years.



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