Acceptable registrations in the queue through March 16 at 11:00a ET have now been activated. Enjoy! -M.W.

Terms of Use have been amended effective October 6, 2019. Make sure you are aware of the new rules! Please visit this thread for details: https://www.mibuzzboard.com/phpBB3/view ... 16&t=48619

Could Detroit support a FM commercial Spanish language station?

Discussion pertaining to Detroit, Ann Arbor, Port Huron, and SW Ontario
Deleted User 15727

Could Detroit support a FM commercial Spanish language station?

Post by Deleted User 15727 » Fri Dec 31, 2021 3:44 pm

Now, I know Detroit is a very different market then Chicago, NYC, or even Atlanta. However, the Hispanic/Latino population has been growing in recent years and I think it's a matter of time before a commercial FM station flips to a Regional Mexican format.

I'm not talking a translator or some crummy AM station( like 1090 :rolleyes ) up on the nose bleed section of the AM dial. I'm talking like, for example audacy flips 98.7 or somehow I-heart put there El Patron format on 106.7. It seems to me the market is just kind of out of ideas, in terms of formats. Also, I see a potential untapped audience.

Thoughts?



User avatar
MWmetalhead
Site Admin
Posts: 11877
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

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

Post by MWmetalhead » Fri Dec 31, 2021 4:45 pm

About 5 percent of the tri-county area is of Hispanic origin. I am unsure how many immigrated here and speak Spanish as their primary language.

I think a major FM stick would need to be available for no more than $5 million for there to be any real possibility of the economics making sense. Stick values based on recent comps are at least twice that level.

A more likely possibility is someone scooping up an FM translator - perhaps two - to air such programming. La Zeta 1310 translates on FM 107.9, but that station has iffy reception in western Wayne County and is unavailable in the Pontiac area. (It does deliver an OK signal to SW Detroit.)

If every single Hispanic in the tri-county area were to cume a full power FM weekly, you're looking at an audience of 200,000 or so. My guess is a viable cume number would be between 75,000 and 125,000 if we are speaking adults.



User avatar
TC Talks
Posts: 10106
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2005 2:41 am

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

Post by TC Talks » Fri Dec 31, 2021 5:47 pm

You might have better luck with an all polish station


“The more you can increase fear of drugs, crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and aliens, the more you control all of the people.”
― Noam Chomsky

Posting Content © 2024 TC Talks Holdings LP.

sfpcc1
Posts: 122
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:29 pm

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

Post by sfpcc1 » Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:00 pm

TC Talks wrote:
Fri Dec 31, 2021 5:47 pm
You might have better luck with an all polish station



I Agree. I am not sure it its viable but the Hispanic population in this city does deserve one.

Did Detroit ever have an all Polish radio station, like during the 30' till the 50's.?



Deleted User 15716

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

Post by Deleted User 15716 » Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:44 pm

Why am I thinking there already is at least one I can hear while cruising Downriver. It won't be until tomorrow until I will be mobile and can scan the band. Seems up high like 107 point something.

Of course it may not be a commercial station, maybe some Dearborn high school radio station. I certainly wouldn't be able to tell the difference.



User avatar
MWmetalhead
Site Admin
Posts: 11877
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

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

Post by MWmetalhead » Fri Dec 31, 2021 7:06 pm

You can. 107.9 FM. I mentioned it in my post above.



ChrisWL1980
Posts: 813
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2019 2:36 am

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

Post by ChrisWL1980 » Fri Dec 31, 2021 7:12 pm

sfpcc1 wrote:
Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:00 pm
TC Talks wrote:
Fri Dec 31, 2021 5:47 pm
You might have better luck with an all polish station



I Agree. I am not sure it its viable but the Hispanic population in this city does deserve one.

Did Detroit ever have an all Polish radio station, like during the 30' till the 50's.?
Anything that wasn't network affiliated in the pre-Top 40 era probably had at least some foreign language programming. I would assume WJLB, which used to daypart between R&B and ethnic programs when it was on AM, was probably the station of choice for Polish Detroiters looking for programming in their native language. I don't think there has ever been a station broadcasting 100% in Polish though.



lush.rimbaugh
Posts: 40
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2020 2:48 pm

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

Post by lush.rimbaugh » Sat Jan 01, 2022 6:58 am

I say yes, especially if it's highly sindicated and aims itself at the pop market. I wondered in my '22 predictions whether this was possible as a new local marketing agreement with the Masons to run 107.5. Univision's 'Latino Mix' format would be a good call.



User avatar
MWmetalhead
Site Admin
Posts: 11877
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

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

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Jan 01, 2022 7:59 am

The Masons are interested in propagating programming that appeals to the African American community. Latino Mix would be incompatible with that objective.



lush.rimbaugh
Posts: 40
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2020 2:48 pm

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

Post by lush.rimbaugh » Wed Jan 05, 2022 12:42 pm

I don't see why a latin format wouldn't appeal to the Black community. It's why I think it would be successful in Detroit - a station that is heavily latin-pop would attract more than just Latin Detroiters.

But ok, let's say not 107.5. Then 93.1 DRQ could come back as a Latin pop/dance station.



ftballfan
Posts: 875
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 6:38 pm

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

Post by ftballfan » Wed Jan 05, 2022 6:00 pm

Here are some smaller markets in the Midwest with full-power commercial Spanish FMs:
Columbus, Ohio, which I think is a smaller Hispanic market than Detroit, has not one, but two full power Spanish FM stations (102.5 WWLG and 103.1 WVKO, both rimshots).
Milwaukee has had a Spanish FM since 2005 (104.7 WDDW, which is a rimshot but does put a strong signal over MKE's most-Hispanic areas).
Green Bay has a Spanish FM (92.7 WAUN. which uses two translators owned by Del Reynolds to get into Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay as its main signal's 60dBu peters out just east of Green Bay and just south of Sturgeon Bay)



billmich88888
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2018 11:11 am

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

Post by billmich88888 » Wed Jan 05, 2022 6:39 pm

full power but rim-shot is NOT the same as an IN MARKET full power station



User avatar
MWmetalhead
Site Admin
Posts: 11877
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

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

Post by MWmetalhead » Wed Jan 05, 2022 6:50 pm

Agreed. Especially an in market signal that cranks out a 50 kW equivalent signal!

102.5 is about 20 miles from Columbus and is only a B1 facility. Station aurally sounded miserable when it was alternative / indie CD 102.5. It was probably constructed cheaply in the middle of nowhere.

103.1 is about 25 miles NE of Columbus and is a dinky Class A facility that has no higher and better use available.

The closest similar example locally, albeit in a different language, is 102.3 from Windsor, whose programming mostly targets Arabic speakers who reside in Metro Detroit. The signal sucks north of Eight Mile Rd, yet there is a surprisingly high number of advertisers from Sterling Heights, West Bloomfield, etc. Signal is strong in Dearborn, of course.



User avatar
Ben Zonia
Posts: 2143
Joined: Sat Jun 03, 2006 10:35 pm
Location: Honor

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

Post by Ben Zonia » Wed Jan 05, 2022 7:26 pm

Townsquare’s WCRZ should be screaming about the translator on 107.9. I really would like to see what the mod levels and measured DA relative fields are on that translator. I bet if you did a Longley Rice on that with actual DA relative fields, there would be prohibited interference. Denny Moon wouldn’t have let that go if he was associated with it.

Dave Magnum owns WAUN. The translators go outside the 60 dBu and have to be owned by some other entity.


"I had a job for a while as an announcer at WWV but I finally quit, because I couldn't stand the hours."

-Author Unknown

User avatar
MWmetalhead
Site Admin
Posts: 11877
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

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

Post by MWmetalhead » Thu Jan 06, 2022 5:59 am

The religious translator from Family Life Radio at 103.1 FM in the Rochester area interferes with a Townsquare station (103.1 from Lapeer, WQUS)much more than Detroit's 107.9 interferes with WCRZ, in my opinion. We're talking an interference zone that is easily 10 miles wide and seeps beyond the WQUS 50 dBu contour.

U.S. 103.1 used to deliver a reliable in-car signal to Orion Twp., Clarkston, Romeo, etc. Not anymore! Even on the south edge of Oxford, where U.S. 103.1 used to be clear as a bell in the car, I've heard problematic interference.

Clownsquare evidently doesn't care. Wouldn't surprise me if WCRZ is using less than its licensed ERP, either. Signal seems weaker just about everywhere than years ago.



Post Reply Previous topicNext topic