It’s been a busy few months for the bilingual AC format that combines English-language Classic Hits, a few more recent Spanish-language ballads, and Spanish speaking announcers.
Through October, iHeart had replicated the success of WMIA (Magic 93.9) Miami at only two other stations. But in the last two months of the year, there were flips at Cox’s WOEX (Hits 96.5) Orlando, Fla., Waterloo’s KLZT-HD2 (Latino 97.1) Austin, Texas, and iHeart’s own KXXM (Mix 96.1) San Antonio, Texas, which became the first iHeart station to outright drop the CHR format, leaving a hole in the market.
Finally, on January 10, Emmis switched WEPN (TJ98.7) New York, launched as a “pop-up” Hot AC station during an ongoing search for a buyer, to bilingual AC as La Exitosa 98.7. The previous format had seemed to be positioned between iHeart’s CHR WHTZ (Z100) and Hot AC WKTU. This one was more aimed at their AC powerhouse WLTW (Lite FM), as well as Audacy’s Classic Hits WCBS-FM. The station is still powered by Radio.Cloud’s browser-based operating system, which actually got an on-air shout-out on TJ98.7.
We took a “First Listen” to La Exitosa, as well as Hits 96.5 and Mix 96.1. (We updated Magic 93.9 on a separate Miami listen last week.) As you might expect, the stations differ from each other in the same way that different owners’ Mainstream ACs might. Like Cox’s AC stations, WOEX plays a few edgier new titles. It also plays only one Spanish title an hour, while La Exitosa and Magic 93.9 play a few more.
Exitosa is jockless at this writing. San Antonio and Orlando have the higher-energy jocking still found more commonly in Spanish-language radio. (I hadn’t heard Mix 96.1 near the end, but chances are now that it’s more enjoyable uptempo in that regard than its CHR predecessor.)
Here’s La Exitosa 98.7 on its first evening at 11:10, January 10:
- DHT, “Listen to Your Heart” (ballad version)
- Heart, “Alone”
- Franco DeVita, “No Basta”
- Natalie Imbruglia, “Torn”
- John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John, “You’re the One That I Want”
- OMD, “If You Leave”
- Chayanne, “Atado a Tu Amor”
- Celine Dion, “My Heart Will Go On”
- Bananarama, “Cruel Summer”
- ‘N Sync, “Bye Bye Bye”
- La Quinta Estacion, “Algo Mas”
- Starship, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”
Here’s Hits 96.5 at 4:00 p.m., January 14 with Luis Angel:
- Fugees, “Killing Me Softly”
- Marc Anthony, “Se Esfuma Tu Amor”
- Madonna, “Like a Prayer”
- Lauv, “I Like Me Better”
- Jennifer Lopez, “Waiting for Tonight”
- Bonnie Tyler, “Total Eclipse of the Heart”
- Lifehouse, “You and Me”
- Mariah Carey, “Dreamlover”
- Kenny Loggins, “Footloose”
- Katy Perry, “Firework”
- Verve, “Bitter Sweet Symphony”
- Dan Hartman, “I Can Dream About You”
- Backstreet Boys, “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”
- Alicia Keys, “Fallin’”
Here’s Mix 96.1 at 5 p.m., January 14:
- Culture Club, “Karma Chamelon”
- Whitney Houston, “I’m Every Woman”
- George Michael, “One More Try”
- Outfield, “Your Love”
- Juanes & Nelly Furtado, “Fotografia”
- Phil Collins, “One More Night”
- Shaggy, “Angel”
- Katrina & the Waves, “Walking on Sunshine”
- Gloria Estefan, “Don’t Wanna Lose You”
- Backstreet Boys, “All I Have to Give”
- A-Ha, “Take on Me”
- Bee Gees, “More Than a Woman”
I´ve commented on this format several times since the first one originated in Miami.
I find that the core audience will always be first generation Spanish dominant immigrants. And for them to like mostly English language pop, they must have grown up in their native country listening to one of the plethora of stations that plays that music.
In a broad generalization, I believe that the listeners for this format in the U-S. will be almost totally people who were in the upper and upper middle class in Latin America. They went to private schools, often bilingual. They were professionals and businesspeople before a socialist government (Venezuela, Nicaragua), unrest and ongoing gurerrilla activity (Ecuador, Perú, Colombia) or a decaying economy and social system (Puerto Rico) forced them to seek exile in the United States.
Almost all such emigrants from Latin America settled in Florida, with much smaller groups in Atlanta, Houston and LA.
So those immigrants are not going to look for salsa and merengue or cumbia and vallenato or norteña and banda on the radio. They will listen to general market stations in English with the music they grew up on.
But the English language hits in Latin America are not 100% in parallel with those in the U.S. For example, when I did CHR in Ecuador in the 60’s we found the Stones vastly more liked than the Beatles, while CCR beat them all. And anything more urban than the Supremes had no way of becoming a hit.
When I got to Puerto Rico, with its Afro-Antillean heritage, those urban songs were much bigger, while the bubblegum and Tony Orlando songs did not work well.
So, back to the United States: this format will work in markets with a big first generation migrant base of upper income and education economic refugees.
Second generation in general does not spend a lot of time with Spanish language media. And they did not grow up in Latin America listening to stations “back there” that played all or mostly English language music.
I do not see an appeal for this format in markets where most immigrants are “working class” and who always liked the popular class music of their nation or region.
The only doubt I have is in markets like San Antonio and Albuquerque where the cities are predominantly Hispanic and families go back 6, 8, 10 generations of being part of two cultures.
In general, Miami and Orlando: Yes! New York? Doubtful.
Great thoughts, David. I always appreciate your expertise on the topic. I’ve always enjoyed those English-language stations here with a slightly different frame of reference (e.g., XHTO El Paso or the short-lived Exitos 93.9 LA). I think Magic 93.9 has done a good job of capturing that, although many of those records were already on WFEZ. It will be interesting to see how many of the “song that audiences brought with them” make it to these new stations, especially those that are more likely to use WMIA as a safe list than do their own research.
I couldn’t agree more with David Gleason’s expert analysis based on the historical socialeconomic and political background of the U.S. Hispanic market’s first-generation immigrant of today. Remember, they left Venezuela more than 30 years ago. As a very young consultant completing my senior year of college, I worked with Billy Fourquet on dumping all of the American Top 40 hits from La Megaestación in early 1994 in favor of Latin Pop. In Caracas just before the pardon of Hugo Chavez by newly elected President Rafael Caldera in December 1993, the FM top 40 stations were focused on songs by Lisa Keith because “that’s what American Top 40 was playing.” That dynamic means understanding where those listeners may be today if they left and came to the U.S. The answer: Miami, Orlando, Fort Myers, Tampa, Atlanta, Houston and maybe San Antonio. They are not in California, nor are they in New York. As such, the “Magic” format has limited markets for longterm success if the playlist is mainly 1980s-era Classic Hits. And, there is the sales challenge: Do you sell it as a Hispanic 45+ radio station, or as an English-language AC? Clear to me, the answer is the former — and who wants a “discount” on a buy when core advertising is mired in a downward slump with little chance of a big turnaround?
Thank you David for your insight.
I agree with you. One of the key discussions I have had about the format is “mainstream Spanish pop vs other Spanish songs” mixed in with English Mainstream hits.
If you are born and raised in the United States, as part of the 2nd and 3rd generation, you will have the influences of both English and Spanish language music. The only way to view this is by looking at your demographics in a market. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, you might have been exposed to both languages of music and different genres. It doesn’t necessarily mean you want to always listen to both at the same time. I’m still a strong believer that our listeners are mood driven and will choose their music at any given time of the day.
The other thing you must look at is what were they listening to as you view your target audience. I’ve heard great stations like Magic playing big hits and being very selective with the Spanish songs, but then I’ve heard stations that have tried to replicate the formula and play late 70s and early 80s Spanish pop, which sounds like train wreaks when you can imagine Billy Jean followed by Napoleon track (they sound very different).
The difficulty of Programming a mix of English and Spanish comes with actually understanding your audience. It is not a big net you can cast out and think you will get masses, but a targeted cage that you need to assure you reach the correct target. If you don’t understand the culture of the listener, who have probably lived in those markets for the past 30 to 40 years, then you won’t understand their expectations when tuning into a station.
Mixing English and Spanish can work, but the music mix might be different from market to market. Many have seen this as a one size fits all format. You first need to know who your listeners are, then try to figure out which music fits their lifestyle, then be very selective on the songs you actually play and the presentation you select. The music mix is not a set formula either. It is complicated and can work in key markets (selective cities), but if the content or programming person doesn’t understand the dynamics and culture of the city or metro, it will fail miserably.
Again, one size fits all does not work, but time will tell.