Discussions at a Radio Conference

When the industry’s biggest players gather together at the Hispanic Radio Conference, no topic is too big or too small, and no subject too controversial. They could discuss the impact changes at the FCC will have on you. Where digital programming is going, and where they see new revenue opportunities. How they are finding, developing, and retaining sales and on-air talent. They could speak about politics and the industry’s role in a new, uncharted landscape.

The Hispanic Radio Executive Leadership Roundtable is unscripted. But, because these are the industry’s leaders, their reactions and observations will help guide your plans and response to budgets, sales and programming for the coming year.

From Wall Street investors to your local direct sales, ratings, and technology, Hispanic radio leadership’s perspective on today’s industry will help you navigate what’s coming tomorrow.

Moderator:

Jose Valle served as president of Univision Radio from 2010 to 2015, leading the transformation and modernization of what was a traditional radio group into a best-in-class “listener first” based organization. Over the last year, he served as president of Political & Advocacy Group Sales for UCI, overseeing political advertising strategy and sales to advocacy groups, trade associations, and campaigns for all UCI’s platforms. Earlier in his career he was VP/GM of Univision Radio Los Angeles. Before joining UCI, he was president and GM of Telemundo’s flagship station, KVEA.

Panelists:

Albert Rodriguez is COO of Spanish Broadcasting System, a job he had held since 2012. He is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company and oversees the revenue and profit performance of the company’s consolidated operations, including radio, television, interactive and entertainment divisions. Previously, Rodriguez was the chief revenue officer of SBS’s television segment and GM of the Miami television market from October 12, 2010 to January 6, 2011, GM of the Miami television market from January 21, 2010 through October 11, 2010, and GSM for the Miami radio market from November 1999 through January 2010. Before joining the company’s television segment, Rodriguez was the GSM of SBS’s radio properties in Miami.

Norberto Sanchez is chairman and CEO of the Norsan Group, which runs Norsan Multimedia, a Spanish-language communications company that includes 12 radio stations in the Southeast, four of them covering the Charlotte market; the company also owns Spanish-language newspapers. Sanchez started his company in Atlanta and has gradually been moving more and more operations to Charlotte. Apart from the communications industry, the Norsan Group has a large role in the food industry, including a restaurant and catering division and Prime Meats, a USDA meat-processing facility serving the hospitality industry.

Ismar Santa Cruz is vice president/managing director of radio strategy for Univision Communications, overseeing content strategy, music genre curation, and continual success for Univision’s radio portfolio and leading programming initiatives for its 64 owned-and-operated stations in 15 top U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico. He also plays an integral role in Univision Music’s multi-platform strategy. Santa Cruz joined UCI to co-found the internal strategic consulting and consumer research division of Univision Radio. Santa Cruz has been instrumental in achieving double-digit audience growth year-over-year on broadcast and digital platforms, developing Univision’s Sonic Logo across all brands, and identifying Univision’s 2014 FIFA World Cup anthem, “Adrenalina.”

Enrique Santos is chairman and chief creative officer of iHeartLatino, heading iHeartMedia’s Latin direction and strategy. His daily morning show is syndicated nationally via Premiere Networks and airs live from iHeart’s TÚ 94.9 in Miami. Born to Cuban parents in Chicago, Santos moves freely between the Hispanic and mainstream American radio landscapes. His bilingual broadcasts are a crossover hit, combining humor, social satire, and political commentary to bridge the cultural and generational divide of a diverse cosmopolitan audience. No matter how busy his schedule, Santos has never lost his community ties and continues volunteering as a reserve police officer for the City of Miami Police Department.

Your Editor Adds: And enjoy José Valle´s dry and effective sense of humor.

Media Bureau points out petition was unopposed and is in public interest

By John Eggerton

The FCC’s Media Bureau has granted a petition by a pair of Australian citizens to control 100% of broadcast stations (four radio stations in Alaska and Texas).

The FCC has granted aggregate foreign investments in broadcast licensees of up to 49.99% under foreign ownership rules loosened in 2013 (the Pandora decision), and just last month allowed foreign investors to own up to a 49% equity stake in TV and radio station owner Univision, including up to a 40% stake by Mexico’s Televisa.

But this is the first time it has allowed 100% foreign ownership of the parent of broadcast licensees.

The FCC’s Media Bureau, which issued the declaratory ruling Feb. 23 allowing the ownership change, said the petition had been unopposed and that it had consulted with the “relevant agencies” on law enforcement, national security, foreign policy and trade issues—and none of those agencies raised any objections or said any conditions should be put on the deal.

Any deal that will result in more than 25% foreign ownership triggers such heightened scrutiny, but since 2013 such a 100% control scenario has been possible, which the FCCs’ Media Bureau pointed out in noting that the petition was reviewed under that 2013 clarification rather than the 2015 decision to streamline foreign ownership reviews, which explicitly said the FCC would consider petitions for 100% control. That is because the 2016 streamlining has yet to take effect.

But under that heightened scrutiny, the bureau has concluded that not only are there no grounds to object, there are grounds to favor the deal. “[W]e find that grant of the Petition would: (1) increase the likelihood of continued service to small communities by authorizing investment by individuals who are ready, willing, and able to operate the stations based on their extensive experience operating them to date; (2) facilitate foreign investment in the U.S. broadcast radio market; and (3) potentially encourage reciprocal investment opportunities for U.S. companies in foreign markets. For these reasons, we find that grant of the Petition will serve the public interest.”

The stations at issue are KGTW (FM) Ketchikan and KINY (AM) Juneau, both Alaska, and KCMC (AM) Texarkana and KTOY (FM) Texarkana, both Texas.

The stations are owned by Frontier, an Alaska-based company controlled by Richard and Sharon Burns, who are Australian citizens. They each own 10% of the ownership interests in the stations and want to buy the other 80% so they would hold 100% of the ownership interest.

“[A]fter the proposed transaction, the Burnses, would hold 100 percent of the ownership interests in Frontier, the parent of all four Licensees, and, through Frontier, would indirectly own 100 percent of the interests in the Licensees,” the Bureau said.

Both of the Burnses have lived and worked in the U.S. for more than a decade, the FCC pointed out. They have managed the Alaska stations since 2006 and the Texarkana stations since 2013.

Your Editor Welcomes this liberalization. No more borders, not even there.

A report by the Columbia Journalism Review

Out of all Trump’s appointees, Ajit Pai has perhaps received the dimmest spotlight. But as the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, he fits the pattern; from the EPA head’s questioning of climate change to Betsy DeVos’s allergy to public education, Trump seems to favor those whose public stances run counter to the department to which they are assigned.

Pai says he will focus on closing the digital divide—the stratification between those with access to the internet and its myriad devices, and those without. But Pai, who was formerly employed as a lawyer by Verizon, has a mixed record. Pai voted against an order that would have brought high-speed internet to schools and libraries in poor neighborhoods, citing concerns it would raise charges on phone bills. (It did, by 16 cents.) Because Pai was already a member of the agency, he bypassed Senate confirmation.

Pai is also opposed to net neutrality—the doctrine leveling the playing field for internet delivery—in favor, apparently, of a smaller role for the FCC. He unleashed a dozen actions in his first week in office “rolling back consumer protection regulations,” reported The New York Times.

Even prior to Pai’s appointment, there was concern that Trump would use the FCC for his own aims. As Klint Finley wrote for Wired in January, Trump’s transition team was already united against net neutrality—a good indication of policy to follow. Finley suggests Trump could also “use the FCC as a weapon against perceived enemies in the media”—through selective enforcement of net neutrality in a consolidated media industry.

Why should journalists care about the FCC, when newspapers are not affected by airwaves licenses? Tracie Powell laid out the case for CJR in 2013: Besides ensuring a free marketplace, neutrality, and transparency, “the FCC is the only agency with a mandate to make the media more diverse, local, and accountable.”

A few reads on net neutrality:

• From the CJR archives: A letter from the desk of a former FCC Commissioner, who makes a forceful argument against media consolidation in the age of the internet.
• The Intercept reports that civil rights groups have a conflict of interest when it comes to supporting or opposing net neutrality.
• In “The Trump Administration’s Other War on the Media,” Katrina vanden Heuvel enumerates the ways in which Pai has “declared war on consumers” in favor of making friends with large companies.

Your Editor Urges: Journalism is a weapon. Use it.

By Paul Resnikoff

When will radio stop ignoring the internet? And, everyone under the age of 25?

It’s a question whose answer is obvious. Why are people tuning out of ‘traditional’ broadcast radio? Usually the answer involves one or more of the following:

(a) long commercials

(b) lots of repeated songs

(c) long deejay breaks

(d) Spotify

(e) podcasts

(f) mobile phones in general

(g) lameness

(h) Nickelback

Maybe you could add ‘no EDM’ to that list, though somehow DJs went pop enough to get airplay.

But there is one good thing going for old-school radio: it’s easy and cheap. And, it’s ready to go in the car. Flick it on, and it’s there, all for free. But that’s slowly starting to change, especially with mobile-ready radio apps, streaming apps, and podcasts invading the dashboard.

Sure, a lot of people still tune in to local radio and deejays, but there’s never been more competition during drive time. And fewer younger people are tuning in.

Now, there’s a station wanting to add a little internet into the stodgy old radio station. And, add even more competition alongside Pandora, Spotify, podcasts, and Sirius XM. Enter GoViralRadio, an app-based radio concept that wants to bring younger listeners back into the fold.

What this is.

Here’s what these guys are up to. Basically, GoViralRadio is an app, for Android or iOS. And all it does is offer a blend of bigger hits and emerging, viral hits. So, it’s hits you like, plus stuff that’s blowing up on YouTube (and other places like SoundCloud).

Mix it all together, and these guys think they have something more exciting and appealing than anything out there.

GoViralRadio is actually targeted at a younger demo, which makes sense. Think 12-24 age demographic. Basically, the people who (a) care about pop hits and (b) care about viral hits. And, the people that would rather Bluetooth-connect their devices than lean back and listen to 98.7. “Concerts are selling out, interaction is extreme, kids and parents know the brands, yet radio is not playing,” the founders explained.

In terms of genres, there’s zero adherence to the traditional divisions of rap, country, EDM, whatever. That stuff is oftentimes made up by the industry and radio, not people. “Our goal is to promote viral superstar artists from around the world,” said Ray De La Garza, one of the founders of GoViralRadio. “We are not format-specific, we are what Top 40 was forty years ago. Think the hottest combination of pop, urban, rap, rock and country.”

Why this might have a shot.

Next question: will these guys be dead in 6 months? Possibly. The mortality rate among music startups is about 99% (trust us). But the founders of this company actually aren’t tech outsiders, pounding their fists in the air while touting theoretical mumbo-jumbo. De La Garza is actually a seasoned radio executive, who prides himself on plugging formatting holes.

The other founder, DJ Lynnwood, has been programming traditional and online radio stations for 10+ years. That includes nationally-syndicated radio shows, and even stuff for earlier platforms like MySpace and Beatport.

The last piece.

Here’s the part of the playbook that’s Radio 101. Target a demographic, then sell the crap out of it. And the proposition here is that under 25s are being woefully underserved.

So, once they are served, advertisers will want to reach them. GoViralRadio calls it an ‘obvious and massive demographic’. Let’s see if they can corner and monetize them.

Your Editor Applauds programming diversity also