Growth of Atlantic City's Hispanic population brings a Spanish-language radio station to the area

October 04, 2008
By Vincent Jackson

Jose Rivera-Sinclair listens to the radio when he drives from his Mays Landing home to work at the Balsley-Losco Real Estate office in Northfield.

This week, Rivera-Sinclair, 30, found himself laughing as he made his morning trip. He was listening to Chucho El Perron's morning show on the new all-Spanish station at WTAA-AM 1490, called La Gran D, in Atlantic County.

"Their one talk show in the morning is very funny. There are a lot of jokes," said Rivera-Sinclair, a native of Honduras.

It is nice to be able to turn on the radio and hear something in Spanish, his native tongue, Rivera-Sinclair said. La Gran D's programming is of particular appeal to those of Mexican descent, but Rivera-Sinclair said Mexican culture is very similar to those of other countries in Latin America.

"I try to put the station on every time I'm in my car. We need something like this. It's progress," Rivera-Sinclair said.

La Gran D went on the air Sept. 18, becoming Atlantic and Cape May counties' only all-Spanish language, 24-hour radio station. The format replaced the political programming of Air America, which had been broadcast on the station.

Kelly said the format switch was made because the listenership for syndicated politically liberal-leaning format of Air America has been negligible for the 15 months it had been on the airwaves.

"We knew we wanted to do something to serve the Spanish-speaking community," said Kelly, who predicts the Spanish format will get better ratings.

Because of the increase in the number of Hispanics living in Atlantic County, it was likely someone would try a Spanish-language station. In Atlantic County, the U.S. Census Bureau counts 38,894 Hispanics out of a total population of 270,644, a 31. 8 percent increase since 2000.

Puerto Ricans have been the dominant Hispanic ethnic group in southern New Jersey, but Mexicans are challenging Puerto Ricans' dominance.

The Hispanic population is increasing in Atlantic County because word is spreading that it is more affordable to live in southern New Jersey, and many Latinos make their way to the county and the surrounding areas to work in the casinos, according to Manny Aponte, president of the Hispanic Alliance of Atlantic County.

La Gran D's syndicated programming is based out of Sacramento, Calif. La Gran D is a big-tent, "hot hits" format for Spanish-speaking people of all backgrounds, Kelly said. The music mix includes Ranchera, Norteno, Banda, Grupos, Tropical and Tejano music.

The station has both national advertisers, for instance, Sony BMG, and local advertisers, including Furniture Today Warehouse in Mays Landing.

Bert Lopez, the treasurer of the Pleasantville Center for Hispanic Outreach, said that from what he has been able to hear, La Gran D has been catering to the Mexican audience, but the station is a good starting point for appealing to the Hispanic-speaking Atlantic County residents.

"This is something we have been struggling to get for some time," Lopez said.

Lopez is a Puerto Rican descent. The Latin music mostly represented on the island of Puerto Rico today is salsa as opposed to Mexico where the traditional music includes Banda and Norteno.

A station trying to appeal to Mexicans would be more likely to play the music of Thalia, RBD, Vicente Fernandez and Tigres del Norte while a station trying to cater to Puerto Ricans would be more apt to play the reggaeton of Don Omar, the recordings of Puerto Rico native Obie Bermudez, who graduated from Vineland High School, and the Spanish-language recordings of Ricky Martin.

There isn't any local talent on La Gran D yet, but the station is looking for a local public affairs show that will reflect the cares and concerns of the Spanish-speaking community in southern New Jersey, Kelly said.

John Bustos, the chief operating officer of Bustos Media, which is supplying the programming, said the format allows for 15 minutes of local content hourly for commercials, public service announcements, news, traffic and announcers. Bustos also said the format allows for a greater variety of music to be played overnight and on weekends to appeal to an even wider array of Hispanics.

"We sort of bring communities together through the radio signal," said Bustos, who added many Hispanics are new to the country and dispersed throughout it. "We are 90 to 95 percent music, other than the morning show, which is entertainment based."

For one hour weekly, La Gran D will have radio competition for Hispanic listeners.

Milton Ramirez is the producer of a show airing from 6 to 7 a.m. Sundays called "Buenos Dias Latino America," which is a bilingual music, news, sports and weather show broadcast on WENJ-AM 1450. Ramirez said he is not losing sleep over losing his audience to La Gran D.

"I'm not worried about competition. The show we are doing is unique," Ramirez said.

La Gran D looks to dominate the Hispanic radio market in Atlantic City the way WMIZ-1270 AM, out of Vineland, has monopolized Hispanic listeners in Cumberland County for more than three decades. Unlike La Gran D, WMIZ - which promotes itself as the Hispanic voice of South Jersey - uses area and regional residents for its on-air talent and concentrates on salsa, merengue and bachata .

While WTAA-AM's new Hispanic format is finding favor with one set of listeners, old Air America fans are mourning the loss of the station. The station's few listeners were loyal, and they were sorry to see that programming leave the area.

Gloria Grant, 85, stumbled upon Air America about a year ago while flipping through the radio dial and isn't happy that the political programming has been replaced.

"I've been upset about it. I plan to write the FCC," said Grant, an Atlantic City resident. "I think it's so unfair that they have all these Republicans now, and no one else has a chance. ... Why didn't they put the Spanish music in place of Bill O'Reilly?"

Source: The Press of Atlantic City