October 30, 2009
By Tania Lara and Gissela SantaCruz
Border Media, formerly BMP Radio, is ending Spanish-language broadcasts on four Austin stations as of 1 a.m. Sunday.
“We were not sufficiently profitable in the Spanish market,” said Jerry Del Core, general manager of Border Media in Austin.
The stations — La Ley 98.9 FM, Digital 92.5 and 104.9 FM, and Juan 1490 AM — notified their listeners Friday of the coming change.
Simmons Media Group said on its Web site Friday that 104.9 — currently Austin’s only Spanish-language pop music station — would become an English-language ESPN station.
The change is a blow to the Hispanic community of Central Texas, said Federico Subveri, a journalism profesor at Texas State University in San Marcos.
“What Austin is waiting for, what it needs, is someone who will give them local political and cultural news that are relevant to its community” he said.
The Border Media stations “were the only ones that provided the service, although very limited, in the morning. Now, nobody will. “
The stations had aired local news briefs in the morning.
However, Tim McCoy, general manager of Univision radio, said in an email that local Univision stations air news headlines throughout the day.
With the closure of Border Media stations, the options for Spanish programming are limited to those offered by Univision Radio (104.3 FM and 107.7 FM) and Encino Broadcasting (1560 AM, 1600 AM and 95.1 FM), said Alicia Zetuche, local expert on Latin music.
“Now we only have Tejano and regional Mexican music formats, and we lose a younger demographic group that is assimilated or acculturated,” said Zertuche, who is a coordinator of the SXSW musical festival.
Source: Austin360
By Tania Lara and Gissela SantaCruz
Border Media, formerly BMP Radio, is ending Spanish-language broadcasts on four Austin stations as of 1 a.m. Sunday.
“We were not sufficiently profitable in the Spanish market,” said Jerry Del Core, general manager of Border Media in Austin.
The stations — La Ley 98.9 FM, Digital 92.5 and 104.9 FM, and Juan 1490 AM — notified their listeners Friday of the coming change.
Simmons Media Group said on its Web site Friday that 104.9 — currently Austin’s only Spanish-language pop music station — would become an English-language ESPN station.
The change is a blow to the Hispanic community of Central Texas, said Federico Subveri, a journalism profesor at Texas State University in San Marcos.
“What Austin is waiting for, what it needs, is someone who will give them local political and cultural news that are relevant to its community” he said.
The Border Media stations “were the only ones that provided the service, although very limited, in the morning. Now, nobody will. “
The stations had aired local news briefs in the morning.
However, Tim McCoy, general manager of Univision radio, said in an email that local Univision stations air news headlines throughout the day.
With the closure of Border Media stations, the options for Spanish programming are limited to those offered by Univision Radio (104.3 FM and 107.7 FM) and Encino Broadcasting (1560 AM, 1600 AM and 95.1 FM), said Alicia Zetuche, local expert on Latin music.
“Now we only have Tejano and regional Mexican music formats, and we lose a younger demographic group that is assimilated or acculturated,” said Zertuche, who is a coordinator of the SXSW musical festival.
Source: Austin360
