I hear KSND will flip to Spanish POP as some derivative of Romantica; in other words BORING and Magia to Bustos' other, better than "La Gran D", Mexican format "Ke Buena".
Why can't stations keep these changes secret now days. I heard it from a real good source from both of these stations.

Because you have a big mouth....Actually I find the KSND possibililty interesting. IF they do that makes you wonder why they spent the money to buy that station in the first place....

It all sounds the same to most of us so who cares?
What a waste of a signal.
The latinos I know don't even tune in now, they like am radio better.

Thats not whats happening in Portland at El Rey.
I've also heard that Hispanic listeners have appreciated that Spanish programming is now available on FM.

WELL.....actually after the AM show they start leaving the station like most listeners did with Howard Stern. Listen to his show then go back to their own station.

How about Don Coss bring classic country or rock and roll oldies to KSND which is perfect for the salem-keizer market demos?
Oh, that would be a smart move. Never mind.

KSND has good coverage to just south of Wilsonville, which means Don Coss now has coverage in Woodburn with both AM & FM.

His business base is hispanic, and has been successful enough to leverage the purchase of KSND with OPM.

I believe it not only makes sense to do what he's doing, but somewhere down the road it may make sense to either sell to Salem Broadcasting, giving them larger metro coverage, or represent El Rey in his area of sales expertise.

Remember, Ernie could not make a go of it financially in Salem. He sold to Don. Now Don must do what he does best, which will be more possible when the expensive Salem Studio lease ends.

Woodburn is a key component in the Metro hispanic ratings puzzle, because it is the only zipcode with HDHA. This means that hispanic diaries MUST BE RECRUITED within this area.

Benefit to Don? I think so.

Buried in an Arbitron press release about 18-24 sample sizes was this sentence:

"In other news from the Fly-In, the qualification for High Density Hispanic Areas will move from 25% to 40% minimum Hispanic population, effective with the Spring 2008 survey."

For those of you not up on your Arbispeak, Arbitron designates certain zip codes as HDHA (High Density Hispanic Area) or HDBA (High Density Black Area), based on higher than normal ethnic populations within zip codes. Those HDHA and HDBA zip codes receive higher incentives, more agressive recruiting and reminding, and have ethnic weighting within the zip code.

I suspect this will drastically reduce the number of HDHAs, and couple have further negative impact on Arbs ethnic sampling.

> I've also heard that Hispanic listeners have appreciated that Spanish programming is now
> available on FM.

How has this been determined? Were specific audience surveys conducted, or is this an interpretation of the Arbitron ratings? The last ratings that I saw posted to this message board showed rapid growth in KRYP's listenership simultaneously with a dramatic evaporation of KXPD's listenership and a serious hit (~50%) to KGDD's listenership. However, if one were to add the shares of all the Spanish music stations in this area, that total number did not change much with the introduction of KRYP.

I need to understand the Spanish demo better. Is the flooding of the market with stations good? Are any of the stations marketed towards the younger demo of consumer (teens-mid twenties)? Is Salem a big enough market to support any FM station?

Marion county (Salem) is a part of the Portland Arbitron Metro. All the Portland FM's are loud/local in Salem. Advertiser's get Salem coverage as an "added value" bonus when they advertise on Portland stations. Local Salem advertisers have dictated low-ball rates they are willing to pay to "local" stations like KSND.

In this instance, KSND's hispanic formula with a built-in advertiser base, and "in motion" sales machine to cater to it...is probably the most viable solution.

As best I can tell, all of these spanish formatted stations are geared to a younger audience. The fact that the music sounds 400 years old to my ears is of no consequence.

Salem stations have always gotten screwed by Arbitron.
It sucks.
Albany is a stand alone market?
Salem, the state capitol and 2nd largest city is not?
Owning a station in Salem has always been a tough row to hoe.
They are entirely dependent on mom and pop advertisers, while mediocre stations in PDX get the big buys from the ad agencies based on numbers in the PDX book.
So.....Salem stations have to sell for extremely low rates, it stinks.
On the other hand, where else is every station in the market individually owned? That is kind of cool.
(exception kslm owned by entercom)

Re Dodger: "On the other hand, where else is every station in the market individually owned?"

NEWPORT for one. For better, or worse, three independent owners.

It's really too bad, Entercom dumped the KSLM calls.

I think Don should change KSND's call letters to KSLM to better identify the station as a Salem Station.

Yes, that would be a smart move.

Last time I was in Salem, I thought I was in West Covina. Mucho latino population + mucho latino businesses = Mucho dinero for Latino Pop radio.

95.1 "Amor" sounds much like Portland's "Magia" 1150.

Thats because it does. This market is not 'mature' enough for it to be economically supported in this market....The blind leading the blind. Bustos understands that, thats why they have moved from the format of Magia in various markets to their "Ke Buena" format. Even if it means it will compete with their "La Gran D" product.

Would Latin CHR be a better format choice for Salem?

I do not understand: what is the difference between Latin pop and Latin CHR? I am a bit surprised at the format's lack of success so far. The only explanation that I can hazard is this: the young people to whom CHR would appeal attend public schools with English-speaking classmates. While going to school, they become Americanized, picking up the pop culture of their American peers in the process.

Latin Top 40, for 12-24 Hispanics, would be... Hip Hop/RnB, like Z-1-Blunder and/or Jammin'

>>I think Don should change KSND's call letters to KSLM to better identify the station as a Salem Station.

The calls are taken all ready...

That would have been a good call for the current Sports simulcast on 1390: K-Slam!

Alfredo

Your right, most Spanish Stations target the 18-34 demo, and the median age of these stations tend to be 25/26 years old, vs. Hispanics listening to a Jammin or Z, which would be 21 or 22. Most of the Hispanics who listen to Z or Jammin tend to be born here or migrated here at a young age and English is their dominant language. The Spanish Pop format is a good complement to a Regional Mexican Station in any market. This format tends to lean more female, and since it's on an FM signal it would be the preferred choice than a crapy AM signal.

As far as categorizing the format, it would be more of a Spanish Pop vs. a Latin Pop or Latin CHR, these terms are not normally used to describe these formats.

KSLM is currently a translator, located north of Dallas, Oregon. A translator can be wiped out completely if a full power station wants the frequency. I'm not sure about call letters but it seems like it would follow.

The 1390 station (KKSN) in Salem is not a licensed translator, it is a Class B station.

KSLM-LP is a licensed low power TV station (ch 14):

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=129165

Service Designation: TX Translator station

COL: Salt Creek