Radio lured by Latino clout

DENVER —  As he waited for the bus on a searingly hot day in Denver, Chaz Aguinaldo leaned back and listened to the syncopated beat and Spanish lyrics coming through his headphones.

No Beck for Aguinaldo, no Black Eyed Peas -- he was tuned in to KMGG-FM and a new format the radio chain giant Clear Channel Communications Inc. calls “Hurban,” for Hispanic urban. The playlist includes artists as diverse as Shakira, the crossover star, and Daddy Yankee, the Puerto Rican artist who mixes hip hop and Latin beats in a musical fusion called reggaeton.

The DJs, like the songs, mix English and Spanish freely, sometimes in midsentence. Clear Channel’s slogan for its new Hurban stations is “Latino and Proud,” something that resonates with Aguinaldo.

“It’s in both English and Spanish, the way it should be,” he said.

English is still the language of choice for most of the nation’s nearly 14,000 radio stations, but a booming Latino population is pushing dramatic change: Spanish-language radio is at an all-time high, with more than 678 stations across the country, according to Arbitron Inc.

“That number could double in two years,” said Mike Henry, a Denver-based radio consultant.

In 2000, the U.S. census counted 35.6 million Latinos and that number has grown to 41.3 million. Estimates of Latino purchasing power now top $630 billion, up nearly threefold from $233 billion in 1990, and it’s expected to reach $926 billion in 2007, according to Denver marketing firm Heinrich Hispanidad.

“When the population is over 40 million, people take notice, including advertisers and broadcasters,” said Alfredo Alonso, a Clear Channel official hired to convert 20 to 25 of its 1,200 English-language radio stations to Spanish formats.

Spanish-language radio is no longer about mom-and-pop stations that operated for years on the fringes of the AM dial. Hurban has a growing appeal for broadcasters and syndicated shows dominate mornings and afternoon drives in certain markets, many of them drawing the 18- to 34-year-old crowd coveted by advertisers.

While Latinos comprise nearly 14% of the U.S. population, expenditures by companies trying to reach this market account for only 3.2% of total advertising dollars, according to the Assn. of Hispanic Advertising Agencies. Broadcasters are hoping to close the gap.

“We’re not even close to that,” said Jeff Liberman, president of Entravision Communication Corp.’s radio division, which owns stations in 20 of the top 50 Latino markets.

The trend has attracted heavy hitters.

Los Angeles-based Univision Communications Inc., already the country’s No. 1 Spanish-language television broadcaster, in 2003 became the top Spanish-language radio broadcaster with its acquisition of Dallas-based Hispanic Broadcasting Co.’s 65 stations.

ABC Radio Networks recently announced plans for the Hispanic Advantage Network, which will distribute syndicated shows, professional baseball coverage and ESPN Deportes -- ESPN’s sports in Spanish.

San Antonio-based Clear Channel, meanwhile, recently converted English-language radio stations to the Hurban format in Albuquerque, Denver, Houston and Miami.

In other cities it has switched to more traditional formats playing Mexican regional music -- a combination of mariachi and other traditional styles -- or contemporary Spanish-language hits.

Clear Channel with its Hurban format is aiming at a bilingual crowd, hoping its programs will have crossover appeal. In other markets an increase in first-generation Spanish speakers is enough to support a format switch.

While Los Angeles, New York and Miami have long had large Latino populations and Spanish radio stations to reach them, areas such as Charlotte, N.C.; Kansas City, Mo.; and Providence, R.I., are now among the top 50 Latino radio markets.