Hispanic Radio Hits Rough Wave
Ads Decline With Lagging Economy

By Alejandro Lazo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 14, 2008

The International Media Academy, a storefront language school located below the studios of Radio Fiesta 1480 AM, shuttered its doors earlier this year. With that, the Spanish-language station lost an advertiser.

When the Vilchez & Associates realty company closed its Woodbridge office a few doors down from Radio Fiesta, with an African market opening in its place, the station lost another.

The nearby Asesoria Salvadoreña, which helps immigrants get power of attorney and make land transactions in their home countries, saw its customers begin to dwindle last year. It cut out most of its advertising budget, including its account with Radio Fiesta.

For years immigrant entrepreneurs have taken over small stations with relatively weak signals, providing what for many Caribbean and Latin American immigrants is a key source of information about their local communities, U.S. life and politics, and news from the homeland. When Carlos Aragon, a native of El Salvador, founded Radio Fiesta six years ago on the second story of a strip mall in Woodbridge, he intended it to play just that role for Hispanics in Prince William County.

"The intention was to create a bridge between the Hispanic and the Anglo community, interviewing politicians and informing the community and creating a radio station that serves the community," Aragon said.

But these days the subprime mortgage meltdown has hit many Spanish-language radio stations hard. Real estate companies that targeted the Hispanic community have closed their doors or cut back on advertising and sponsorships. Aragon has lost most of the real estate agents who once advertised with him. In Prince William, where authorities are cracking down on illegal immigrants, many Hispanic-owned businesses have also slashed their ad budgets as fewer customers walk through their doors. Radio Fiesta's ad revenue from Hispanic businesses has declined by about 40 percent over the past year; it's down 10 percent from non-Hispanic businesses, Aragon said.

Mercedes Hernandez, who used to advertise with Aragon, stood outside her Asesoria Salvadoreña last week as workers began bringing in piles of clothes to a new shop she is opening.

"People are abandoning homes, businesses are closing and unemployment is high because people are afraid to walk around," she said. "We are opening a used-clothes store because people can't afford anything else."

The Washington area has 11 Spanish-language radio stations, though only El Zol at 99.1 FM, which took over the alternative rock station WHFS three years ago, has a market-wide signal. That station has gained in audience share over the past three years and now captures 3.7 percent of the market. Hispanics make up 11.7 percent of the entire market, according to figures from the research firm Arbitron. Numbers are not available for the other stations.

"The rest of the stations are locally focused and depend highly on the business of the communities they serve," said Steve Passwaiter, a vice president with research firm BIA Financial Network.

As the housing market took off, Spanish-language radio and real estate companies -- two businesses that are highly locally focused -- became increasingly intertwined. Jose Luis Semidey, a real estate agent who catered to the Hispanic community, ran Radio Latina at 950 AM in Potomac and 810 AM in Annapolis. He's no longer an agent, and he ceased operating the stations in 2006. The realty firm Vilchez & Associates was a principal sponsor of Radio Universal in Manassas at 1460 AM, which no longer exists. It was shut down last year to be reopened this year as La Kaliente, with a new format and a new owner.

Peruvian native Ronald Gordon, whose Arlington-based ZGS Communications operates 11 Telemundo television station affiliates and three radio stations, including VIVA 900 AM in Laurel, said the housing bust has hit Spanish-language radio in the area, much like it has hit the whole Hispanic community.

"I think in terms of the mortgage and real estate industry, we were over-indexed in terms of advertising," Gordon said.

With a pair of headphones over his brushed-back black hair, his lips never far from a suspended microphone, Aragon can be found weekday mornings in his studio, pumping out a steady diet of Spanish-language news, talk, and Mexican and Central American tunes on his show "Buenos Dias Washington."

Aragon began renting his station's signal from JMK Communications of Los Angeles in 2002, changing its format from country to Mexican regional. Those days, the housing boom was just getting underway and an influx of Hispanics that would change the county's demographic mix had begun.

The station began throwing an annual Fiesta Hispana in its parking lot. It promoted Mexican and Central American bands. And when the latest immigration debate heated up, the station served as a place for information about demonstrations and meetings.

At the height of the housing boom, Aragon had as many as 15 real estate agents advertising with him, he said. He got his own Realtor's license three years ago and began advertising his services on his show -- which he still does today. Only one other real estate agent remains as an advertiser. The Fiesta Hispana has also been canceled for the second year in a row because many Hispanics in the area remain fearful of the ongoing crackdown in the county, Aragon said.

Despite the harsh environment, Aragon is optimistic. He said the station remains profitable and that he plans for it to remain a fixture in the community. He is weathering the storm by seeking out advertisers and listeners outside of his Prince William base. The station's 5,000-watt signal can reach Arlington, Fairfax, Alexandria and Fredericksburg, as well as some parts of the District and Maryland.

Soccer team D.C. United, which has advertised on Radio Fiesta for four years, finds the station to be a good vehicle for reaching fans along the I-95 corridor.

"We try and target that Latin fan base that lies down south," said Boris Flores, director of Hispanic marketing for the club. "We see [Radio Fiesta] as a good vehicle for reaching people in that part of the market."

Changes are in the works at Radio Fiesta. In January, Aragon hired his 28-year-old daughter, Melissa Gieras, as the station's business development executive. She has been drawing up revised programming plans and pitching the station to more advertisers outside of the county. She has also been laying the groundwork for a nonprofit group intended to be a resource for the county's minority-owned businesses.

Meanwhile Aragon's show remains a venue for the area's Hispanic population to discuss some of the most pressing issues of the day. One recent morning, Aragon hosted Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large), the chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors and one of the county's principal protagonists in the immigration crackdown.

Stewart defended the resolution, saying illegal immigrants were still not welcome in the county. But there should be more legal immigration allowed in the United States, and the resolution was not specifically aimed at Hispanics or any other group, he said on Radio Fiesta.

"They certainly serve the Spanish-speaking community, and to that extent, it is very helpful to us when we want to reach out to the community," Stewart said of Radio Fiesta. "I know there have been some hurt feelings there."