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Hispanic Radio Chain Acquires Television Station in Key West

Posted on: Friday, 15 July 2005, 00:00 CDT

Jul. 14--Hispanic radio chain Spanish Broadcasting System is moving into television.

The Coconut Grove-based company said Wednesday that it has bought WDLP-TV 22 in Key West for $37.5 million from Los Angeles opthalmologist William De La Pena.

The acquisition is expected to close in the fall, pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission. SBS will then join the likes of Univision, Entravision and Liberman Broadcasting, which all own both Hispanic radio and television stations.

SBS President and Chief Executive Raul Alarcon Jr. said that cross-promotion of the company's radio and television stations and selling radio-TV ad packages are key elements of the strategy behind the deal.

SBS owns three FM radio stations in South Florida and 17 other stations across the country.

"This is a highly complementary transaction that will enable SBS to further increase its ability to serve Miami's Hispanic community," Alarcon said in a statement.

"We fully intend to leverage our resources, relationships and media expertise to create a viable and compelling alternative for Hispanic consumers while providing advertisers with an ideal platform to reach this rapidly expanding audience."

Former Univision executive Tomas Johansen said he will take over as the WDLP's executive vice president and general manager. He declined to divulge programming plans, hinting only that the lineup would be "unlike anything in Hispanic television."

A full-power station, WDLP reaches about 1.5 million viewers across South Florida via over-the-air, cable and satellite distribution.

Local analysts noted that WDLP faces tough competition not only from Spanish-language heavyweights Univision and Telemundo, but also from independent WJAN-TV 41, which has carved out a following in the area's large Cuban community.

However, said senior equity analyst Phil Remek of Guzman & Co. in Coral Gables, SBS has a ready source of programming in its popular radio personalities.

In Spanish-language media, radio deejays often double as TV show hosts. The hosts of the Zona Cero morning show on SBS station WCMQ-FM Clasica 92.3, Javier Ceriani and Omar Moynelo, lead the racy late night show La Cosa Nostra on WJAN-TV.

Another WJAN personality Oscar Haza has a radio show in addition to his TV gig A Mano Limpia, as does Maria Elvira Salazar, host of WDLP's Maria Elvira Confronta.

Morning deejays on SBS station WXDJ-FM 95.7 El Zol, Enrique Santos and Joe Ferrero, previously had a TV show on WDLP.

"There are obvious synergies," Remek said.

Although SBS has no television experience, it's not to be underestimated, said Jose Cancela, principal of Hispanic USA, a marketing firm, and a former executive in Spanish-language television and radio.

"Raul understands the Hispanic market," Cancela said. "He's been able to go head-to-head against Univision [radio] in New York, Los Angeles and Miami. He's a fierce competitor."

Omar Romay, chief executive of channel 41, WDLP's chief competitor, noted that SBS is the latest in a long string of owners to try and make WDLP work with strategies ranging from Spanish-language shows to leased-time programming to infomercials.

"The TV business is a lot different than radio," he said. "It's not something you can do in six months, it's taken us nine years."

Romay said if La Cosa Nostra defects to the SBS TV outlet, he'll come up with a new program. He went through a similar situation when Maria Elvira Confronta switched from WJAN to WDLP in 2003.

WJAN bounced back with A Mano Limpia, which generates higher ratings than Maria Elvira Confronta, he said.

De La Pena said that he plans to keep his other TV station, WGEN-TV 8 in Key West, and will transfer WDLP's two locally produced shows Maria Elvira Confronta and La Hora de la Verdad, to WGEN after the deal closes.

De La Pena bought WDLP two years ago with the strategy of providing four hours daily of live programming in the evenings using locally known personalities, as well as providing South American programming options to counter the heavily Mexican fare on Univision and Telemundo.

The four hours were soon pared to two as costs mounted and advertising was slow to come in.

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Source: The Miami Herald

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