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Cedar Falls, Iowa, Radio Station Speaks to Latino Consumers

Posted on: Tuesday, 3 January 2006, 21:00 CST

By Jens Manuel Krogstad, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa

Jan. 2--CEDAR FALLS -- When heavy snowfall hit the Cedar Valley and schools closed early a few weeks ago, Radio La Buena spoke and the Hispanic community gratefully listened.

"Recently with the bad weather, we had early dismissals of schools on the air. We had really positive feedback on that," said Jeff Ryant, the radio station's manager.

Broadcasting at 1250 AM since July, the state's second 24-hour Spanish-language radio station (the first was in Des Moines) has been filling a cultural and communication gap for the Hispanic population by offering a mix of talk radio, public service shows and music.

The station's listening area stretches north to Mason City and south to Marshalltown and Cedar Rapids. Ryant estimates a listening population of 28,000, though it is difficult to find an exact number.

When Ryant, 37, an Iowa native and U.S. Army Reservist, returned in 2004 after a year in Iraq, he saw a burgeoning Hispanic population largely ignored by the local media.

"The population growth was too much to ignore," he said. "In a sense, we're realizing that the next baby boom is within the Latino population."

In 2003, the U.S. Census announced that the Hispanic population had become the largest minority in the nation, and it projected that Latinos will make up 25 percent of the U.S. population by 2050, leading the way for minorities to make up a majority of the population at around the same time.

Despite the realities of shifting population demographics, Ryant said some businesses are reluctant to advertise in Spanish, which puzzles him.

"(Latinos) are very much here, need to be served and are a vital force in the economy," he said. "It's really going to have to become a facet of their marketing campaigns."

One example of the Latino population's increased purchasing power is the station's effort to reach out to new home buyers Radio La Buena is working with the Black Hawk County Department of Public Health to educate new home owners about the dangers of lead poisoning, he said, which is more prevalent in the older homes that many Latinos buy.

Standing in a studio built for Radio La Buena at the KCNZ 1650 AM offices, morning show host Artemio Gloria, 52, said listeners stop him in stores to tell him they enjoy the station and offer suggestions on how to improve the station.

Gloria, who received his degree in communications at the University of Monterrey in Mexico, has lived in the U.S. for 27 years and in Waterloo for the past three. A 33-year veteran of radio and television, he said he hopes to continue at the station for many years.

"I want to stay here a long time because Waterloo needs this station," he said.

The fact that people offer their opinions about the station is a good sign, Ryant said. It means people are listening.

Most often, people request to hear more of a certain variety of Latin music, like tropical, cumbia or regaetton, he said. Some of the music played, by the likes of Ricky Martin or Christina Augilera, are Latin American hits unfamiliar to most Americans, even though the artists are famous here.

The station hopes to eventually bring more community leaders to the studio to do outreach, but ultimately, he said, the listeners will be the ones who decide how to shape station.

"The radio station will really be what our listeners make it," he said.

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To see more of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wcfcourier.com.

Copyright (c) 2006, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa

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Source: Waterloo Courier

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