2-21-2012
In a day and age when localism seems to be getting the short end of the stick at quite a few radio stations, Hispanic radio is delivering big time to its listeners. Over the past few weeks we've spent a lot of time discussing the explosive growth of Hispanic radio, with so many great broadcasters all over the country. One of those broadcasters is Tony Bonicci (pictured), who is running stations for Lotus Communications in Las Vegas. Bonicci is up for Broadcaster of the Year in the Radio Ink Hispanic Radio Awards, the Medallas de Cortez, which will be presented next month in San Diego.
Bonicci says Hispanic radio listeners are as loyal to their stations today as listeners to other formats were a decade ago. "The bottom line is quality," he says. "They are a loyal audience that wants quality. You deliver quality, and they will stick around and listen to your radio station."
Bonicci emphasizes the loyalty of his listeners, just a bit. "They are very, very, very loyal," he says. "They are very loyal people. Again, a lot of what we are seeing today in the Hispanic world is the stuff we used to see in the Anglo world. Hispanics select their radio station and support that radio station, they show up at the events. We just did a Valentine's Day promotion, a concert that was oversold. The casino was asking us what happened. I was like, 'This is what happens,' not, 'What happened?'
"They are very loyal, and that's where the time spent listening comes in. I think a lot of Hispanic broadcasters realize what I am saying, and the products that they are putting on the air are much better than the products they were putting on years ago. Look at today -- I will give you a great example of what I am talking about. The hottest show in television is the Hispanic version of American Idol. That is the reality of it."
Bonicci has a message for broadcasters all over the country about the Hispanic audience and Hispanic radio. "The Hispanic community is a lot more sophisticated than we were giving them credit for," he says. "They clearly understand, and they want quality. We have to deliver quality to the Hispanic listener, just as much as the Anglo audience had to do the same. The other part of it is, and I guess I am beating a dead horse, is the importance of us working together to actually educate the buyers and such about the quality of the audience that we have. The Hispanic audience is a quality audience and has money and is a force to be reckoned with. It is not a lower cost per point. It is the future. It is now, and it is the future as well for the customer base, which everybody should want a piece of."
Bryan Hollenbaugh (pictured right) is up for an award in our General Manager category. He manages seven stations for
Adelante in Eastern Washington, five of them in Hispanic formats. Hollenbaugh explains why listeners in his neck of the woods are as loyal as the day is long. "We have a blue-collar market," he says. "These people are working. They are out in fields or they are in warehouses. They are working all day long. They want something to kind of keep pep in their step. So the radio is cranked up, and they are listening to it througout the day. It is an integral part of their life.
"They are not picking up the newspaper, they are not watching TV during the day. They are not on the Internet, scanning and reading pages. The radio is part of their day-to-day life during the daytime. It is very much like what general-market radio might have been two decades ago. We are still very much in the forefront of people's minds, day in and day out. We are part of their day. With the time spent listening, it is designed the same way radio has always been designed, which was to be something people listen to diligently, and it became a part of the day-to-day experience, like getting my first cup of coffee."
See all of our nominees HERE. - Register for the Radio Ink Hispanic Radio Seminar HERE
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