The Regional Mexican format has been a solid performer before and throughout the pandemic, consistently delivering at least a 4 share among persons 25-54 and recently hitting the 4 mark in 18-34, based on Nielsen PPM cross-market average quarter-hour data.
“Regional Mexican remains the top format among Hispanic radio consumers, but is also broadening its general market appeal,” Nielsen Audio VP of Audience Insights Jon Miller says. “PPM market shares have grown approximately 15% among total adults 25-54 since the advent of the pandemic. At the same time, the format is far and away the most popular among Hispanic listeners overall, with nearly double the share of the second-ranked format (Adult Contemporary).”
This week's edition of Inside Radio's “By The Numbers” spotlights Nielsen's top 25 Regional Mexican stations, based on weekly cume persons 12+ using its most recent National Regional Database (spring 2021), reflecting both in- and out-of-market on-air and streaming listening.
Los Angeles claims the top two stations, with Spanish Broadcasting Systems' “97.9 La Raza” KLAX up top and Univision's KSCA “LA 101.9” in second. KLAX is the only Regional Mexican station to cume over 1 million, meaning in a market of 11.4 million it's reaching just shy of one in 10 Southern Californians weekly. Serving the Spanish-speaking community since 1992, KLAX in 1993 became L.A.'s first Spanish-language station to be the most-listened-to in the market. With VP of Programming of SBS West Coast Juan Carlos Hidalgo at the helm, “La Raza” features El Terrible in mornings and Chikilín in afternoons.
“KLAX has been a staple of the number one Mexican market in the country, super serving the Angelinos with relatable local content,” Hidalgo says. “We engage with the 25-54 audiences by telling stories through a perfect playlist that embraces and keeps them attached to their nostalgia and origins.”
Univision's “LA 101.9” and “Qué Buena 102.9” KLTN-FM in Houston – both two-time NAB Marconi “Spanish Station of the Year” award winners – rank second and third. KSCA, currently programmed by Verónica Nava, began its Spanish contemporary music format in 1997, while KLTN, with Daniel Guerra overseeing programming, started a year later. KLTN, with its 667,000 weekly cume, reaches more than one in ten people in the Houston market. Univision also has the fourth-ranked Regional Mexican station, Chicago's “Qué Buena 105.1” WOJO.
Overall, Univision places the most stations in Nielsen's top 25: 10, including one more inside the top 10, “Qué Buena 94.1” KLNO Dallas. Estrella Media has six, including, in the top 10, “Qué Buena 105.5/94.3” KBUE, also in Los Angeles, and “La Raza 98.5 y 103.3” KTJM Houston. In addition to the top station, L.A.'s KLAX, Spanish Broadcasting System places two more, including seventh-ranked “La Ley 107.9” WLEY Chicago. The only other owner with more than one station in Regional Mexican's top 25 is Entravision Communications, including top 10 entry “La Tricolor” KLNZ in Phoenix, and the only other owner with a top 10-ranked station is Audacy, with Dallas' “La Grande” KMVK.
Among Regional Mexican's top 25, Dallas is the only market with five stations, while L.A. has four and Phoenix three. Chicago, San Francisco, Houston and the McAllen-Brownsville-Harlingen, TX DMA claim two stations each. Two of the top 10, Univision's KLTN Houston and KLNO Dallas, also rank among the market's top 10 cume-ing stations based on September's PPMs.
Three of these stations are in the 'punching above their weight' department, reaching an impressive percentage of their market's population on a weekly basis: Estrella's “Qué Buena 96.1” KRQB, in market 26, Riverside-San Bernardino, CA, reaching one in ten people in the market, and both stations in market 57, McAllen-Brownsville-Harlingen – Univision's “La Jefa 98.5” KGBT, with a 15% reach, and R Communications Media Group's “La Ley 102.5” XHRR, reaching 12% of the market.