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Mexican AM radio

M

mimo

Star Participant
Since AM is being phased out in Mexico, I'm curious to know when the last time it was relevant. In the early 90's (when I first heard Mexican AM stations) they were all playing music. By about 94, music had very quickly disappeared from the dial in Mexico city with the exception of a few stations. Was any one still actually listening in the early 90's? I know the Mexican's I went to school with had mixed feelings about AM. The older ones recognised the stations we got in the midwest (with the exception of XEROK, none of them lived hear Jurez) and the younger ones, it really depended on where they lived and if it was a station their parents listened to. Many preferred American pop and rock music and never touched AM at all back home. The ones I went to school with didn't actually listen to Banda, Ranchera, Cumbia or Norten~a with the exception of 2 from the north. There seems to be a class or demographic (for lack of better words) that don't like that kind of music at all.

To recap I guess I have 2 questions. When did AM stop being relevant and with those AM's that will not be able to move to FM, will there be an audience for them?
 
mimo said:
To recap I guess I have 2 questions. When did AM stop being relevant and with those AM's that will not be able to move to FM, will there be an audience for them?
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AM has been fading for decades in Mexico, just as it did in the US and Canada. Although the explosive growth of FM happened in Mexico much more in the 80's, while in the US it took place in the 70's, the end effect was the same.

The viable formats on AM are mostly talk and older music forms. But even talk has migrated to FM much more than in the US.

The stations that will not move to FM are made up of several groups:

1. Stations in Puebla, GDL, MTY and the DF where the FM band can not accommodate more than a couple of moves.
2. Stations along the US border where FM allocations have to follow US spacing and separation rules by mutual agreement.
3. A number of rural stations programming in indigenous languages where AM is better suited to reach isolated communities in mountainous areas.
4. A few stations that did not apply for the FM move for whatever special reason they had.

In the large cities, a few AM stations will continue to prosper. Ones like nostalgia XEJP and all news XERC or Salsa XE^J or the several sports stations will likely remain quite viable, as will several of the AM talk stations like female targeted XEQR.

The government will license no new AMs with one exception, which is for additional stations catering to indigenous populations. Unlike Canada, which repurposed many AM frequencies after the occupant moved to FM, the relinquished AM channels can not be applied for since the legislature of Mexico declare AM to no longer be viable.

As to your observation about listening to ranchera, norteña and banda: that music is rather comparable to country in the rest of North America. Most Mexicans don't listen to "grupera" music and the larger audience shares go to pop, contemporary, AC, and talk formats.

In fact, "grupera" formats (known as Regional Mexican in the US) are mostly listened to in the C-, D and E socioenconomic groups where there is not much advertiser interest. So a Mexico City regional station with a 10 share will bill less than a station that plays English language AC music that has less than a 2 share. Mexican advertisers target by income, not by age.
 
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Is there any database that shows which Mexican AM stations are moving to FM and which will stay on AM? Or is that still a work in progress?

I also understand that Mexico will no longer use the VHF-Low TV channels 2-6 after their digital television transition is complete. Has there been any talk there about following the example of Brazil and extending the FM band down to 76 MHz?

Also, will U.S. stations still have to protect future vacant AM frequencies in Mexico as they have to do with abandoned frequencies in Canada? Of course with all the RF flying both ways across the U.S.-Mexico border that might be a moot point.
 
That answers my questions. How does XEW 900 do? Since XEX 730 has a sports format, I'm sure they do as well as sports stations in the U.S. do, if not better. El D.F. has it's share of sports fans.
 
mimo said:
That answers my questions. How does XEW 900 do? Since XEX 730 has a sports format, I'm sure they do as well as sports stations in the U.S. do, if not better. El D.F. has it's share of sports fans.
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Sports does horribly in Mexico but it is an alternative for AM stations.

XEW is an AM FM simulcast, but gets less than a 0.3 share and is all but dead.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Is there any database that shows which Mexican AM stations are moving to FM and which will stay on AM? Or is that still a work in progress?

I also understand that Mexico will no longer use the VHF-Low TV channels 2-6 after their digital television transition is complete. Has there been any talk there about following the example of Brazil and extending the FM band down to 76 MHz?

Also, will U.S. stations still have to protect future vacant AM frequencies in Mexico as they have to do with abandoned frequencies in Canada? Of course with all the RF flying both ways across the U.S.-Mexico border that might be a moot point.
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The best list is Fred Cantu's www.mexicoradiotv.com. All stations that are moving show the new fm channel. Those tat stay am only show none.

Per the CIRT there is no plan to expand FM.
 
I thought Sports would do better in Mexico than it is. I thought there was some difference between XEW's AM and FM in terms of programming. Granted the station isn't what it was. I remember several years ago I could tune in late in the evening and hear Mecano and some other great Spanish language pop music, along with a lot of talk programming. I think there are a few simulcasts in the capital, like Radio Red and I believe there is an AM/AM simulcast of a news station, meaning it is on 2 different frequencies. How does Newsradio do in Mexico? I appreciate the responses David. Thank you for answering my questions. I like the Grupera formated stations, myself, along with Spanish language rock and pop. I only wish I could have heard Rock 101 when it was around. A lot of my friends said it was their favourite station.
 
mimo said:
I thought Sports would do better in Mexico than it is. I thought there was some difference between XEW's AM and FM in terms of programming. Granted the station isn't what it was. I remember several years ago I could tune in late in the evening and hear Mecano and some other great Spanish language pop music, along with a lot of talk programming. I think there are a few simulcasts in the capital, like Radio Red and I believe there is an AM/AM simulcast of a news station, meaning it is on 2 different frequencies. How does Newsradio do in Mexico? I appreciate the responses David. Thank you for answering my questions. I like the Grupera formated stations, myself, along with Spanish language rock and pop. I only wish I could have heard Rock 101 when it was around. A lot of my friends said it was their favourite station.
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One of the reason sports is not a big format in Mexico is the differences in team loyalties. Unlike the US, where most cities have one team in each sport, in Mexico there can be several teams in the larger markets... particularly Mexico City. So the followers of one team will not listen to a station that follows the other, and there can not be real consensus formats. And, since there is really only one sport of significanc, it's all about soccer.

Two of the 3 Radio Fórmula talk formats are AM / FM simulcasts (970 and 1500). XEW is a simulcast, but the Red AM and FM operations are separate. I do not think there are any other simulcasts. You can always check at http://www.mexicoradiotv.com/ which is more accurate than any other site I know.

Talk does very well in Mexico, particularly Mexico City. But nearly all the audience is now on FM, although some specialized talkers like 1030 XEQR with its Female / Motivational talk is well rated.

All news is not particularly well rated, with Formato 21 being the leader but with small shares.

Spanish rock has never been a successful format except in Argentina. In the rest of Latin America when it is played, it is generally part of formats that mostly play English language rock music. Only Argentina, which has a heritage of local rock (called "rock nacional") going back to 1967 has the depth of artists and material and followers to make the format work. The first rock nacional station, Mega 98.3, became the #1 station in Bs. As. in 2000 after just weeks on the air, yet similar programming attempts in other parts of Latin America have failed dreadfully.

Mega has gone through several ownership changes since we put it on the air, and I don't think I like it as much as I used to... but it is available online if you want to sample Argentine rock.
 
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In the 1965 to 1972 timeframe, I lived in Mexico DF, as a teen. Much of that time I worked at XEVIP 1560 am. I am sure it has long gone.
 
mybrother said:
In the 1965 to 1972 timeframe, I lived in Mexico DF, as a teen. Much of that time I worked at XEVIP 1560 am. I am sure it has long gone.
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Long gone with the reduction in the American and British expat community.

I was at Organización Radio Centro doing an internship in 1963, and remember XEVIP quite well. There was a nice lady who seemed to be in charge, IIRC.
 
landtuna said:


That makes much more sense to me than the way it is done in the U.S. but.....how do the Mexican agencies know who makes how much?
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Ratings are done in 5 sets, by socio-economic group from A to E. They are also combined, with A-B-C+ being the favored buy demo. A is upper income, E is "economically non-productive; living by barter, street vending, etc."

Income levels are determined by observation in the home and the neighborhood of the home and done by the personal interviewer.

The secondary criteria is age, with most buys not targeting stations that have audiences over age 40. As México is a very young country, there is an focus on only targeting formative year and younger adult consumers with spendable income.
 
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