What's with the lack of Spanish/Mexican FM Radio stations in Seattle/Western Washington? (Tacoma: universities)

[xboxmas]

Once you cross the Cascade Mountains on I-90, it seems like every other station is a Spanish station. I know the central part of the state has a lot of Spanish speakers with a lot of the towns being majority Hispanic-but there are also parts of the West side that have a decent number of Hispanics. The Skagit Valley, parts of Snohomish County, and the area between Tacoma and Seattle- Renton, Kent, Tukwila, Sea-Tac, etc. all have a decent amount. Even though the percentage is higher in Eastern WA, I wouldn't be surprised if there were actually more on the West side due to the higher population(Although the percentage is obviously lower). The only FM station I saw in the Seattle area was all the way in Elma which is too far away for a lot to hear.

Do you think the Spanish speaking community could use a few FM Spanish/Regional Mexican stations in the Seattle area?

[oregonchickfan]

Do other countries offer American stations? I heart radio and such offer music from other countries and it's pretty interesting to listen to.

[mkarch]

Radio bandwidth is fixed, so it has more to do with what stations can get the most advertising dollars in a given market vs the number of people that would tune in - so think of it as % of population, and who wants to advertise to that % in a given area.

[krieger00]

try 99.3 FM is the only one i can think of .

[flyingsaucermom]

Really depends on the music... and the demographic... the last thing I want is more banda/norteno music.

[amaiunmei]

Originally Posted by xboxmas

Once you cross the Cascade Mountains on I-90, it seems like every other station is a Spanish station. I know the central part of the state has a lot of Spanish speakers with a lot of the towns being majority Hispanic-but there are also parts of the West side that have a decent number of Hispanics. The Skagit Valley, parts of Snohomish County, and the area between Tacoma and Seattle- Renton, Kent, Tukwila, Sea-Tac, etc. all have a decent amount. Even though the percentage is higher in Eastern WA, I wouldn't be surprised if there were actually more on the West side due to the higher population(Although the percentage is obviously lower). The only FM station I saw in the Seattle area was all the way in Elma which is too far away for a lot to hear.

Do you think the Spanish speaking community could use a few FM Spanish/Regional Mexican stations in the Seattle area?

A LOT of the bandwidth in this area is taken up by colleges and universities.

Also, cities cost more money to set up any kind of business in than the less urban areas.

[GJJG2012]

Why do they have to be FM rather than AM? 99.3 only FM, but AM has 1210 1360 1490 1680. Maybe Spanish speakers have lower incomes so that appeals less to advertisers? Best wishes.

Originally Posted by xboxmas

Do you think the Spanish speaking community could use a few FM Spanish/Regional Mexican stations in the Seattle area?

[Hemlock140]

There just isn't the Spanish-speaking population here to support radio stations, at only 9.2% of the King County Population.
Looking at a place like Yakima County, it's 46%, Wenatchee 29.4%. Like any business radio stations are trying to make money so they target the best demographic for their areas.