Univision Radio Offers ‘Good, Bad & Ugly’ As Post-Piolin Solution

DECEMBER 2, 2013 – Los Angeles – More than four months after Univision Radio confirmed the surprisingly abrupt departure from Univision Radio of Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo, the company today unveiled the program that will replace Piolin at its regional Mexican flagship KSCA-FM “La 101.9” in Los Angeles–but not on Piolin’s former Texas affiliates.

Univision Radio has paired KLNO-FM “La Que Buena” on-air personality Raul Molinar (known on the station as “El Primo”) with La 101.9 afternoon host Andres Maldonado (known on-air as “El Feo”) and Silvia del Valle, who joins Univision after a year with Glendale, CA-based Media Latino Communications’ La Numero Uno Network.

However, del Valle is perhaps best-known for her stint in middays at SBS’s regional Mexican KLAX-FM “97.9 La Raza” in Los Angeles as “La Bronca.” In that role, her program was simulcast on KRZZ-FM “La Raza 93.3” in San Francisco and on now-defunct WRAZ-FM “La Raza” in the Miami suburb of Homestead, Fla. Del Valle also found a national television audience through her role as a judge on Azteca America’s Quiero Ser Grupero competition show.

In Los Angeles the trio hit the air this morning in the 6-10am slot as “El Bueno, La Mala, y El Feo.” It is believed that the hosts will not use their previous on-air nicknames.

But the show, which already has a Facebook and Twitter social media presence and is using the “BMF Show” name as its unofficial shorthand name, will not replace Piolin in Houston, San Antonio, El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley. Rather, the trio’s new program will air in the 11am-3pm slot on KLTN-FM 102.9, KROM-FM 92.9, KBNA-FM 97.5, and KGBT-FM 98.5, respectively.

Univision Radio regional Mexican stations in Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, San Diego, Phoenix, Fresno, Las Vegas, Austin and Albuquerque will also add “El Bueno, La Mala, y El Feo.” But Univision was coy on when the program would debut and did not note what time slot it would take in these markets.

In prepared comments, Univision Radio EVP/Content & Entertainment Evan Harrison–a Clear Channel exec who exited in spring 2011 as Clear Channel Radio EVP and digital president for the Chief Creative Officer role at VanWagner– noted, “As our audiences’ preferences continue to evolve, we need to find new and creative ways to entertain and engage them. El Bueno, La Mala, y el Feo is the answer. This incredibly dynamic team will really resonate with regional Mexican music lovers who also enjoy real people they can relate to.”

While Harrison is upbeat about the new program, Univision Radio has a tremendous challenge ahead as it attempts to recoup from steep ratings declines at many of the stations that once aired Piolin. According to Inside Radio analysis of Nielsen Audio data from July to September, a morning drive decrease in 25-54 share of a stunning 58% was seen at Univision’s KHOT-FM “La Nueva 105.9” in Phoenix, which now ranks eight-tenths of a share behind Entravision’s KLNZ-FM “Tricolor 103.5” in the overall ratings.

Similarly, Univision Radio’s KLNV-FM 106.5 in San Diego experienced a morning drive drop in 25-54 share of 54% between July and September 2013, Inside Radio reports. In Dallas, where Molinar has been based, KLNO lost 43% of its 25-54 morning drive share and 37% in total week. However, KLNO received a new competitor four days after Piolin left in KMVK-FM, which CBS Radio flipped from Spanish CHR to regional Mexican as “La Grande 107.5.”

It is also unclear why del Valle will apparently not be taking to Univision Radio airwaves as “La Bronca,” as she is known to legions of regional Mexican radio listeners in the Golden State. While using the name at KLAX, del Valle was sandwiched between then-morning host Renan Almendarez Coello’s El Cucuy de la Manana and an afternoon program hosted by El Mandril.

Interestingly, El Mandril–like Piolin–is also off of L.A. airwaves. However, the reason for the disappearance of El Mandril is hazy amid allegations first reported by La Opinion newspaper of Los Angeles that he or one of his associates is tied to a ratings manipulation claim under investigation by Nielsen Audio with the cooperation of KLAX owner SBS.

In Los Angeles, El Bueno, La Mala, y El Feo will seek to attract regional Mexican radio listeners in a market where Liberman Broadcasting’s “Que Buena” has capitalized on the presence of Don Cheto in morning drive throughout the disruptions at KSCA and KLAX.

Adam R Jacobson, reporting from Miami

 

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