Latino Public Radio Stations

In assigning call letters to broadcast entities, the Federal Communications Commission designates K to stations west of the Mississippi and W to those east of the Mississippi. This river, for the most part, also served to demarcate the Latino populations – east of the Mississippi, with the exception of Chicago, lived Puerto Ricans, Cubans and those with Latin American heritage while Chicago and land west of the Mississippi were predominantly inhabited by Latinos of Mexican heritage. This geographic demarcation also defines the ethnic heritage of the audiences primarily served by the Latino-controlled public radio stations in those regions and clearly demonstrates that Latinos are not a homogenous community served by one format or even one language and dialect.

The Latino public radio stations east of the Mississippi includes one of the oldest and only Latino-controlled joint licensees. Operating from San Juan since 1949 the Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation controls two radio stations, Allegro 91.3 FM and 940 AM, as well as two television stations, WIPR, Channels 6 & 43 and WIPM, Channels 3 & 36.

Cadena Radio Universidad consists of WRTU 89.7 FM (1980) San Juan and WRUO 88.3 FM Mayaguez is in Puerto Rico, WDNA 88.9 FM (1977) operates in Miami, Florida, WLCH 91.3 FM (1987) is in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and WRTE 90.5 FM 1992) is home
in Chicago, Illinois. A low power station, WCIW 107.9 FM (2003) Radio Conciencia in Immokalee, Florida, was organized by farm
workers.

In 1951 west of the Mississippi in Albuquerque, New Mexico the educational station licensed to the public school system incorporated Spanish-language programming into its schedule. KANW 89.1 FM now specializes in New Mexico music. In California the first Latino public radio stations served primarily Spanish-speaking Mexicans and Mexican Americans in rural areas. Control of the media was initially viewed as an organizing and service tool in the struggle for labor rights for Latino farm workers. Today, Latino stations in the Southwest represent a diversity of formats, languages and audiences.

In 1973, KBBF 89.1 FM went on the air in Santa Rosa, California followed by KDNA 91.9 FM (1979) in Yakima, Washington.

KSVJ 91.5 FM (1980) Fresno, CA is the flagship station in the Radio Bilingue Network that incorporates KMPO 88.7 FM (1984) in Modesto, CA, KUBO FREQUENCY (1981) in Salinas, CA, KHDC 90.9 FM (1987) serving Bakersfield-Calexico, CA, and KVUH 88.5
FM (2005) in Laytonville, CA. Radio Bilingue will have a station in Hurley, New Mexico and anticipates acquiring frequencies in Douglas, Arizona, and in South Texas at Eagle Pass, Crystal City and Zapata.

In 1983 the United Farmers Union founded KUFW 90.5 FM in Visalia, California and began the Radio Campesina Network (KCEC
104.5 FM, Yuma, Arizona; KMYX 92.5 FM & KBDS 103.9 FM, Bakersfield,l California; KNAI 88.3 FM, Phoenix, Arizona; KRCW
96.5 FM, Pasco, Washington; KSEA 107.9 FM, Salinas, California) with a mix of commercial and non-commercial frequencies throughout the southwest.

Also in the Southwest United States are KRZA 88.7 FM (1985), Alamosa, Colorado, KUVO 89.3 FM (1985), Denver, Colorado,
KERU 88.5 FM (1992) Blythe, California and low-power KPCN 95.9 FM (2006) Radio Movimiento in Woodburn, Oregon. Rio Grande City, Texas will also have a Latino-controlled station in the near future.

These twenty-eight Latino stations plus the five stations anticipated to begin broadcasting in the next few years, offer a diversity of formats, languages, musical genres and news and fully engaged with the segment of the Latino community to which they are directing their
broadcasts. They have been serving Latino audiences since before the legislative inception of public radio. and represent the single greatest resource in the movement to develop larger Latino audiences for all formats in public radio.