Univision Radio
Encyclopedia
Univision Radio is the radio division of media giant Univision Communications, Inc., which also owns
the Univision
television network. The company was formerly known as Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation. It is the eighth largest radio company in the United States
, and the largest Hispanic radio company in the nation. With the highly rated Spanish radio stations in the United States.
, a public company based in Las Vegas, NV.
Tichenor had been in broadcasting since the 1940s. McHenry Tichenor operated a station (KGBS on 1240, later KGBT on 1530) in Harlingen, Texas. In 1950 they added KUNO Corpus Christi, Texas. Later station purchases were KIFN in Phoenix, AZ, WGMA in Hollywood, FL, WACO-AM-FM-and TV-CP in Waco, Texas. In 1975 the company (then known as Harbenito radio) added KCOR (AM) and KQXT (FM) in San Antonio.
In 1981 the grandson of the founder, McHenry T. Tichenor, Jr., was named president of the company. He began focusing on its Spanish Language stations; Waco, Hollywood, and Phoenix were sold to their local managers. In 1984 the company sold KQXT in San Antonio to Westinghouse's Group W Broadcasting
and purchased KLAT (AM) in Houston, Texas from Marcos Rodriguez, Sr. and Marcos Rodriguez. The KLAT purchase gave Tichenor access to top Spanish Radio talents Chuck Brooks, Ricardo del Castillo (who later became COO, retired and has since passed) and Gary Stone (former President of Univision Radio-retired). In 1985, WIND
, Chicago and KYSR AM/FM, El Paso were purchased. More stations were purchased in the following years, and the home office moved from Harlingen to Dallas, Texas. Mac Tichenor, Jr.'s brother, Warren, (now Ambassador for the US to the United Nations) became general manager of the San Antonio stations in 1991.
Heftel Broadcasting was founded by Cecil Heftel
, whose family and in-laws all had been in the broadcasting business. His Heftel Broadcasting in the fifties and early sixties was anchored by KIMN in Denver and KGMB AM and KGMB TV in Honolulu. He added numerous large AM radio stations(KTNQ AM) and some promising FM stations (KLVE FM) before selling them in the seventies and eighties. Cecil Heftel was elected as a congressman representing Hawaii's first district in 1976; he would hold that office nine years before resigning in 1986. During this time, his company was active, buying and selling stations in places like Indianapolis and Chicago. For about a year, Heftel and Scott Ginsburg (Statewide Communications) merged their holdings into H & G Communications.
In the early 90s Heftel began to expand into more Spanish stations, and took steps to go public (new executive Carl Parmer). Heftel had a knack for making coalitions work, at least for a time, as in the H & G attempt. Heftel set up shop in Miami with local stations WAQI and WRTO, taking a minority interest. Heftel set up Rodriguez-Heftel Texas broadcasting along with Marcos Rodriguez (owner of KESS and other Dallas area stations and son of Marcos Rodriguez, Sr.). Stations were purchased outright in Chicago, Las Vegas, and New York.
When HBC went public, Clear Channel Communications invested, taking in several steps up to a 20% interest. In 1996 Clear Channel tendered the shares owned by Heftel management. This got them about 62% of the company. They struck a deal to merge the new company with Tichenor Media, to be run by the Tichenor management. The deal closed in early 1997, and made for the first national Spanish Language broadcasting company.
The new company was worth 1 billion dollars at closing and owned 38 stations. Holding were expanded for the next several years. San Francisco was added in 1996. Phoenix was added in 1999. Fresno in 2000.
Besides buying stations, the company has developed a capacity for improving and expanding stations to enhance coverage. VP of Engineering Mark Stennett oversees this effort (begun under previous VP David Stewart now with Moving Target Consulting Works) along with Charles Staples of Staples Technical Services, Dallas, Texas. For example, 104.9 KAMA-FM (was KPTY) in the Houston, Texas area moved from a smaller class A at Rosenberg, Tx to a larger class C3 licensed to Missouri City, Texas. Coverage went from a few hundred thousand to millions. Rating and value increased proportionally. (Note a construction permit for increase to class C2 was granted (BPH-20070914ACP GRANTED 25 June 2008. This will allow an increase from 2,700 watts to 8,700 watts. The station will also move from a downtown building roof to the company owned KLTN tower.)). Other expanded and relocated stations include KFLC (AM), KESS-FM and KDXX (FM) in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, KBBT and KGSX in the San Antonio area, KLQV San Diego, and WADO (AM) New York. KKMR in the Phoenix, Az area was recently granted a CP to change from class A6 to class C3, at a new site that will allow a 10 fold increase in its population covered. This app was started nearly a decade ago and was granted based on tweaks in the application done in 2006.. Former CFO Jeff Hinson observed once that the station upgrade activity had increased the company's enterprise value
by "almost one billion dollars" (at a point when the company was selling to UVN for 3.5B).
In 1999, the company created a new entity, HBCI, Inc which was its interactive online presence. HBCi created a network of bilingual radio station web sites and a network of bilingual local city guide sites focused on the local Hispanic consumer in each of the markets the radio stations operated. HBCI achieved the rare milestone of reaching profitability in the dotcom industry just prior to the merger with Univision.
The company traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol HBCCA. It moved to the New York Stock Exchange in May 2000. Stock traded as HSP.
In mid 2002 Univision and HBC voted to merge. The approval process was long and controversial. The deal was approved and closed on September 22, 2003.
After the 9-22-2003 merger of HBC and Univision, the division was renamed Univison Radio.
In June 2006, a deal to sell the company to a consortium of private equity firms was announced.
On March 27, 2007 federal regulators approved the sale of Univision
to Broadcasting Media Partners, a private consortium led by billionaire Haim Saban
.
the Univision
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
television network. The company was formerly known as Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation. It is the eighth largest radio company in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and the largest Hispanic radio company in the nation. With the highly rated Spanish radio stations in the United States.
History
Like most of today's large broadcast concerns, Univision Radio is the combination of several companies. Univision, previously known as Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. (between 2000 and 9-22-2003) and Heftel Broadcasting Corp, was the result of a February 14, 1997 merger of Tichenor Media System, Inc. a private company based in Dallas, Texas and Heftel BroadcastingCecil Heftel
Cecil Landau Heftel, popularly known as Cec Heftel was an American politician and businessman from Hawai'i...
, a public company based in Las Vegas, NV.
Tichenor had been in broadcasting since the 1940s. McHenry Tichenor operated a station (KGBS on 1240, later KGBT on 1530) in Harlingen, Texas. In 1950 they added KUNO Corpus Christi, Texas. Later station purchases were KIFN in Phoenix, AZ, WGMA in Hollywood, FL, WACO-AM-FM-and TV-CP in Waco, Texas. In 1975 the company (then known as Harbenito radio) added KCOR (AM) and KQXT (FM) in San Antonio.
In 1981 the grandson of the founder, McHenry T. Tichenor, Jr., was named president of the company. He began focusing on its Spanish Language stations; Waco, Hollywood, and Phoenix were sold to their local managers. In 1984 the company sold KQXT in San Antonio to Westinghouse's Group W Broadcasting
Westinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
and purchased KLAT (AM) in Houston, Texas from Marcos Rodriguez, Sr. and Marcos Rodriguez. The KLAT purchase gave Tichenor access to top Spanish Radio talents Chuck Brooks, Ricardo del Castillo (who later became COO, retired and has since passed) and Gary Stone (former President of Univision Radio-retired). In 1985, WIND
WIND (AM)
WIND "AM 560" is a radio station based in Chicago, Illinois, broadcasting its talk radio format on 560 kHz.Its current owner is Salem Media, a company specializing primarily in Christian radio...
, Chicago and KYSR AM/FM, El Paso were purchased. More stations were purchased in the following years, and the home office moved from Harlingen to Dallas, Texas. Mac Tichenor, Jr.'s brother, Warren, (now Ambassador for the US to the United Nations) became general manager of the San Antonio stations in 1991.
Heftel Broadcasting was founded by Cecil Heftel
Cecil Heftel
Cecil Landau Heftel, popularly known as Cec Heftel was an American politician and businessman from Hawai'i...
, whose family and in-laws all had been in the broadcasting business. His Heftel Broadcasting in the fifties and early sixties was anchored by KIMN in Denver and KGMB AM and KGMB TV in Honolulu. He added numerous large AM radio stations(KTNQ AM) and some promising FM stations (KLVE FM) before selling them in the seventies and eighties. Cecil Heftel was elected as a congressman representing Hawaii's first district in 1976; he would hold that office nine years before resigning in 1986. During this time, his company was active, buying and selling stations in places like Indianapolis and Chicago. For about a year, Heftel and Scott Ginsburg (Statewide Communications) merged their holdings into H & G Communications.
In the early 90s Heftel began to expand into more Spanish stations, and took steps to go public (new executive Carl Parmer). Heftel had a knack for making coalitions work, at least for a time, as in the H & G attempt. Heftel set up shop in Miami with local stations WAQI and WRTO, taking a minority interest. Heftel set up Rodriguez-Heftel Texas broadcasting along with Marcos Rodriguez (owner of KESS and other Dallas area stations and son of Marcos Rodriguez, Sr.). Stations were purchased outright in Chicago, Las Vegas, and New York.
When HBC went public, Clear Channel Communications invested, taking in several steps up to a 20% interest. In 1996 Clear Channel tendered the shares owned by Heftel management. This got them about 62% of the company. They struck a deal to merge the new company with Tichenor Media, to be run by the Tichenor management. The deal closed in early 1997, and made for the first national Spanish Language broadcasting company.
The new company was worth 1 billion dollars at closing and owned 38 stations. Holding were expanded for the next several years. San Francisco was added in 1996. Phoenix was added in 1999. Fresno in 2000.
Besides buying stations, the company has developed a capacity for improving and expanding stations to enhance coverage. VP of Engineering Mark Stennett oversees this effort (begun under previous VP David Stewart now with Moving Target Consulting Works) along with Charles Staples of Staples Technical Services, Dallas, Texas. For example, 104.9 KAMA-FM (was KPTY) in the Houston, Texas area moved from a smaller class A at Rosenberg, Tx to a larger class C3 licensed to Missouri City, Texas. Coverage went from a few hundred thousand to millions. Rating and value increased proportionally. (Note a construction permit for increase to class C2 was granted (BPH-20070914ACP GRANTED 25 June 2008. This will allow an increase from 2,700 watts to 8,700 watts. The station will also move from a downtown building roof to the company owned KLTN tower.)). Other expanded and relocated stations include KFLC (AM), KESS-FM and KDXX (FM) in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, KBBT and KGSX in the San Antonio area, KLQV San Diego, and WADO (AM) New York. KKMR in the Phoenix, Az area was recently granted a CP to change from class A6 to class C3, at a new site that will allow a 10 fold increase in its population covered. This app was started nearly a decade ago and was granted based on tweaks in the application done in 2006.. Former CFO Jeff Hinson observed once that the station upgrade activity had increased the company's enterprise value
Enterprise value
Enterprise value , Total enterprise value , or Firm value is an economic measure reflecting the market value of a whole business. It is a sum of claims of all the security-holders: debtholders, preferred shareholders, minority shareholders, common equity holders, and others...
by "almost one billion dollars" (at a point when the company was selling to UVN for 3.5B).
In 1999, the company created a new entity, HBCI, Inc which was its interactive online presence. HBCi created a network of bilingual radio station web sites and a network of bilingual local city guide sites focused on the local Hispanic consumer in each of the markets the radio stations operated. HBCI achieved the rare milestone of reaching profitability in the dotcom industry just prior to the merger with Univision.
The company traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol HBCCA. It moved to the New York Stock Exchange in May 2000. Stock traded as HSP.
In mid 2002 Univision and HBC voted to merge. The approval process was long and controversial. The deal was approved and closed on September 22, 2003.
After the 9-22-2003 merger of HBC and Univision, the division was renamed Univison Radio.
In June 2006, a deal to sell the company to a consortium of private equity firms was announced.
On March 27, 2007 federal regulators approved the sale of Univision
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
to Broadcasting Media Partners, a private consortium led by billionaire Haim Saban
Haim Saban
Haim Saban is an Egyptian born Israeli-American television and media proprietor. With an estimated net worth of $3.5 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 104th richest person in America.-Biography:...
.