Rick Dees Gives Way to New Radio Station
Photo by ~db~ via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
Iconic L.A. radio personality Rick Dees is once again absent from the Southern California radio waves. Dees' departure came due to a change in ownership of his most recent employer Movin' 93.9 FM which took effect late last week. Regardless, many will always remember his many years of great work at KIIS-FM, especially during the 80's. L.A. radio won't be the same without him, but it is unlikely he is gone forever. While the news of the change is bad news for Movin'/Rick Dees fans (and Rick Dees), it may serve the local Spanish language radio market quite well, perhaps helping ignite some competition.
The new 93.9 FM began broadcasting last week under the moniker Exitos 93.9 FM. It offers Spanish language Top 40 hits from the 80's to present and is best described as a cross between K-LOVE 107.5 FM and Super Estrella 107.1 FM. Some featured artists recently heard include Mana, Nek, Juan Gabriel and Marco Antonio Solis.
Long timer K-LOVE has little to worry about, however, Entravision/Super Estrella may want to take notice of the new comers.
Ever since Super Estrella hit the L.A. scene, they've created a near monopoly for themselves within the Rock en Español/Top 40 crowd by simply buying out their competition before they could ever establish any sort of foothold. As a result, a once promising Rock en Español/Top 40 L.A. radio scene was turned into a constantly repeated 2 hour loop of music that is largely devoid of artistic vision and tends to feature the same artists every time the loop is updated. Given the current economic situation, Entravision may have a hard time figuring out how to fund a take over of Exitos, at least for a couple of years.
Perhaps too long to prevent Exitos from establishing a foothold.