You may not be surprised that Howard Stern has often ranked #1 among New York radio listeners. But you may not know that Stern has been challenged for this top spot by Luis Jimenez, “El Vacilón de la Mañana,” the radio morning personality on WSKQ-FM La Mega 97.9.

Jimenez has nearly one million listeners around the country. He is among the marquee talent for Spanish Broadcasting System. Jimenez’s counterpart in Los Angeles, Renán Almendarez Coello, “El Cucuy de la Mañana,” of KLAX-FM La Raza 97.9, has a multigenerational listening audience of two million. Coello often ranks as the #1 radio personality in the fiercely competitive L.A. radio market. The success of Spanish Broadcasting talent is such that in November 2004 the company agreed to syndicate three of its morning shows to ABC. They include Jimenez, Almendarez Coello, and their counterpart in Miami, another top rated local show.

Based in the Coconut Grove suburb of Miami, Florida, Spanish Broadcasting is the largest Hispanic-controlled radio broadcasting company in the United States. Five of seven board members and two of three senior executives are Hispanic. Spanish Broadcasting and its primary competitor Hispanic Broadcasting account for more than half of the U.S. Spanish-language radio market. Spanish Broadcasting owns or operates 20 Spanish-language radio stations in seven of the top-ten U.S. Hispanic markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, San Antonio, and Puerto Rico. The programming at its radio stations is primarily traditional music.

The growing U.S. Hispanic population is driving the success of Spanish-language radio. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 37 million Hispanics in the United States in 2002, or 13 percent of the total U.S. population. Spanish-language radio stations now account for approximately 7 percent of radio listening nationwide.

There are more than 600 Spanish-language radio stations in the United States. In urban areas, the Hispanic population and Spanish-language radio audience is proportionately larger. For example, according to market research firm Arbitron, Hispanics comprise approximately 40 percent of L.A.’s 10.5 million person listening audience aged 12 and older.

Spanish-language radio’s growing audience is attracting advertisers—and competition. Radio industry behemoth Clear Channel has launched Spanish-language radio stations, and competitor Hispanic Broadcasting was purchased recently by Univision. In response, Spanish Broadcasting sold a 10 percent stake to media conglomerate Viacom. The company is also looking to expand an alliance with TV broadcaster Telemundo, and to grow in other key Hispanic markets by acquiring additional radio stations.

Look out, Howard.

—K. Scott