Thrown Under the Bus
There’s someone new at the helm of XHLNC-FM, and not everyone is happy
What was once Tijuana’s classical music station has since become its radio revolving door.
In the just over three years since the founders of XHLNC-FM 104.9 decided to get out of terrestrial radio, operators have tried their hand and failed at being social wolves.
The first to take up residence was Grupo Larsa Comunicaciones. They made it nearly two years with Toño, bowing out in late 2019.
Then there was MLC Media, a syndication outfit from Los Angeles, which steered the station toward urban music as Más Flo. However, the company learned the hard way that social wolves are not commercial stations and dropped out after slightly over three months — before returning later last year on XHRST-FM, with its commercial concession.
XHLNC eventually put itself back together as “ClickXM”, which aired a mix of adult hits programming (in Spanish and English) and cultural programs.
But ClickXM is no more. Now, XHLNC has jumped into the grupera game.
Everything has changed: the format (to the chagrin of some), the studios (in Tijuana’s BIT Center, a technology business incubator), and the people behind it all. One public post claims that the backer of “La Número Uno” is Altisa, a public transportation company whose orange buses are a recognized sight on the streets of Tijuana.
Pay Your Fare
That public post is by Iván Contreras, who’s worked at various stations in the market. And he’s got a problem.
The station approached him seeking to use pieces he had produced for La Número Uno. Just one big problem: they did not want to pay him or pay for the rights to the music associated with the programs or for his services. That’s a bad sign and goes against union rules, not to mention the royalties that stations have to pay to the Mexican Society of Authors and Composers (SACM), the national performing rights organization.
Even more surprising is that he cites word on the street that indicates someone with other media holdings might have helped Altisa drive this new radio station: Governor Jaime Bonilla Valdez, who is alleged to have bought XHLNC-FM.
While it seems Bonilla is expanding through lease deals on all sides (mostly on the AM dial), XHLNC-FM finds itself potentially in an unusual place. That’s because its concessionaire is dead (Martha Barba de Díaz passed away last year) and a very relevant case to the transfer of social concessions is at the Supreme Court.
Why Altisa is embarking on this new route isn’t exactly clear. Indeed, the identity of the operator would not be known if not for Contreras. However, their introduction is not inspiring confidence among all in the Tijuana radio market.
