Thread: Reds hablan español, at least for 2 games

news.enquirer.com

Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Reds hablan español, at least for 2 games

By John Kiesewetter
Enquirer staff writer


And this one belongs to the Reds fans who speak Spanish.

The Cincinnati Reds games today and Wednesday will be broadcast in Spanish on WSAI-AM (1360 "Homer") in a test of fan and advertiser support, which could lead to more Hispanic programming.

"This is fantastic," says Victor Velez, 49, who grew up in Brooklyn as a New York Yankees fan. "It's the right time to do this. The Hispanic community is growing here."

The 2000 Census set the Latino population at 22,303 for Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. A 2003 Census report added 1,061 Hispanics to Hamilton and Butler counties, the only local counties included in the report.

Velez, director of the Su Casa Hispanic Center in Carthage, says the local Hispanic population could be up to 45,000.

Calling the games will be Francisco Romero, a Phoenix TV sports anchor who does games in Spanish for the Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins. Retired Oakland pitcher Gil Heredia will be the color analyst. Commercials for United Dairy Farmers, Budweiser and other Reds sponsors will air in Spanish.

"It's a coming market here, so it makes sense to do this. Down the road, it could be a revenue stream with the Reds and Bengals," says Darryl Parks, Clear Channel operations director for WSAI-AM.

The Reds will become the 15th of the 30 Major League Baseball teams to broadcast some games in Spanish, said an MLB spokesman. If advertisers embrace the broadcasts, Clear Channel eventually "could do a couple of home games a month" in Spanish, Parks says.

Sasha Rionda of Clear Channel's WKRC-TV will do a pregame player interview. She hosts the area's only Spanish language TV newscast, "Nuestro Rincon," at 5:30 a.m. Saturdays and 6:30 a.m. Sundays on Channel 12.

Francisco Caceres, the "Nuestro Ricon" producer, says the Reds' experiment could lead to more Hispanic programming than the current TV newscasts and a couple of shows on WAIF-FM (88.3) and WDBZ-AM (1230).

Boy do I feel better now here in Cincinnati. Oh Marge if she was still alive, would have smoked her cigarette and said oh no your not going to do this. Only in English for my Reds