Never bet against Raul Alarcon Jr.

Much has been said and written over the last few days about SBS and Raul. Headlines predicting the demise of SBS are written by those who do not know him, or his management style. There have always been rumblings, but last week an equity firm out of Chicago, decided to call Raul out publicly. Discovery Group thinks they know what Raul needs to make SBS create more shareholder value. Before they speak out again, they should take a closer look at what Raul is building.

To understand Raul Jr and SBS you have to turn back the clock a bit, to see the stock (no pun intended) he comes from. Raul Sr who is now retired, built a solid foundation. His humble beginnings can be traced back as a radio announcer who loved radio and figured a way to buy his first radio station and parlay it into a national footprint. Raul Jr was right there to learn and then add his vision to the plan. I can still remember the nay sayers when they purchased their first FM in NY. “They will never re-coup their investment”, “estan locos”. Sound familiar? It has been the same nay-sayers that are being pessimistic about Raul’s investment into the Spanish language TV space.

I have news for all the nay sayers. I predict that once again, Raul’s investment into Mega Television will be looked upon as the NY FM strategy is looked at today, brilliant. Having one of the most powerful footprints in Spanish language radio, made it only a natural to jump into Spanish language television. And he is not doing it the old fashion way, paying huge sums for sticks. He is creating a Super Station a la Ted Turner, only this time, technology and timing are on his side. With national distribution now on Direct TV, it will only be a matter of time before his original content starts appearing on other national platforms.

Lastly, keep in mind that digital compliance is right around the corner; this will open up bandwidth that will be starved for content. Not to mention that the cell phones of today are the TV sets of tomorrow. Before you know it, MEGA TV will have a footprint that covers millions of homes, millions of cell phones and be providing content for all the SBS digital platforms.

So who would you bet on? A bunch of investment bankers or Raul Alarcon Jr? I think the answer is crystal clear. Never bet against the Alarcon family.

By: Jose Cancela

Jose Cancela is Principal of Hispanic USA Inc, a full service Hispanic Market Communications firm. He has also the author of “The Power of Business en Español, Seven Fundamental Keys to Unlocking the Potential of the Spanish Language Hispanic Market” Rayo / HarperCollins

http://www.hispanicusa.net>

jo**@*********sa.net