Independent Spanish Broadcasters Elect Board.

It was announced this week that the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association (“ISBA”) elected its first Board of Directors and officers at the Association’s constitutional meeting on Wednesday, April 21, 2004. The meeting, which was held in Las Vegas during the National Association of Broadcasters convention, was widely attended by representatives of many of the nation’s independent Spanish-language broadcasting and media companies, and featured welcoming remarks by FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.

At its meeting in Las Vegas, ISBA member elected the following Board of Directors:

Amador Bustos of Bustos Media in Sacramento, CA
Rosamaria Caballero of Caballero Television in Miami, FL
Ronald Gordon of ZGS Broadcasting in Arlington, VA
Tony Hernandez of Latin Entertainment Network in Tampa, FL
Zenon Ferrufino of Latino Broadcasting in Denver, CO
Alfredo Plascencia of Lazer Broadcasting in Oxnard, CA
Jose Luis Muñoz of BMP Radio in Houston, TX
Abel de Luna of Moon Broadcasting in Los Angeles, CA
Francisco Montero of Fletcher Heald & Hildreth in Arlington, VA

Additionally, the Board elected the following officers of ISBA: Amador Bustos as President; Ronald Gordon as Vice President; Rosamaria Caballero as Secretary and Tony Hernandez as Treasurer.

Newly-elected ISBA President, Amador Bustos, stated that “Our first constitutional meeting was a great success. The attendance and the enthusiasm exceeded out greatest expectations. We had independent Spanish-language media groups from across the country, and virtually all commented on what a great idea this was. The participation of Commissioner Adelstein was also a great vote of confidence in our efforts. We couldn’t be happier!”

The Board also established four new working committees, which include Public Affairs and Advocacy (Francisco Montero, chair); Access to Capital (Jose Luis Muñoz, chair); Advertising, Ratings and Promotions (Tony Hernandez, chair) and Membership and Administration (Zenon Ferrufino, chair). These committees will spearhead the Association’s outreach and advocacy initiatives in the coming year. In his welcoming remarks, FCC Commissioner Adelstein congratulated the members for their efforts in forming the Association and stated that the creation of an organization such as ISBA was long overdue.

Rosamaria Caballero, ISBA’s newly-elected Secretary commented, “Now that we have an elected Board of Directors and officers, we are preparing for our next meeting in the fall, where we hope to involve outside speakers and organize panel discussions on issues of importance to our industry. We anticipate an even greater turnout than we had at our meeting in Las Vegas. We will be releasing information on the date and location of our next meeting sometime in the next month or so. We are delighted with the way it is shaping up.”

ISBA was formed by independent Spanish language networks, broadcast companies, financial institutions, and other service providers to the Spanish media industry. The Association is open to all TV and radio broadcasting and media companies addressing the growing Hispanic market in the United States, regardless of ownership. However, the primary membership focus is independently owned, non-publicly traded, Spanish language broadcasting companies.

For further information about ISBA, including materials on how to become a member, go to www.spanishbroadcasters.com or contact Francisco Montero at 703-812-0480 or by email at fm******@*****************rs.com.