Grupo Radio Centro
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| Sociedad Anónima Bursátil de Capital Variable | |
| Traded as | : RCENTRO |
| Industry | Broadcasting |
| Founded | 1952 in Mexico City |
| Headquarters | Mexico City |
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Area served
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Mexico; Los Angeles and El Paso in the United States |
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Key people
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Francisco Aguirre Gómez, Director General |
| Products | Radio stations |
| Owner | Aguirre Gómez family |
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Number of employees
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434 (2015) |
| Website | radiocentro |
Grupo Radio Centro is a Mexico City-based owner and operator of radio stations. It owns 45 radio stations in Mexico and the United States, including 12 radio stations in Mexico City.
Radio Centro's origins date to 1946, when Francisco Aguirre Jiménez formed the Cadena Radio Continental to operate XEQR-AM 1030 and new station XERC-AM 790 in Mexico City. Organización Radio Centro was formed in 1952, and the current company was founded in 1971.
In 1965, it founded OIR (Organización Impulsora de la Radio), which syndicates Radio Centro's formats to stations across Mexico. Its non-Mexico City business extended further in the 1980s, when Radio Centro began selling its formats outside the United States (in 1983) and created Cadena Radio Centro (in 1986) to manage this portion of its operations. Meanwhile, in Mexico City, it had expanded to five AM stations and three new FM outlets. Radio Centro was the second media company to place its FM towers on Cerro del Chiquihuite, to the north of the city, though they are now located elsewhere.
In 1994, it sold Cadena Radio Centro, picked up (and promptly shed) an investment in Heftel Broadcasting (now known as Univision Radio), and bought 33% of Radiodifusión Red (which it would later own outright). The absorption of Radiodifusión Red, also known as Radio Programas de México, brought three additional Mexico City stations into Radio Centro's stable.
It also built a new building on the west side of Mexico City, known as the Trébol Radio Centro (or "Radio Centro Clover") in 1993. It also launched an initial public offering on the (where Grupo Radio Centro stock continues to trade) and the NYSE (where it delisted in 2013).
In May 2000, Televisa attempted to buy GRC and announced an agreement in principle for a merger, but the acquisition failed due to marketplace concerns. The Federal Competition Commission recommended that Televisa sell some stations, and ultimately four months after the announcement, talks ended. Other reasons for the acquisition's failure included dissent within the Aguirre family and a dispute over GRC's valuation. Another roadblock was that newscaster José Gutiérrez Vivó, who hosted the Monitor newscasts on Radio Red, refused to work with Televisa.
In 2012, GRC acquired 25% of KXOS FM in Los Angeles, three years after signing a local marketing agreement to take control of the station's programming.
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Wikipedia