Los 40 principales
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| Broadcast area | Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Spain |
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| Slogan | Music Inspires Life |
| First air date | 1966 |
| Format | CHR |
| Language(s) | Spanish |
| Owner | Grupo PRISA |
| Website | Los 40 Website |
Los 40 (stylized as LOS40 and formerly Los 40 Principales) is a Top 40 CHR musical radio network and radio station brand in many Spanish-speaking countries from Prisa Radio. The station has its origins as a music show at Radio Madrid, today Cadena SER in 1966, where the 40 Principales chart was born, then evolved into a spin-off radio station in 1979. In 2006, the chart celebrated its 40th anniversary. The brand’s network in Spain has more than 4,000,000 listeners alone.
Some stations under this brand name are owned and operated or are licensed by Grupo PRISA to use the brand. Some LOS40 stations are operated by a local broadcasting company and affiliated with the company that holds a license to use the brand from Grupo PRISA. Each LOS40 network typically broadcasts its own national feed from its respective country.
LOS40 stations broadcast in:
Most Los 40 networks generally air Spanish-language and English-language contemporary hit music that mostly includes U.S. American, Latin American, Pan-European and British singers and bands. Some stations air more Latin Top 40 music while some more European and English-language music and others more Reggaeton. It has a high-rotation playlist consisting mainly of tracks from its private chart. The main music genres that can be heard are Pop, Pop-rock and some House music.
In 1965, the Ministry of Information and Tourism passed a law forcing medium wave radio stations to launch FM stations to develop FM in Spain. Due to the high costs of producing new shows, most of the schedule for the new stations was based on music, mainly classical music. In 1966, Cadena SER asked one of its broadcasters, Rafael Revert, to develop a new music show aimed at a younger audience. So he took the idea of the Top 40 and created a chart with the 40 top singles of the week, which would be voted on by the audience. So, on July the 18th, 1966, the first show of Los 40 Principales was broadcast on Radio Madrid, marking the debut of the chart list, with Monday Monday by The Mamas & The Papas as the first number 1 on the list.
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