LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Tucked away inside the Boulevard Mall, there is a fiesta going on almost every single day as a Las Vegas valley Spanish-language radio station continues to provide a space for the Hispanic community.
Located near Desert Inn Road and Maryland Parkway, Fiesta 98.1 is tucked away inside the El Mercado. It’s a spot to enjoy culture from around the world with various artisan shops and restaurants.
“Everyone knows the word fiesta so it’s an easy name [and] we are in Las Vegas so nothing better than fiesta,” co-owner and radio personality Rogelio Regalado Rodriguez said. “Boulevard Mall is one of the first malls in Vegas actually and the most Hispanic one.”
From having zero listeners to about 100,000 in almost three years, Regalado Rodriguez said other than just playing regional Mexican music, the station also focuses on giving back and providing hyper-local content.
“For example, Hispanic community in Vegas is 30% of the city, of the market so 70% of that is regional Mexicans,” Regalado Rodriguez said. “We wanted something that can be recognized between Hispanics.”
Starting the station with nothing, Regalado Rodriguez said he and his business partner Rafael Cerros are now the only Hispanic men who own a radio station in the valley.
“That’s our bread and butter actually to be focused on the local community giving on the air local stories [and] what’s going in the neighborhoods,” Regalado Rodriguez said. “When I was like 17, one of the owners of a station told me hey you want to play music that you really want, get your own station.”
Cerros said he never imagined owning a radio station, but when an opportunity arose, he took it.
“Being the only station that’s Hispanic and locally owned that’s pride for us,” Cerros said. “I know what people like, I am a part of the community, that’s our roots that’s my people.”
Cerros told 8 News Now that he hopes others in the area will observe Hispanic Heritage Month by celebrating and learning about the culture.
“Us being from the community and being Hispanic, I mean I think we’re that vessel and that voice,” he said.
“For me, [this] is like an opportunity for our cultures to know about our countries,” Regalado Rodriguez said.
Both men believe the station will continue to be that voice representing culture and unity in the valley for years to come.
“The more we celebrate and the more we show other people our culture for me it’s an opportunity to have a party and have a fiesta,” Regalado Rodriguez said.
