US radio launches program about Portuguese-American community

The KGST radio station in Fresno, California’s central valley, today begins broadcasting the new English-Portuguese Hour program, coordinated by the Portuguese Institute Beyond Borders and hosted by its director Diniz Borges.

The weekly program will be broadcast every Wednesday between 16:00 and 17:00 (24:00 and 01:00 in Lisbon), addressing the community in the São Joaquim valley and the rest of the state, to reach Portuguese-Americans who no longer speak Portuguese and those who speak both languages.

The new radio project is “totally different” because it will be in English, he said, meaning it will have a wider potential audience, both for those who pick up the radio frequency and those who listen via streaming and mobile applications provided by the station.

The program will have a talk show format, the institute director said.

It is also intended to bring guests who attend conferences at the institute to reach more audiences beyond those attending university.

The Portuguese Institute Beyond Borders has a calendar of seminars and conferences dedicated to the Portuguese community in California and the strong influence of the Azorean diaspora in the state.

It was through the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the State University where the institute is integrated that KGST proposed the creation of a program dedicated to the Portuguese community.

KGST is aware that “in the first three to six months it is not to be profitable”, but it intends to commercially value the broadcast, hoping to attract, for example, brands interested in sponsoring the radio space.

The range of the KGST AM 1600 frequency is expected to be about one million people, Diniz Borges said, adding that the radio can be heard from the southern Delano / Bakersfield area to the northern Merced.

The premiere will be presented by the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute, which is called the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute, and the composition of the Portuguese community, with various links in California.

KGST, which is on the Internet at www.multicultural11600am.com, will record the programs and then make them available in podcast format.