More Music, More Talk in Vietnamese

In hopes of catching the ears of some of the 100,000-plus Vietnamese-Americans living in the Southland, Little Saigon Radio Broadcasting today begins a daily nine-hour broadcast of Vietnamese-language programming over KWIZ-FM (96.7).

The mix of music and talk programming, the most extensive Vietnamese-language broadcast in Southern California, will air each weekday beginning at 6 a.m. There are currently three Vietnamese programs on Southland radio, but those are one- or two-hour shows that air once or twice a week.

Little Saigon Radio Broadcasting is an outgrowth of Little Saigon Television, which produces a daily half-hour program on KSCI Channel 18. The daily radio mix of live and prerecorded programming will originate from the company’s Santa Ana studio and air on KWIZ-FM, which transmits from Orange.

Southern California’s Vietnamese-American community encompasses a diverse group of people with different socioeconomic backgrounds, program officials say, and one of Little Saigon Radio’s challenges will be to cater to that diversity.

Programs are designed to acculturate newly immigrated Vietnamese and to help those Vietnamese already established in this country keep in touch with their heritage, according to Little Saigon Radio officials.

Representatives of the company said they will try to create a mixture that reflects both old Saigon with today’s Little Saigon. Programming will include news, weather, sports and commentaries.

“The goal is to bridge between East and West,” said disc jockey Viet Dzung, a popular singer and songwriter in Little Saigon. “Traditional music is a must to satisfy the older audience. But there will also be new music for the young.”

In addition, there will be a showcase for Vietnamese songwriters and performers, Viet Dzung said.

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Little Saigon Radio will lease its air time on KWIZ from Douglas Broadcasting Inc., the Palo Alto-based company that owns 10 stations in the United States and specializes in the growing ethnic radio market.

To lure advertisers to the fledgling effort, Little Saigon Radio is offering new clients 30-second ads for $10, contrasted with the $50-$60 rate for a 30-second spot that other Vietnamese stations charge.

“We just like to draw attention,” said Little Saigon Radio President Trang Nguyen. “Maybe later we’ll raise the price. Otherwise we won’t be able to survive.”

Free-lance writer Rick VanderKnyff contributed to this report.