In December 2024, after months of planning and seeking to close on its acquisition of the station, Spanish Broadcast System finally moved ahead with the launch of a regional Mexican format on KROI-FM in the Houston market.
Dubbed “La Ley 92.1,” the format change came ahead of the debut in morning drive of a market veteran. Today, management is seething, as is the longtime voice of Houston’s Spanish-language community, Raúl Brindis. Why? SBS, and Brindis, say a saboteur on Sunday clipped all of the wires to KROI’s transmitter at its broadcast tower.
RBR+TVBR first learned of the incident on Sunday afternoon, putting the debut of Brindis and $7.5 million acquisition of KROI from Urban One in an emergency situation for SBS.
Brindis took to YouTube to explain the situation, in Spanish, in a video uploaded to La Ley’s YouTube account. He described how dozens of cables feeding the station’s transmission tower were severed, resulting in an electrical power outage just one day before his show’s scheduled launch. A hole was clipped in the chain-link fence protecting the transmitter, and protective shielding was smashed so that dozens of cables could be destroyed.
As no copper wiring or other equipment was stolen from the property, the station’s conclusion is foul play. Brindis says incident is now under police investigation, commenting, “We do not know who did it, but it is sabotage. No one wants to say it here this way, but it really is sabotage. They don’t want us to go on the air.”
Despite the setback, Brindis thanked the station’s fans who had reached out and assured listeners that the show would proceed as planned; his video also showed off how SBS is still building out its studios and office in a Houston office tower. “Be that as it may, tomorrow, at 5 in the morning live, Monday, February 24, we will be on the air,” Brindis said. “Whether you like it or not, we don’t care.”
The tower is presently broadcasting under generator power while engineers work to repair the cables. No timetable has been established for a full repair.
As of 10:55am Eastern, Brindis was on the air, with YouTube video showing him happily taking calls from listeners welcoming him back to Houston airwaves.
Brindis is one of Houston’s longest-serving Spanish-language radio personalities. He was previously heard on TelevisaUnivision’s crosstown KTLN “Qué Buena 102.9” but exited in late 2023.
— With reporting by Cameron Coats