WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.040 Imagine for a second dedicating your entire life 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:06.000 to a single industry. Which is rare enough these 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:08.000 days, yeah. Right. And not just any industry, 00:00:08.099 --> 00:00:11.339 but one that is notoriously volatile. It's constantly 00:00:11.339 --> 00:00:15.160 shifting. And honestly, it can be utterly unforgiving. 00:00:15.259 --> 00:00:16.879 I'm talking about the broadcasting industry. 00:00:16.899 --> 00:00:19.219 Oh, absolutely. It's a meat grinder. It really 00:00:19.219 --> 00:00:23.679 is. Yeah. Now, imagine not just surviving in 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:26.160 that chaotic environment, but actually thriving. 00:00:26.980 --> 00:00:29.859 adapting and living to tell the tale for over 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:32.320 four decades. Which sounds almost impossible. 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:34.619 Totally. Most people, I mean, they get chewed 00:00:34.619 --> 00:00:36.240 up and spit out by the time they hit their second 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:38.939 decade in media. But that is exactly the anomaly 00:00:38.939 --> 00:00:41.619 we are getting into today. So, welcome to the 00:00:41.619 --> 00:00:43.880 Deep Dive. Today we're unpacking the Wikipedia 00:00:43.880 --> 00:00:47.200 biography of an Argentine media veteran, Ronan 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:49.869 Marcelo Balestra. Though, if you are familiar 00:00:49.869 --> 00:00:52.210 with the landscape of Argentine television and 00:00:52.210 --> 00:00:54.490 radio, you definitely know him by his stage name, 00:00:54.549 --> 00:00:58.549 which is Monchi Balestra. Exactly. Monchi Balestra. 00:00:58.689 --> 00:01:01.109 And our mission for this deep dive isn't just 00:01:01.109 --> 00:01:03.909 to, you know, rattle off a list of dates and 00:01:03.909 --> 00:01:06.430 show titles. We are using Monchi's trajectory. 00:01:11.950 --> 00:01:15.189 The constantly shifting tectonic plates of the 00:01:15.189 --> 00:01:18.010 media landscape over the years. His career really 00:01:18.010 --> 00:01:20.969 mirrors the evolution of modern media itself. 00:01:21.269 --> 00:01:23.489 It really does. We are talking about a guy born 00:01:23.489 --> 00:01:27.379 on October 8, 1967 in Casilda. That's a relatively 00:01:27.379 --> 00:01:29.359 small city in the Santa Fe province of Argentina. 00:01:29.620 --> 00:01:31.879 Yeah. And from there, the hustle just never stops. 00:01:32.099 --> 00:01:34.280 It is a phenomenal case study. We're looking 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:36.239 at a career that spans from local provincial 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:39.439 radio in the early 1980s all the way to massive 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:42.299 continent wide reality television. And then he 00:01:42.299 --> 00:01:44.780 pivots right back to cross platform simulcasts 00:01:44.780 --> 00:01:46.620 in the modern era. The way he moves through these 00:01:46.620 --> 00:01:49.079 different eras, it provides a perfect lens for 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:51.500 understanding how audience consumption has shifted. 00:01:51.659 --> 00:01:53.819 But more importantly, it highlights the specific 00:01:53.819 --> 00:01:56.060 survival skills a broadcaster needs to stay. 00:01:56.170 --> 00:01:58.250 irrelevant when the ground is, well, constantly 00:01:58.250 --> 00:02:00.590 moving underneath them. Okay, let's unpack this 00:02:00.590 --> 00:02:03.170 because his start in the industry is, frankly, 00:02:03.329 --> 00:02:06.170 mind -blowing. He was working in radio stations 00:02:06.170 --> 00:02:09.169 starting at the age of 13. Which is wild. 13 00:02:09.169 --> 00:02:10.909 years old. I mean, think about what you were 00:02:10.909 --> 00:02:13.889 doing at 13. And by the time he was 18, he didn't 00:02:13.889 --> 00:02:16.530 just have a prime time slot on someone else's 00:02:16.530 --> 00:02:19.919 dial. He launched his very own... Radio station. 00:02:20.900 --> 00:02:24.539 FMTOP. FMTOP, exactly. Now, hold on. We have 00:02:24.539 --> 00:02:28.280 to pause here because in the mid -1980s, you 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:31.680 couldn't just... Fire up a laptop, buy a $20 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:34.280 microphone, and launch a podcast to a global 00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:36.599 audience from your bedroom. No, not at all. So 00:02:36.599 --> 00:02:38.840 how does an 18 -year -old even get a radio station 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:41.020 off the ground back then? That is the crucial 00:02:41.020 --> 00:02:44.259 context here. In the 1980s, especially in a provincial 00:02:44.259 --> 00:02:46.699 area like Santa Fe, setting up an FM station 00:02:46.699 --> 00:02:49.259 meant dealing with heavy, expensive physical 00:02:49.259 --> 00:02:51.139 infrastructure. You had to actually build it. 00:02:51.259 --> 00:02:53.840 Right. You needed transmitters. You needed antennas. 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:56.400 You had to navigate local broadcasting regulations. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:59.490 And perhaps hardest of all, You had to convince 00:02:59.490 --> 00:03:01.710 local businesses to actually buy advertising 00:03:01.710 --> 00:03:04.150 time to keep the lights on. So it wasn't just 00:03:04.150 --> 00:03:06.870 about having a good voice. Exactly. It required 00:03:06.870 --> 00:03:09.409 a level of entrepreneurial grit that goes way 00:03:09.409 --> 00:03:11.330 beyond just, you know, talking into a microphone. 00:03:11.590 --> 00:03:13.810 He had to understand the business mechanics of 00:03:13.810 --> 00:03:16.289 media before he was even out of his teens. Which 00:03:16.289 --> 00:03:18.569 makes his next move seem almost counterintuitive. 00:03:19.189 --> 00:03:22.490 At 20 years old, so right around the late 1980s, 00:03:22.490 --> 00:03:25.930 he packs up and leaves his established base in 00:03:25.930 --> 00:03:28.539 Santa Fe. and he moves to California to work 00:03:28.539 --> 00:03:32.139 in Latin radio. A huge leap. It is. And I have 00:03:32.139 --> 00:03:34.580 to play devil's advocate here. Wasn't that incredibly 00:03:34.580 --> 00:03:36.580 risky? I mean, he had his own station, he had 00:03:36.580 --> 00:03:39.020 local momentum, and he drops it all to go to 00:03:39.020 --> 00:03:41.439 the United States. Was he just flying blind, 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:43.750 or was there an actual strategy there? What's 00:03:43.750 --> 00:03:46.490 fascinating here is the sheer calculation behind 00:03:46.490 --> 00:03:49.050 that geographical risk. It wasn't flying blind 00:03:49.050 --> 00:03:51.949 at all. If we look at the late 1980s and early 00:03:51.949 --> 00:03:54.669 1990s, the U .S. Hispanic media market was undergoing 00:03:54.669 --> 00:03:58.169 a massive commercial boom. And California was 00:03:58.169 --> 00:03:59.990 the epicenter of that. The production values, 00:04:00.210 --> 00:04:02.409 the highly structured format radio, the aggressive 00:04:02.409 --> 00:04:04.969 marketing tactics. The U .S. market was simply 00:04:04.969 --> 00:04:07.090 light years ahead in terms of commercial broadcasting 00:04:07.090 --> 00:04:09.370 science at that time. Wow. So he was going to 00:04:09.370 --> 00:04:12.150 school, basically. Effectively, yes. He wasn't 00:04:12.150 --> 00:04:14.909 just taking a job. He was enrolling in a master's 00:04:14.909 --> 00:04:17.470 program in modern media. He was exposing himself 00:04:17.470 --> 00:04:20.470 to new formats and entirely new ways of engaging 00:04:20.470 --> 00:04:22.829 with listeners in a hyper -competitive environment. 00:04:23.149 --> 00:04:25.930 So he takes all that polished, highly commercialized 00:04:25.930 --> 00:04:28.269 California radio DNA and he brings it right back 00:04:28.269 --> 00:04:31.170 to Santa Fe. Precisely. And it gave him a massive 00:04:31.170 --> 00:04:34.209 competitive edge. When he returns, he isn't just 00:04:34.209 --> 00:04:36.410 another local guy on the mic. He sounds different, 00:04:36.610 --> 00:04:39.649 his production is tighter, and the industry recognizes 00:04:39.649 --> 00:04:42.230 it immediately. Right. By the mid to late 90s, 00:04:42.230 --> 00:04:44.750 he establishes deep roots in regional radio. 00:04:44.990 --> 00:04:48.470 He hosts La Tarde de la Vida from 1995 to 1997 00:04:48.470 --> 00:04:51.810 and then transitions into La Maquina del Sonido 00:04:51.810 --> 00:04:55.709 from 1998 to 2000. And this local dominance leads 00:04:55.709 --> 00:04:58.449 to nominations for the Broadcasting Awards and, 00:04:58.550 --> 00:05:00.970 crucially, the Martin Fierro Awards. Which we 00:05:00.970 --> 00:05:03.029 should clarify for you listening. If you aren't 00:05:03.029 --> 00:05:04.730 familiar with the Argentine media circuit, the 00:05:04.730 --> 00:05:06.589 Martin Fierro Awards are essentially the Emmy 00:05:06.589 --> 00:05:09.300 Awards of Argentina. The absolute top tier. They 00:05:09.300 --> 00:05:12.120 are the pinnacle of industry recognition. So 00:05:12.120 --> 00:05:14.500 getting that nod meant he had officially arrived. 00:05:15.100 --> 00:05:17.300 And it makes you wonder about your own path. 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:20.360 Think about your own career trajectory for a 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:23.560 second. What was your California move? I love 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:25.800 that concept. Right, that moment where you stepped 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:27.860 completely out of your comfort zone, abandoned 00:05:27.860 --> 00:05:30.160 your local momentum, and went somewhere entirely 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:32.800 new just to learn the ropes so you could come 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:36.269 back undeniably stronger. Monchi's California 00:05:36.269 --> 00:05:39.189 move laid the concrete foundation for his entire 00:05:39.189 --> 00:05:42.709 future. Because once the 2000s hit, he makes 00:05:42.709 --> 00:05:45.550 the leap to national television. And here's where 00:05:45.550 --> 00:05:48.189 it gets really interesting. He completely refuses 00:05:48.189 --> 00:05:50.589 to get pigeonholed. The transition from radio 00:05:50.589 --> 00:05:53.069 to television is notoriously difficult. Many 00:05:53.069 --> 00:05:55.490 great radio voices completely freeze when you 00:05:55.490 --> 00:05:57.250 put three cameras in their face. Red light goes 00:05:57.250 --> 00:05:59.350 on and they panic. Exactly. They don't know what 00:05:59.350 --> 00:06:01.550 to do with their hands. But he didn't just transition. 00:06:01.610 --> 00:06:04.660 He became an absolute chameleon. A total Swiss 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:07.920 army knife. If you look at his resume from 2001 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:11.459 to 2004, it is all over the map. It really is. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:14.160 One year, he is doing mainstream general entertainment 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:17.839 with a new version of Versus on Azul TV. By 2002, 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:21.779 he is over on Canal 9 hosting Yo Te Visey, followed 00:06:21.779 --> 00:06:25.680 by Lo Mejor de la Semana. But then, instead of 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:28.680 just staying in that safe broadcast network lane, 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:32.709 he pivots to specialized... niche audiences on 00:06:32.709 --> 00:06:35.569 cable. Which was booming at the time. Yes. He 00:06:35.569 --> 00:06:38.490 hosts a show called EX on Fox Sports Latino America. 00:06:38.810 --> 00:06:41.629 And he even does work for Movie City, which was 00:06:41.629 --> 00:06:44.329 a premium subscription based movie network for 00:06:44.329 --> 00:06:46.329 Latin America. I mean, he's doing sports, he's 00:06:46.329 --> 00:06:48.370 doing cinema, he's doing pop culture. And the 00:06:48.370 --> 00:06:50.829 insight there is that he didn't tie his professional 00:06:50.829 --> 00:06:53.310 identity to a single network or a single genre. 00:06:53.550 --> 00:06:55.870 He tie it to the underlying skill of hosting 00:06:55.870 --> 00:06:58.170 itself. Right. The mechanics of it. Being able 00:06:58.170 --> 00:07:00.189 to adapt your energy from the hyper enthusiastic. 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:02.439 tone required for a sports network to the more 00:07:02.439 --> 00:07:04.860 polished, measured delivery needed for a premium 00:07:04.860 --> 00:07:07.800 movie channel. That versatility makes you incredibly 00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:10.540 valuable to executives. You become a safe bet. 00:07:10.740 --> 00:07:12.100 Because they know you can handle whatever they 00:07:12.100 --> 00:07:14.339 throw at you. Exactly. And that reputation as 00:07:14.339 --> 00:07:17.339 a safe, versatile bet is exactly what lands him 00:07:17.339 --> 00:07:20.379 the role that changes everything in 2004. Right. 00:07:20.500 --> 00:07:24.839 Canal 13 taps him to host 100 Argentinos Dyson. 00:07:25.220 --> 00:07:27.759 That is the Argentine version of the massive 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:31.379 global game show format, Family Feud. And hosting 00:07:31.379 --> 00:07:34.360 a daily game show is a completely different beast 00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:36.899 than interviewing a movie star. Oh, completely. 00:07:37.220 --> 00:07:39.139 You have to wrangle everyday people who aren't 00:07:39.139 --> 00:07:41.199 used to being on camera. You have to manage the 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:43.379 strict timing of the game mechanics. And you 00:07:43.379 --> 00:07:45.879 have to keep the studio energy relentlessly high 00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:48.660 five days a week. It is a grind, but he excels 00:07:48.660 --> 00:07:50.660 at it. And it acts as the perfect springboard 00:07:50.660 --> 00:07:53.319 for his absolute international peak between 2006 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:56.000 and 2008, which was co -hosting Latin American 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:58.620 Idol alongside Erika de la Vega on Sony Entertainment 00:07:58.620 --> 00:08:01.639 Television. It is hard to overstate how massive 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:04.060 the Idol franchise was in the mid -2000s. It 00:08:04.060 --> 00:08:06.279 was monoculture. Everyone was watching it. Everyone. 00:08:06.459 --> 00:08:08.339 It was the top of the mountain for a TV presenter. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:10.420 You were broadcasting to millions of viewers 00:08:10.420 --> 00:08:12.959 across multiple countries, handling live television, 00:08:13.160 --> 00:08:15.319 managing the emotions of the contestants, the 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:17.899 egos of the judges, and driving the voting mechanics. 00:08:18.180 --> 00:08:21.189 It was high -wire broadcasting. It is, but it 00:08:21.189 --> 00:08:23.370 also sets up a stark contrast to what happens 00:08:23.370 --> 00:08:26.050 next. Because no matter how high you climb, the 00:08:26.050 --> 00:08:28.470 television industry is governed by one brutal 00:08:28.470 --> 00:08:30.889 metric, and that is immediate ratings. Yeah, 00:08:30.910 --> 00:08:32.669 they don't care what you did yesterday. Exactly. 00:08:33.289 --> 00:08:35.769 Following that massive high, he returns to Canal 00:08:35.769 --> 00:08:39.529 13 in November 2009 to host a brand new game 00:08:39.529 --> 00:08:42.490 show called Quinceañeras. And by May 2010, just 00:08:42.490 --> 00:08:45.049 a few months later, the show is abruptly canceled. 00:08:45.370 --> 00:08:47.690 Let's talk about that cancellation, because it 00:08:47.690 --> 00:08:50.679 is such a jarring pivot. He just came off Latin 00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:52.320 American Idol, arguably the biggest show on the 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:55.740 continent. How does a network pull the plug on 00:08:55.740 --> 00:08:58.419 a proven talent so quickly? Because television 00:08:58.419 --> 00:09:00.919 networks operate very much like anxious venture 00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:04.039 capitalists. When a network launches a new format 00:09:04.039 --> 00:09:06.899 like Quinceañeras, they are sinking massive upfront 00:09:06.899 --> 00:09:10.240 costs into set design, marketing, and pilot production. 00:09:10.539 --> 00:09:12.879 The stakes are incredibly high from day one. 00:09:12.919 --> 00:09:15.470 Right. If the show launches in November, which 00:09:15.470 --> 00:09:17.470 in Argentina is heading toward the summer season, 00:09:17.649 --> 00:09:19.529 and it doesn't immediately capture the target 00:09:19.529 --> 00:09:21.909 demographic by the time the crucial autumn programming 00:09:21.909 --> 00:09:24.750 season rolls around in May, executives panic. 00:09:24.970 --> 00:09:26.970 They just cut their losses. They do. They don't 00:09:26.970 --> 00:09:29.610 have the patience to let a show find its audience 00:09:29.610 --> 00:09:32.649 anymore. The failure of Quinceañeras likely had 00:09:32.649 --> 00:09:34.509 very little to do with his hosting abilities 00:09:34.509 --> 00:09:36.929 and everything to do with a format that just 00:09:36.929 --> 00:09:39.820 didn't stick with the viewers fast enough. It 00:09:39.820 --> 00:09:41.960 is a stark reminder of the precarious existence 00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:44.860 of a broadcaster. For you listening, this is 00:09:44.860 --> 00:09:46.840 such a relatable moment, even if you aren't on 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:49.240 television. It's a reminder that professional 00:09:49.240 --> 00:09:52.019 sudden stops happen to everyone, regardless of 00:09:52.019 --> 00:09:54.139 your track record. You could be flying high, 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:56.480 doing everything right, executing at the highest 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:58.860 level, and suddenly a project gets killed, a 00:09:58.860 --> 00:10:01.320 department gets downsized, or a product launch 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:04.120 fails. It's unavoidable. It really is. The real 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:06.340 test isn't whether or not you can avoid the sudden 00:10:06.340 --> 00:10:08.840 stops, because you can't. It's about how you 00:10:08.840 --> 00:10:11.519 manage the fallout. And Monchi's fallout management 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:13.960 is fascinating here. He doesn't just desperately 00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:16.779 scramble for the next available pilot. After 00:10:16.779 --> 00:10:19.779 a brief stint hosting Connectados 360 in 2011, 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:22.580 he actually steps back. He takes a two -year 00:10:22.580 --> 00:10:25.059 hiatus. Sometimes intentional absence is the 00:10:25.059 --> 00:10:27.240 most strategic move you can make. Yeah, why is 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:29.820 that? Well, stepping away allows you to recalibrate. 00:10:30.269 --> 00:10:32.690 You avoid overexposure, and more importantly, 00:10:32.909 --> 00:10:35.149 you get to observe where the industry is heading 00:10:35.149 --> 00:10:37.509 without the pressure of a daily production schedule 00:10:37.509 --> 00:10:40.889 blinding you. And the industry in 2011 and 2012 00:10:40.889 --> 00:10:44.149 was undergoing a massive seismic shift. So what 00:10:44.149 --> 00:10:46.610 does this all mean? It means that when he finally 00:10:46.610 --> 00:10:49.950 returns to Canal 13 in 2012, he doesn't come 00:10:49.950 --> 00:10:52.590 back with another traditional game show or a 00:10:52.590 --> 00:10:55.139 standard interview format. He comes back with 00:10:55.139 --> 00:10:58.259 a show called Real Oh No Real, a program entirely 00:10:58.259 --> 00:11:01.299 dedicated to showcasing Internet videos and trying 00:11:01.299 --> 00:11:03.659 to determine if they were genuine or faked. If 00:11:03.659 --> 00:11:05.679 we connect this to the bigger picture, Real Oh 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:08.360 No Real is a perfect time capsule of that specific 00:11:08.360 --> 00:11:11.419 era in media. The early viral Internet days. 00:11:11.620 --> 00:11:14.700 Right. By 2012, YouTube and viral digital content 00:11:14.700 --> 00:11:16.960 were completely dominating the cultural conversation. 00:11:17.639 --> 00:11:19.940 Traditional broadcast television was terrified 00:11:19.940 --> 00:11:22.139 of losing its audience to the Internet, but they 00:11:22.139 --> 00:11:24.299 didn't quite know how to integrate it yet. They 00:11:24.299 --> 00:11:26.100 were still treating the Internet as a novelty. 00:11:26.340 --> 00:11:28.740 Like a magic trick. Exactly. Manchi positions 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:30.980 himself right at the intersection of that anxiety. 00:11:31.179 --> 00:11:34.620 He acts as the traditional TV guide walking the 00:11:34.620 --> 00:11:36.860 regular audience through the new digital frontier. 00:11:37.179 --> 00:11:39.659 It's an incredibly savvy way to stay relevant. 00:11:40.100 --> 00:11:43.240 But then in 2013, he makes a move that, on paper, 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:46.279 might look to some people like a retreat. He 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:48.440 leaves the massive national spotlight of Buenos 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:50.919 Aires and heads back to his home province of 00:11:50.919 --> 00:11:54.159 Santa Fe. He hosts a local game show called Rejugados 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:56.990 on the regional channel El Tres. Was going back 00:11:56.990 --> 00:11:59.190 to regional television a step backward after 00:11:59.190 --> 00:12:02.110 hosting Latin American Idol? Not at all. It is 00:12:02.110 --> 00:12:05.090 actually about building an unshakable base. The 00:12:05.090 --> 00:12:07.929 national television market is fickle, as the 00:12:07.929 --> 00:12:10.350 quinceañera's situation proved, but regional 00:12:10.350 --> 00:12:12.570 audiences are incredibly loyal. They remember 00:12:12.570 --> 00:12:15.409 you. They do. By returning to Santa Fe, he leverages 00:12:15.409 --> 00:12:17.769 his massive international cachet to become the 00:12:17.769 --> 00:12:20.090 undisputed heavyweight of his home market. He 00:12:20.090 --> 00:12:22.450 takes control of his own gravity. And it is during 00:12:22.450 --> 00:12:24.409 this return home that he makes perhaps the most 00:12:24.409 --> 00:12:30.360 forward -thinking move of his life. Right. In 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:33.159 2013, he launches a radio show called Anaxian 00:12:33.159 --> 00:12:37.120 on LT3 AM680. But he doesn't just settle into 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:39.980 a comfortable radio routine. By October 2014, 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:43.220 he starts simulcasting Anaxian on television, 00:12:43.460 --> 00:12:47.480 specifically on Canal 5 de Rosario. He ports 00:12:47.480 --> 00:12:49.419 the live radio feed directly to a television 00:12:49.419 --> 00:12:52.179 broadcast. And we really need to analyze the 00:12:52.179 --> 00:12:54.539 business mechanics of that simulcast. It is an 00:12:54.539 --> 00:12:57.200 absolute efficiency play. How so? Well, in an 00:12:57.200 --> 00:12:59.059 era where media budgets were beginning to shrink 00:12:59.059 --> 00:13:01.440 and audiences were fragmenting across different 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:04.080 platforms, producing original television content 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:07.320 was becoming increasingly expensive. By simulcasting 00:13:07.320 --> 00:13:09.879 his radio show, he is amortizing his production 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:12.299 costs across two entirely different mediums. 00:13:12.299 --> 00:13:14.580 Oh, that's smart. He creates the content once, 00:13:14.659 --> 00:13:17.500 but he monetizes it. distributes it twice, he 00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:19.539 merges his foundational skill, that intimate 00:13:19.539 --> 00:13:22.019 conversational radio style, with the visual reach 00:13:22.019 --> 00:13:24.379 of television. It forces you to rethink the whole 00:13:24.379 --> 00:13:26.919 concept of progress in a career. For you listening, 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:29.100 how often are we conditioned to believe that 00:13:29.100 --> 00:13:31.379 progress strictly means moving upward into bigger 00:13:31.379 --> 00:13:33.600 titles or outward into larger, more stressful 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:36.299 markets? We hear it all the time, climb the ladder. 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:39.100 Exactly. But Monchi returned to his roots, he 00:13:39.100 --> 00:13:41.019 went back to Santa Fe, and he went back to the 00:13:41.019 --> 00:13:42.919 radio format he started with when he was 13. 00:13:43.660 --> 00:13:46.580 But by marrying those roots with the modern innovation 00:13:46.580 --> 00:13:49.659 of the simulcast, going back to basics was actually 00:13:49.659 --> 00:13:52.320 the ultimate survival tactic. He bulletproofed 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:55.000 his career. He kept his tools incredibly sharp. 00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:57.460 And the ultimate proof of that strategy's success 00:13:57.460 --> 00:14:01.320 came in 2021. Ah, yes. When Dario Barassi, the 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:03.700 current host of 100 Argentinos Dyson, needed 00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:06.519 to step away temporarily, the network didn't 00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:09.039 have to look far for a replacement. Monchi was 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:11.320 able to walk right back onto a major national 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:14.320 television set and seamlessly pick up his classic 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:16.539 hit. You can only do that if you haven't let 00:14:16.539 --> 00:14:19.460 your broadcasting muscles atrophy. Over a 40 00:14:19.460 --> 00:14:21.500 -year journey, he went from an entrepreneurial 00:14:21.500 --> 00:14:24.299 13 -year -old tweaking transmitters in Casilda 00:14:24.299 --> 00:14:27.440 to absorbing the commercial strategies of Californian 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:29.899 radio to the absolute summit of international 00:14:29.899 --> 00:14:33.480 reality television. And finally, evolving into 00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:36.080 an adaptable veteran mastering cross -platform 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:39.980 media in his hometown. It proves that in an industry 00:14:39.980 --> 00:14:43.080 that reinvents itself every five years, you have 00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:45.659 to be willing to kill your own ego and reinvent 00:14:45.659 --> 00:14:48.470 yourself right along with it. This raises an 00:14:48.470 --> 00:14:50.769 important question, particularly when we look 00:14:50.769 --> 00:14:53.730 at the success of his Annexion simulcast. Given 00:14:53.730 --> 00:14:56.110 how seamlessly he was able to blend a traditional 00:14:56.110 --> 00:14:58.450 radio format into a daily television broadcast, 00:14:58.929 --> 00:15:01.289 it begs us to look at the future. Where things 00:15:01.289 --> 00:15:03.769 are heading. Right. Are the traditional siloed 00:15:03.769 --> 00:15:06.230 boundaries between radio, television, and internet 00:15:06.230 --> 00:15:09.350 content destined to disappear entirely? As media 00:15:09.350 --> 00:15:11.629 consumption becomes entirely fluid, will the 00:15:11.629 --> 00:15:13.929 broadcasters of tomorrow be required to be seen, 00:15:14.070 --> 00:15:16.649 heard, and read simultaneously across all platforms? 00:15:17.100 --> 00:15:19.399 to survive the ecosystem. That is a fascinating 00:15:19.399 --> 00:15:21.840 thought to leave on. As you consume your own 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:24.100 media today, whether you are watching a video 00:15:24.100 --> 00:15:26.360 podcast on your phone or streaming a live radio 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:29.080 show on your smart TV, ask yourself if those 00:15:29.080 --> 00:15:31.559 boundaries even exist anymore. Something for 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:34.080 you to definitely mull over. Thank you so much 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:36.659 for joining us on this deep dive. Remember, gaining 00:15:36.659 --> 00:15:38.980 knowledge is all about connecting the dots. So 00:15:38.980 --> 00:15:41.179 keep questioning, keep exploring, and we will 00:15:41.179 --> 00:15:42.360 catch you on the next one.