Altoaragón Media Scales the Pyrenees With OMB Broadcast

CEO Luis Barecha says the transmitters help cover the Spanish province of Huesca

The Altoaragón Media Group, located in the Spanish province of Huesca, has outfitted its 28 radio stations with equipment from OMB Broadcast.Luis Barecha is the group’s CEO. Huesca is located in the autonomous region of Aragón, within the Pyrenees mountain range near Spain’s border with France.

Luis_Barecha Altoaragon

Altoaragón CEO Luis Barecha Hosting his TV show, “Es la Tarde de Huesca.”

OMB Broadcast, in a release, said Barecha’s passion for radio began in his teenage years. His broadcasting career started at Radio Huesca while he was still in school. He later worked for national networks, including ABC Punto Radio, Máxima FM and Aragón Televisión, before become leader of Altoaragón, which in addition to its radio presence operates what Barecha described as the province’s leading TV station.Barecha’s FM stations include Hit Radio, which has signals in the city of Huesca, as well as the communities of El Grado and Benasque.

Hit Radio transmitters, in the province of Huesca. The map is courtesy of maps.fmdx.org, part of the open-source fmdx.org project, using data from FMList.org.

The mountainous region is well known for its ski resorts in winter and picturesque scenery to explore in the summer. Pyrenees peaks remain snow-covered for months. OMB Broadcast, founded in Spain, said the harsh weather conditions call for rugged RF equipment.Barecha has embraced the unique challenges of the terrain. He said his stations perform reliably across the region, even in remote mountaintop locations.All his stations are equipped with OMB Broadcast gear.

Tower locations in the Spanish Pyrenees are often snowed in for months.

Altoaragón has purchased six OMB EM1000 FM transmitters, four EM250s, two EM2000s and one EM5000. They also acquired an OMB MOT 4000 multicast TV transmitter, an OMB ComLim audio processor and STL equipment.Barecha said the reliability of OMB products has helped Altoaragón Media, competing with the national media networks in Spain, find its niche through hyper-local broadcasting, delivering news, events and targeted advertising.“Our strength is our deep community connection,” he said. “We offer local advertisers a targeted audience they won’t find anywhere else.”For Barecha, it means helping ensure traditional forms of radio and TV remain relevant in the Pyrenees.

This article was originally published in Radio World. You can read it here.