Central FM begins in Houston

The vital contributions of "legal" immigrants are sometimes lost in our national conversation.

A new Houston-based radio and TV program aims to reach some of those people on both sides of the southern border.

Mexican TV and radio journalist Pedro Ferriz says he's been off the air for four years: Blacklisted in Mexico, he says, by political forces that didn't care for his point of view.

That changed as Central FM hit the air from a west Houston office building, broadcasting business news and opinion to more than a hundred Mexican radio and TV stations.

The project was two-years in the making, using internet bandwidth to connect to member stations and contributing voices in a Mexico City studio.

Houston businessman Juan Guevarra Torres has been instrumental in the effort to reach self-sufficient Latin sensibilities that, he says, have been underserved on the airways.

"We want to make sure that we have an outlet to them," says Guevarra Torres, "We want to reach the business people. We want to make sure that we're reaching the people who are paying taxes and creating employment."

Ferriz has millions of social media followers and has frequently used the platforms to challenge his country's leaders.

Despite a failed run at the Mexican presidency, in the recent election, he thinks Central FM will provide another, important voice.

"They need to know, in a Mexican way of putting things, what's happening. Not only in Mexico, but the United States and the world," says Ferriz.

This first offering is just the start for Central FM.

There are plans to extend the programming to as many as 25 U.S. cities, to share the conversation with Spanish-speaking audiences, and empower those who want to "do" for themselves.