TX Radio: Chris Salcedo Talkin' Up A Storm

Chris Salcedo

As a Latino conservative who supports Donald Trump and thinks liberalism will ruin America, talk host Chris Salcedo is the stereotype-busting powerhouse of the airwaves.

A profile piece in the Sacramento Bee states that for the last quarter-century, he has climbed the ladder, thanks to talent, breaks, hustle, networking, perseverance and sweat.

The 45-year-old has a degree in the dramatic arts and initially wanted to be an actor. But he has been performing on a different stage, working in radio and television for most of his life -- in his native Southern California, in Washington, D.C., and most recently, in Texas. And all the dues-paying has finally been rewarded.

Salcedo now has not one, not two, but three daily two-hour radio shows broadcasting from the Lone Star State. He started out writing the news for others to read, and soon he was reading it himself. Then came a stint as the weatherman for a local TV station, and a move to Dallas to take a job as a reporter. By the time Washington beckoned with an offer to co-anchor a national morning radio show, he was eager to break out of the straitjacket of objective journalism.

Like everyone in broadcast media, Salcedo got jobs and lost jobs, and had his plans turned upside down.

“I was under the illusion that I was in control,” he told me. “It’s not true. It’s great to have a plan, but you have to be ready to change it.”

The change that Salcedo made, just three years ago, was to go from an employee to a brand.

“I got tired of depending on other people, and their idea of what I needed to be,” he said. “So I created the idea of ‘The Chris Salcedo Show.’”

It was a good idea. With a morning show on WBAP 820 AM in Dallas, an afternoon show on KSEV-700 AM in Houston, and a national show on Glenn Beck’s digital creation, TheBlaze Radio Network, Salcedo is talking up a storm.

“I like what I do on radio,” he said. “I have the ability to express my opinions. In a more structured news environment, it wouldn’t be as much fun. Here, I get to do my kind of radio.”

Salcedo’s kind of radio revolves around what he calls “the beer factor.” It’s about making listeners feel as if they want to have a beer with him. And that’s all about being authentic.