XEKAM-AM (950

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

in Rosarito, Baja California, serving the Tijuana-San Diego area. It has a

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

. It mostly carries

Radio Fórmula Radio Fórmula is a Mexican talk radio network. Founded in 1968, Radio Fórmula programs are broadcast on more than 100 stations in Mexico as well as several stations in the United States. It is the flagship product of Grupo Fórmula, which al ...

programming from

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. XEKAM is a Class B station. By day, it is powered at 20,000

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s. But to reduce interference to other stations on

950 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 950 kHz: The Federal Communications Commission categorizes 950 AM as a regional frequency. Argentina * CNN Radio Argentina in Buenos Aires * LT16 RSP in Presidente Roque Saenz Peña ...

, it reduces power at night to 5,000 watts. XEKAM broadcasts using

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technology.

History

The station received its concession on . The original

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

was XEGM. It was owned by Gustavo Faist Morán's Difusoras del Valle, S.A., and broadcast with 2,500 watts of power. By the late 1960s, XEGM had increased its power to 10,000 watts days and 5,000 watts nights. In the late 1980s, the call sign was changed to XEKAM. During this time, XEKAM (frequently referred to in US media as XEK-AM, though the actual XEK-AM was in

Nuevo Laredo Nuevo Laredo () is a city in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Rio Grande, across from Laredo, Texas, Laredo, United States. The 2010 census popula ...

) was programmed from the United States. It had

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s in

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. It shut down for a time in 1992 after failing to obtain the necessary FCC permits to originate programming for air on a foreign station. XEKAM, at the time, was airing a news-talk format in English. Programs included the first talk show devoted to

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

issues in the area as well as

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games. When the station was forced off the air, the Gulls went without a radio partner for a month. The loss of U.S. programming sent the station into a tailspin and off the air. Employees went unpaid and the locks at the station's U.S. offices were changed. In 1998, the concession for XEKAM was transferred to a

subsidiary.

References

External links

Radio Fórmula
* Spanish-language radio stations News and talk radio stations in Mexico Radio stations in Baja California Radio Fórmula {{Baja California-radio-station-stub