XELD-TV
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XELD-TV (channel 7) was a
television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...
located in
Matamoros, Tamaulipas Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, and the municipal seat of the homonymous municipality. It is on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Bro ...
, Mexico, whose over-the-air signal also covered the
Rio Grande Valley Lower Rio Grande Valley (), often referred to as the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) of South Texas, is a region located in the southernmost part of Texas, along the northern bank of the Rio Grande. It is also known locally as the Valley or the 956 (the ...
across the
international border Borders are generally defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ...
in the United States. The station broadcast in English and Spanish from September 15, 1951, to April 29, 1954.


History


Opening

The 1948 freeze on new television station licenses placed by the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC) in the United States stalled any development of television on the American side of the Río Grande, which was allotted VHF channels 4 and 5. Meanwhile, per international agreement, Matamoros had received the allotments for channels 2, 7, and 11, along with channel 9 in
Reynosa Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico which also holds the municipal seat of Reynosa Municipality. The city is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande in the international Reynosa–McAlle ...
(which also received channel 12 in 1952). Meanwhile, channel 7 in Matamoros was being built out by XESE-TV. XESE was owned by Compañía Mexicana de Televisión, S.A., whose owner, Manuel D. Leal, was vice president and general manager of KIWW radio in
San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
. Other partners included Pedro de Lille, W.B. Miller, and Noel Alrich Solano. However, new partners entered into the picture.
Romulo O'Farrill Romulo may refer to: People with the given name Romulo Italian * Rômulo (footballer, born 1987), Brazilian-born football player * Romulo Cincinato (1502 – circa 1593), painter Portuguese * Rómulo (footballer, born 1976), football player Mexi ...
, a television pioneer who signed on Mexico's first television station,
XHTV XHTV-TDT (channel 4) is a Mexican television station, serving Mexico City as the flagship relay of the N+ Foro channel. The station is owned-and-operated by locally based Grupo Televisa alongside XEW-TDT, XHGC-TDT and XEQ-TDT carrying Las Estrel ...
, in 1950, saw the need for a television station in this market and realized that it could be filled using the Mexican channel 7 allocation. A $300,000 investment was made in facilities and a transmitter tower."Innovaciones en la industria mexicana de la televisión", thesis, Francisco Hernandez Lomeli, 2004: 116. The station, under the new call sign XELD-TV, signed on September 15, 1951, from its Mexican transmitter and studio, with a sales office in downtown
Brownsville, Texas Brownsville ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Cameron County, Texas, Cameron County, located on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border, border with Matamoros, Tamaulipas ...
. The station was groundbreaking: not only was it the first television station in the state of Tamaulipas (and the third in the nation), it was the first Mexican television
border blaster A border blaster is a broadcast station that, though not licensed as an external service (broadcasting), external service, is, in practice, used to target another country. The term "border blaster" is of North American origin, and usually ass ...
and the first Mexican station to obtain affiliation with an American network. Eventually, XELD boasted affiliations with all four American networks, though its primary affiliation was with
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
. The station was run much like an American station; it even had an American television representative, Blair TV. Emilio Azcárraga, owner of XEW radio and TV in Mexico City, was a half-owner of XELD.


Closure

When the FCC freeze was lifted in April 1952, channels 4 and 5 remained in the Brownsville– HarlingenWeslaco area, and prospective station owners in the United States got their chance. In September 1953,
KGBT-TV KGBT-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to Harlingen, Texas, United States, serving the Lower Rio Grande Valley as a primary Antenna TV owned-and-operated station and a secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate. It is owned by Nexstar Medi ...
, licensed to Harlingen, took to the air, taking with it the primary CBS and
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
affiliations. This began the decline of XELD. By January 1954, O'Farrill had sought and won approval to move channel 7 to
Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...
or
Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...
, both large Mexican markets without television stations at the time. On April 10, 1954,
KRGV-TV KRGV-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Weslaco, Texas, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The station is owned by the Manship family of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, through Mobile Video Ta ...
signed on from Weslaco, becoming a secondary affiliate of
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
and primary NBC outlet. Later that month, on April 29, XELD "temporarily suspended" operations; a spokesman cited a devalued
peso The peso is the monetary unit of several Hispanophone, Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, as well as the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries of the Americas, the symbol com ...
and a major breakdown in the station's generator as the main reasons for this move, which included the dismissal of all employees and the closure of the station's offices. Two months after, Hurricane Alice struck the region and destroyed XELD's facilities, putting a permanent end to the station. However, the station still led to the development of a new television market, with some 18,000 television sets in place. O'Farril and Azcarraga, along with XHGC-TV owner Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena, went on to form what is now
Televisa Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., simply known as Televisa, is a Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April ...
the next year. Channel 7 in Matamoros would remain vacant for almost 15 years, until a new television station,
XHAB-TDT XHAB-TDT, virtual channel 8 (UHF digital channel 30), is a Televisa television station licensed to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The channel can also be seen in Texas' Rio Grande Valley market. In addition to local news and programming, XHAB al ...
, began operating on it in 1968.XHAB history video
/ref>


References

{{English Mexico Defunct television channels in Mexico Television channels and stations disestablished in 1954 Television channels and stations established in 1951 Television stations in Matamoros, Tamaulipas 1951 establishments in Mexico 1954 disestablishments in Mexico