XEW-AM (900 kHz) and XEW-FM (96.9

MHz 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 u ...

) are

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

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 ...

s in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

ing a

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, ...

branded as ''W Radio''. XEW serves as the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

for other "W Radio" stations around Mexico that carry some or all of its programs. The stations feature frequent news segments, talk and sports shows, with some music heard overnight and weekends. XEW-AM is a Class A

clear channel station A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...

broadcasting at 100,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s, one of the highest powered AM stations in North America. The non-directional antenna is off Avenida Independencia in the La Magdalena Atlicpac neighborhood in

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

.FCCdata.org/XEW-AM
/ref> XEW-FM is a Class C1 station with an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 51,190 watts.FCCdata.org/XEW-FM
/REF>

History

XEW-AM

XEW began regular broadcasts at 20:00 CST on . Broadcasting from a room (later to become a proper studio) at the Olympia Cinema on 16 September Street in Mexico City, it initially was powered at only 5,000 watts. This was increased to 50,000 watts by 1934. With the installation of a new

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

, the power became 250 kW by 1935 and remained there for more than 80 years. For much of its history, XEW-AM was the most powerful AM radio station in North America. On February 10, 2016, XEW-AM was approved to relocate its transmitter to a site in La Magdalena Atlicpac in

. With the move, the power was reduced to 100,000 watts, still among North America's most powerful AM stations. XEW was the first Mexico City station in Emilio Azcarraga Vidaurreta's ''Chain of the Americas.'' It was the forerunner to today's

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 ...

network, whose radio unit still owns XEW-AM. XEW-AM originally was affiliated with the

NBC Red Network The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...

and the

NBC Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the National Broadcasting Co ...

. Its future sister stations would take affiliation with rival networks,

XEQ-AM XEQ-AM (940 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Mexico City. The concession is held by Cadena Radiodifusora Mexicana, S.A. de C.V. and is operated by Radiópolis. It airs a Spanish-language adult hits radio format known as "La Q 940." ...

with CBS and XEX-AM with the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...

. As radio in Mexico evolved with the country's growth and more radio stations signed on, XEW-AM became flagship to the country's largest radio network. Several radio and television stations have derived their call signs from XEW radio and XEW television, all of them affiliated at one time or another with Televisa. In the United States, the call letters for KXEW, a commercial AM radio station in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, were a tribute to 900 XEW. That station was owned by Pan American Radio Corporation and went on the air May 10, 1963. The call sign was chosen by its president and CEO, J. Carlos McCormick, because of his admiration of Azcarraga, whom he had met as a teenager during a 1950 visit to Mexico City.

XEW-FM

The FM frequency, 96.9, received its concession on April 28, 1962; it was not launched until the 1970s, and by the end of that decade, it carried a

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

format. By 1981, it had changed to "Rock Stereo". On September 9, 1985, it was renamed "WFM" with an English rock and pop format, being the direct competition of XHSON-FM (then known as "Rock 101"). Among the DJs that conformed the station were

Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu (born 15 August 1963) is a Mexican filmmaker primarily known for making modern psychological drama (film genre), psychological drama films about the human condition. His most notable films include ''Amores perros ...

, Martha Debayle and Charo Fernández. After 14 years, in 1999, the station changed its name and format to "W Radical." It was directed by the former head of "Rock 101", Luis Gerardo Salas, airing

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

and

eurodance Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...

. By 2001, it returned to its former WFM format with the slogan "Frecuencia Adictiva." In late 2002, after the association of Televisa Radio and PRISA, management decided to simulcast the same programming on AM and FM. Thus XEW-FM became a news and talk outlet, albeit musical programming can still be heard on overnights and weekends when live sports broadcasts are not scheduled.

Personalities

* Manuel "Maber" Bernal * Emilio Tuero * Juan Arvizu * Luis Arcaráz * Nicolás Urcelay * Alfonso Ortiz Tirado * Los Panchos * Juan García Esquivel * Mario Ruiz Armengol * Maria Luisa Landín *

María Victoria María Victoria Gutiérrez Cervantes (born 26 February 1927) is a Mexican actress, singer and comedian. She is best known for starring as maid ‘Inocencia de la Concepción de Lourdes Escarabarzaleta de la Barquera y Dávalos Pandeada Derecha ...

* Mario Moreno Cantinflas * Germán Valdés "Tin-Tan" * José Sabre Marroquín *

Agustín Lara Ángel Agustín María Carlos Fausto Mariano Alfonso del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Lara y Aguirre del Pino (; ; October 30, 1897 – November 6, 1970), known as Agustín Lara, was a Mexican composer and performer of songs and boleros. He is rec ...

* Toña la Negra * Angelines Fernández * Carmen Rey * Pedro Infante *

Jorge Negrete Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno (; 30 November 1911 – 5 December 1953) was a Mexican singer and actor. He specialized in the musical genre of ranchera. His posthumous album "Fiesta Mexicana Volumen II" has been ranked by critics at No. 163 on t ...

* Pedro Vargas * Gustavo Adolfo Palma * Fernando Fernández * Eulalio González "Piporro" * Francisco Gabilondo Soler ("Cri-Cri") * Hugo Avendaño, Amparo Montes * Héctor Martínez Serrano * Antonio Aguilar * Paco Stanley

References

External links

* {{Authority control Radio stations in Mexico City Radiópolis News and talk radio stations in Mexico Radio stations established in 1930 Clear-channel radio stations