XEW-AM (900

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 ...

) 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 In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle to the axis (elevation angle), declining t ...

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 Emilio may refer to: * Emilio Navaira, a Mexican-American singer often called "Emilio" * Emilio (given name) * ''Emilio'' (film), a 2008 film by Kim Jorgensen See also * Emílio (disambiguation) * Emilios (disambiguation) Emilios, or Aimilios, (G ...

'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 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 ...

and

XEX-AM XEX-AM (730 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station based in Mexico City, Mexico. It carries a sports radio format known as "W Deportes." The station is owned by Radiópolis. XEX is a Class A clear-channel station, powered at 60 kilowatts and ...

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 KXEW (1600 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to South Tucson, Arizona, and broadcasting to the Tucson metropolitan area. KXEW airs a Tejano music format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. Its studios are north of downtown Tuc ...

, 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 XHSON-FM (100.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Mexico City, owned and operated by NRM Comunicaciones. It has an electronic dance music (EDM) format and calls itself "Beat". Its playlist includes electro-house, techno, trance, progressiv ...

(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 Emilio Tuero Cubillas (5 April 1912 – 22 July 1971), known as Emilio Tuero, was a Spanish-Mexican actor, producer, and singer. He was considered a popular star of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Filmography * '' Cri Cri el grillito can ...

Juan Arvizu Juan Nepomuceno Arvizu Santelices (known as Juan Arvizu; May 22, 1900 – November 19, 1985), was an acclaimed lyric tenor in Mexico and a noted interpreter of the Latin American bolero and tango on the international concert stage, on the radio an ...

* Luis Arcaráz * Nicolás Urcelay *

Alfonso Ortiz Tirado Alfonso Ortiz Tirado (Álamos, Sonora, 24 January 1893 – Mexico City, 7 September 1960) was an opera singer and medical doctor. His musical talent was apparently evident early in life, but he studied at the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria and unive ...

Los Panchos Originally, Trio Los Panchos were a '' trío romántico'' formed in New York City in 1944 by Alfredo Gil, Chucho Navarro, and the Puerto Rican Hernando Avilés. The trio became one of the leading exporters of the bolero and the romantic balla ...

Juan García Esquivel Juan García Esquivel (January 20, 1918 – January 3, 2002), often known mononymously as Esquivel!, was a Mexican band leader, pianist, and composer for television and films. He is recognized today as one of the foremost exponents of a sophist ...

Mario Ruiz Armengol Mario Ruiz Armengol (known as "Mayito" or "Mister Harmony") (March 14, 1914 in Veracruz, Mexico – December 22, 2002 in Cancun, Mexico), was a Mexican pianist, composer, arranger, conductor and music teacher. He was the son of pianist and con ...

* 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 Mario Fortino Alfonso Moreno Reyes (12 August 1911 – 20 April 1993), known by the stage name Cantinflas (), was a Mexican comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He is considered to have been the most widely accomplished Mexican comedian and is well ...

Germán Valdés Germán Genaro Cipriano Teodoro Gómez Valdés y Castillo (19 September 1915 – 29 June 1973), known professionally as Tin-Tan, was a Mexican actor, singer and comedian who was born in Mexico City but was raised and began his career in Ciudad ...

"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 Antonia del Carmen Peregrino Álvarez (2 November 1912 – 19 November 1982), known by her stage name Toña la Negra (Toña the Black Woman), was a Mexican singer and actress of partial Haitian ancestry, known for her interpretation of boleros an ...

Angelines Fernández María de los Ángeles Fernández Abad (30 July 1924 – 25 March 1994), known professionally as Angelines Fernández, was a Spanish-born Mexican actress. She is best remembered for playing Doña Clotilde "La Bruja del 71" in the sitcom ''El ...

* Carmen Rey *

Pedro Infante Pedro Infante Cruz (; 18 November 1917 – 15 April 1957) was a Mexican ranchera singer and actor whose career spanned the golden age of Mexican cinema. Infante was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, and raised in nearby Guamúchil. He died on 15 Apri ...

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 Pedro Vargas Mata (29 April 1906 – 30 October 1989) was a Mexican tenor and actor, from the golden age of Mexican cinema, participating in more than 70 films. He was known as the "Nightingale of the Americas", "Song Samurai" or "Continental ...

* Gustavo Adolfo Palma * Fernando Fernández * Eulalio González "Piporro" *

Francisco Gabilondo Soler Francisco Gabilondo Soler (October 6, 1907, Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico – December 14, 1990, Texcoco, State of Mexico) was a Mexican composer and performer of children's songs. He recorded and performed those songs under the name of '' Cri-Cri: E ...

("Cri-Cri") *

Hugo Avendaño Hugo Avendaño Espinoza (8 March 1927 – 5 January 1998) was a Mexican singer and actor. Career He was a student of the Faculty of Medicine, UNAM, but abandoned his intended career in medicine to study singing as a baritone. He began his studi ...

Amparo Montes Amparo Meza Cruz (24 April 1920 – 12 January 2002), known by her stage name Amparo Montes, was a Mexican singer, famous for her renditions of popular boleros by Agustín Lara Ángel Agustín María Carlos Fausto Mariano Alfonso del Sagrad ...

* Héctor Martínez Serrano *

Antonio Aguilar José Pascual Antonio Aguilar Márquez Barraza (17 May 191919 June 2007), known as Antonio Aguilar, was a Mexican singer and actor. He recorded over 150 albums, which sold 25 million copies, and acted in more than 120 films. He was given t ...

Paco Stanley Francisco Jorge Stanley Albaitero (3 July 1942 – 7 June 1999), known by his stage name Paco Stanley, was a Mexican television entertainer who worked for Televisa and TV Azteca. He also participated directly, for a time, in political activ ...

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