XHEWA-FM/XEWA-AM are

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radi ...

s in

San Luis Potosí City San Luis Potosí, commonly called SLP or simply San Luis, is the capital and the most populous city of the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí. It is the municipal seat of the surrounding municipality of San Luis Potosí. The city lies at an elevati ...

, San Luis Potosí,

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. XEWA broadcasts on

540 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 540 kHz: 540 AM is a Canadian and Mexican clear-channel frequency. CBK, Watrous- Regina, Saskatchewan, CBT Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador, and XEWA San Luis Potosí ...

and is a Class A station. Its

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to ...

is in

Soledad de Graciano Sánchez Soledad de Graciano Sánchez, formerly Soledad Diez Gutiérrez, is the second-largest city of the state of San Luis Potosí in Mexico. It lies adjacent to the east side of the state's capital city of San Luis Potosí in the west-central part of ...

. XEWA is one of the highest powered radio stations in North America, broadcasting at 150,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of 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 quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s, using a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performan ...

by day and a

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 ...

at night.

is a Mexican and

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

clear-channel A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...

frequency. XHEWA broadcasts on

103.9 FM The following radio stations broadcast on FM frequency 103.9 MHz: Albania * BBC World Service in Tirana Argentina * LRI319 del Rosario in Rosario, Santa Fe * Radio María in Sauce, Corrientes Australia * ABC Classic FM in Adelaide, Sout ...

, 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 ...

(ERP) of 25,000 watts. Its

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...

is also in Soledad de Graciano Sánchez. The two stations are owned by

Radiópolis Radiópolis (incorporated as Sistemas Radiópolis, S.A. de C.V.) is a Mexican radio broadcast company that owns AM and FM radio stations in Mexico and syndicates music and talk formats. It is the former radio division of Televisa, which spun its ...

. They carry a Top 40 (CHR)

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 was compelle ...

, playing both

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

and

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to t ...

hits, known as "Los 40."

History

XEWA received its concession on December 2, 1948, one of a string of repeaters of

XEW-AM XEW-AM is a radio station in Mexico City, Mexico, broadcasting on the AM frequency of 900 kHz; it is branded as ''W Radio''. XEW-AM serves as the originating station for other "W Radio" stations around Mexico that carry some of its program ...

900 Mexico City authorized in the late 1940s. XEWA began operations on the frequency of 540 kHz with 150,000 watts of power — still its current levels, making it the most powerful AM radio station in the country. In May 1961, a second XEWA-AM was licensed to operate in

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is ancho ...

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With ...

, in order to provide daytime XEW service and an improved nighttime signal there. It operates with 1,500 watts during the day and 1,000 watts night. On March 16, 1988, XEWA struck out on its own with a

grupera Grupera (also known as Grupero or Onda Grupera) is a genre of Regional Mexican music. It reached the height of its popularity in the 1990s, especially in rural areas. The music has roots in the rock groups of the 1960s, but today generally consis ...

format known as Súper Estelar WA. Broadcasting from Monterrey, Súper Estelar was programmed by Multimedios Estrellas de Oro and served as one of Mexico's pioneering grupera stations. After five years, Súper Estelar left XEWA and migrated to XHSNP-FM in San Luis Potosí, which was owned directly by Multimedios; it was also carried on some Multimedios radio stations in other cities until the format became known as La Caliente. The end of Súper Estelar made way for a flip to the Ke Buena format from Radiópolis (now

Televisa Radio Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...

), which lasted into the late 1990s when the station began repeating XEW again, now known as "Cadena W Azul y Plata" and later as "W Radio". In 2003,

Radiorama Radiorama were an Italian Italo disco band formed in 1984 by Simona Zanini and Aldo Martinelli. They were later joined by Mauro Farina and Giuliano Crivellente. Their first two singles, "Chance to Desire" and "Desire" were European hits. Disco ...

began managing the station for Televisa Radio. 2009 saw the first ever split between XEWA Monterrey and XEWA San Luis Potosí. The San Luis Potosí station was transferred to local radio company MG Radio, while XEWA Monterrey began offering a Nuevo León-specific version of W Radio; ever since, XEWA Monterrey, now on FM as XHWAG-FM, has been a separately programmed station which is currently operated directly by Televisa Radio. In San Luis, XHEWA-FM 103.9 was authorized in 2011 and came on the air that July; while it is technically an AM-FM migrant, the AM station cannot be shut off until radio service is available in the entirety of its coverage area, including ten municipalities in five states with no other radio service.List I of stations that must remain on AM – IFT Pleno 2014
/ref> In 2012, Radiorama returned to manage XEWA/XHEWA, and in July, W Radio was replaced with

Los 40 Los 40 (The 40, stylized as LOS40 and formerly ''Los 40 Principales'', es, Los Cuarenta) is a Top 40 music radio network and radio station brand in many Spanish-speaking countries from PRISA Radio. The station has its origins as a music show ...

Principales. Radiorama's regional affiliate in Tampico, Grupo AS, took over the San Luis Potosí region in 2016 and operated it until December 31 of that year. On January 9, 2017, GlobalMedia, which also had begun programming Ke Buena in San Luis Potosí on

XHBM-FM XHBM-FM 105.7/XEBM-AM 820 is a combo radio station in San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí. It is known as Ke Buena and carries a grupera format. History XEBM received its first concession in March 1940. It was owned by Benjamín Briones Muñoz ...

, took over operations of XHEWA after the station spent several days directly relaying

XEX-FM XEX-FM is a radio station in Mexico City. Broadcasting on 101.7 MHz from atop the World Trade Center Mexico City, XEX-FM broadcasts the contemporary hit radio format taken from the Los 40 network. The vast majority of the songs played on-ai ...

Mexico City.

Coverage

XEWA-AM is the dominant

clear-channel station A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...

, powered at 150 kilowatts to cover the Mexican states of San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, Querétaro, Guanajuato and Aguascalientes. The station also has nighttime coverage throughout most of Mexico, as well as the neighboring American states of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

References

External links

Los 40 103.9 Facebook

FCC information for XEWA
* {{Clear-channel AM Contemporary hit radio stations in Mexico Spanish-language radio stations Radio stations in San Luis Potosí Radio stations established in 1950 Mass media in San Luis Potosí City Radiópolis Radio stations in Mexico with continuity obligations Clear-channel radio stations