Cuaderno En Frecuencia: June 12
Radio Altiplano returns; SLP gets Q’ed up; XEWW English-language programming bid moves on; more AM allotments get American approval
Radio Altiplano: It’s Back
On Tuesday, the controversial lease deal abruptly ended, and there it was: Radio Altiplano, back on XHTLAX-FM 96.5 — where it belongs. Local news and cultural programming is back on the menu, as it was before September 29, when Heraldo Radio programming began airing.
No word has been given on why, but the tremendous pressure placed on all parties to unwind the lease of this commercially licensed public station has to play a role. There’s also the matter of timing, namely that the election is over. I noted when the news of Heraldo Radio on XHTLAX was announced that presidential elections can give rise to lots of new partnerships in talk radio that don’t last beyond the election, giving the example of Acustik Radio in the 2018 cycle. This one didn’t even make it two weeks past Election Day.
The last few weeks have been a series of bright spots for the CORACYT state broadcasting apparatus in Tlaxcala coming out of an incredibly bruising cycle. Radio Altiplano is back as it should be. Tlaxcala Televisión seems headed toward getting its legal affairs in order — and resuming full broadcasting — after the Instituto Politécnico Nacional surrendered its concession for the channel previously used by the state network last month.
XHCCBY Signs On
The new Radio Cañón station for San Luis Potosí, XHCCBY-FM 95.7, had been testing since March but made its formal program debut Monday with the La Q adult hits format.
XHCCAQ Changes Names
After leaving the La Mejor franchise months ago, XHCCAQ-FM 99.7 Sabinas Coah. has formally relaunched as La Patrona. This is the first rebrand for the station, which was put on the air in October 2022.
After Nearly a Year…
Applications filed in June 2023 to deliver English-language programming from Los Angeles to XEWW-AM Tijuana have moved along to the next phase — another review.
In June 2023, GLR Southern California LLC filed to deliver English-language content from Radio Resources, which would mark the first time in nearly two decades that the station offered programming not in Spanish or Chinese. That application has languished at the Federal Communications Commission, in large part because of a petition to deny by Multicultural Radio Broadcasting Corporation that questioned the credibility of GLR Southern California’s statements on account of its ownership and believed the application was a back door for more Chinese-language and, crucially, pro-China programming.
On Tuesday, the FCC announced that it had accepted the application for filing and sent it to Team Telecom for national security review. We’ve talked about Team Telecom reviews at En Frecuencia before in the context of Lorena Margarita Pérez Toscano’s acquisition of three stations in El Paso, Texas. The variables in the XEWW case, however, are far more sensitive, and the tenor of the review here will be quite different from “Mexican citizen buys American radio stations” or “Bermuda-domiciled investment firm buys American firm that owned a stake in a publicly traded company”. In the past, the topic of Chinese-language, pro-China programming on XEWW has attracted the attention of a Republican senator, who proposed legislation blocking such border blaster connections. Multicultural’s petition to deny rested heavily on GLR owner Vivian Huo’s extensive connections to Chinese state-owned media and business.
FCC Adds More AMs to Database
More AM allotments for Mexico have come through the US Federal Communications Commission database.
- XECCBS 610, Fresnillo, Zac.
- XECPAV 1570, Aguaje Vargas, BC. Coordinates on the Isla de Cedros.
- XECPGZ 1480 Goyo Zavala, Ags. This is in the northern part of the state, 19 km north of Pabellón de Arteaga.
- XECPPC 1390, Polar, Camp. (between Nunkiní and Calkiní)
Changes to or information on already awarded stations:
- XECALZ 640 (Lomas de) Calera, Zac., which is actually XECCCN-AM
- XECCCG 1020, Cañitas de Felipe Pescador, Zac. (already announced by IFT)
- XEFB 630 Monterrey
- XEZN 780, Celaya, which was actually surrendered last year.
