Vida from Tucson to Obregón
Francisco Santacruz converts a pirate to a legal station
Francisco Elmer Santacruz Germán’s name is new to the radio rolls after the IFT cleared a 2017 PABF MX group by awarding 100.1 AA Ciudad Obregón (XHCSAE-FM) to him over Instituto Michoacano de Radiodifusión, A.C.
But it’s not new to regional radio, and with four more applications by Santacruz in the pipeline, people in some parts of Sonora may soon be hearing from him.
Santacruz appears to be one of the drivers behind the Radio Vida network which consists of three outlets. One is in the United States and is legal, KEVT (1210 AM) south of Tucson. The other two are Mexican, Hermosillo’s 105.7 FM (established before a first adjacent was) and Obregón’s 100.1 FM.
Hmm, that sounds familiar…
Early Arrival
In a daring move, Radio Vida Obregón actually went on air on the 100.1 frequency on April 25. This video, announcing they were on the air and featuring their station ID from that night, really shows just how far they put the cart before the horse:
Estás en sintonía de XHCSAE, 100.1 FM, transmitiendo desde Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, México…Radio Vida.
Wait a minute! That’s the callsign!
At times before, I’ve talked about stations using fake call letters, some of which are in actual use elsewhere in Mexico. Stereo Unción Nuevo Laredo, for instance, was “XHNLT” before there was XHNLT. The Radio Unión stations in Los Mochis and Chihuahua used the call letters XHFEL and XHAMB, which belong to real state network repeaters in other states. But back then, the IFT hadn’t switched to templated callsigns.
Of course, the call letters would already have been known to Santacruz. At times, the IFT has let slip the call letters assigned to other pending applications. Earlier this year, for instance, it responded to a request for info about reserved band applications in Michoacán, and in doing so, it revealed several accompanying sets of call letters. (For instance, XHSCBJ-FM, if approved, would be 106.7 in Maravatío, owned by La Tarasca de Maravatío, A.C.) In a modern PABF, although they are not published, call letters are assigned to each allotment that is made available (for social and public stations) and to each community radio application.
Seeding Life
In the 2019 PABF, Santacruz appeared again with more station applications. These are:
- Agua Prieta, Son. (social TDT). This application has a competitor: María de Lourdes Robeson Chávez (that city’s XHAGP-FM). The two own the same number of stations, Santacruz is likely to win on not having another broadcast outlet in the area, and his application was filed first.
- Guasave, Sin. (social FM). Filed the same day as Grupo Cultural Sinaloense, A.C. There is no information on this applicant, and it does not own stations, so Santacruz is at a disadvantage.
- Puerto Peñasco, Son. (social FM). There are six applications in this MX group, enough that ownership of even one station is likely bad news for his chances here.
