Clear-channel radio station in Playas de Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico
XEPRS-AM
(1090
kHz
) is a
commercial
radio station
licensed
to
Playas de Rosarito
, a suburb of
Tijuana
in
Baja California
,
Mexico
. It broadcasts a
sports
/
talk
radio format
, branded "The Mightier 1090". The station can be heard across the
San Diego-Tijuana
,
Los Angeles
-
Orange County
,
Riverside
-
San Bernardino
and areas of
Southern California
.
XEPRS is a
Class A
, 50,000-
watt
clear-channel
station using a
non-directional antenna
in the daytime. Because it must protect other Class A stations on
1090 AM
, it uses a three-
tower array
directional antenna
at night.
[2]
The
transmitter
is just off of
Mexican Federal Highway 1D
in Fraccionamiento Rancho del Mar.
[3]
The daytime signal can be heard over much of coastal
Southern California
and parts of
Baja California
. At night, the
skywave
signal extends over much of the
West Coast of the United States
and Northwestern
Mexico
.
History
[
edit
]
XERB: The Mighty 1090
[
edit
]
Today's 1090 AM started out as 150,000-watt
XERB
on 730 kHz.
[4]
The original concession was awarded to Manuel P. Barbachano, grandson of one-time Governor of
Yucatan
,
Miguel Barbachano
. The concession was sold to Radiodifusora Internacional, S.A., in 1939. As part of the
North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement
in 1941, the station moved from 730 to 1090, with a power of 50,000 watts. XERB was sold to Interamericana de Radio, S.A., in 1950.
[5]
In the early 1960s, Robert Weston Smith (better known as
Wolfman Jack
) was living in
Del Rio, Texas
and appearing on the 250,000-watt "
border blaster
" radio station
XERF
(1570 AM), just over the
Rio Grande
in
Ciudad Acuna
. In 1964, after several violent incidents at XERF's transmitter, Smith and partner Marvin Kosofsky (called "Mo Burton" in Wolfman Jack's autobiography) decided to relocate to an American radio station. They purchased
Minneapolis
-area
daytimer
station
KUXL
1570. Smith moved to Minnesota and never appeared as Wolfman Jack on KUXL, but rather worked as the station's general manager while shipping Wolfman shows on tape to XERF.
In 1965, Smith made an arrangement with the U.S. agent to program another border blaster, XERB in Tijuana. Smith began selling ad time on the "Mighty 1090" and recording Wolfman Jack shows for his new affiliate. Initially, Smith controlled the station's affairs from Minneapolis, but in 1966, Smith, along with fellow KUXL staffers Ralph Hull (also known as Preacher Paul Anthony and The Nazz) and Art Hoehn (also known as Fat Daddy Washington), relocated to Southern California to run XERB full-time.
Wolfman and his associates were able to make the station turn a large profit by selling 15?30-minute blocks of time to
radio proselytizers
. The preachers were able to pay for the time by asking their listeners to send them donations. Because they had such a large following and made so much money, the radio evangelists were willing to pay sizable fees for airtime.
In addition to the paid
brokered programming
, Wolfman began broadcasting his own pre-recorded shows on three different high-powered Mexican stations at different times of the day: XERB, XERF, and
XEG
in
Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
, powered at 100,000 watts. Wolfman courted advertisers who enjoyed his brand of rock and roll music and his howling personality.
According to his biography, by 1971, Wolfman was making a profit of almost $50,000 a month. The Mexican company executives that leased XERB noticed this and got greedy. They wanted to throw him out and make all the money themselves. The owners bribed Mexican officials into politically squeezing Wolfman off the air. The Mexican government acquiesced by passing a law prohibiting
Pentecostal
and
Evangelical
religious programming on Mexican airwaves. Since XERB made most of its profits from airtime sold to the prayer-cloth preachers, Wolfman could no longer make payments to the owners each month. "That was it," Wolfman remembered. "In one stroke they cleaned out 80 percent of all the money we were expecting to make." He and Kosofsky had to return control of the station to the Mexican owners.
Some years later, the Mexican government repealed that law and allowed radio preachers back on the air. But, without Wolfman Jack howling over the airwaves, XERB never duplicated the fame he had brought it. The XERB call sign was recycled in 1986 for a
radio station
in
Cozumel
, in the state of
Quintana Roo
with no relation to the old XERB.
XEPRS: The Soul Express
[
edit
]
With Wolfman out of the way, the station owners tried to duplicate his successful formula. They changed the
call letters
to
XEPRS
(“The Soul Express”), programmed at night with
soul music
, mostly for the
African-American
and
Latino
neighborhoods around
Los Angeles
.
[6]
The Wolfman still broadcast for over a year while under the new ownership, until April 15, 1972. Airchecks of that last show are still available online; tapes of old Wolfman shows could be heard on XEPRS as late as 1980.
[7]
In the summer of 1972,
George Lucas
filmed Wolfman Jack using the studios of station
KRE
1400 in
Berkeley, California
for the film,
American Graffiti
. (Some artistic license was employed for the movie: Wolfman is shown doing his program live from
California
, although the
Brinkley Act
made such broadcasting illegal.)
[8]
Daytime Spanish, nighttime oldies
[
edit
]
Through the 1970s, '80s and '90s, XEPRS aired a variety of formats in Spanish in the daytime, while sometimes running English-language programming at night. From 1976 to the early 1980s, Rick Ward and Ron Beaton programmed
oldies
during the 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. skywave signal. Ron Beaton is now retired in
Glendale, California
, and Rick Ward is retired, living in
Little Rock, Arkansas
. Wolfman's old shows were broadcast from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturday nights during this period. Early in the 1980s, DJ Sean Green
[9]
hosted a daily oldies show, from 7 p.m. to midnight, in English, calling it "1090 Express Radio." The show's advertisements, announced by
Dick "Huggy Boy" Hugg
, were mostly for oldies albums that appealed to the
Lowrider
culture.
[10]
[11]
The last Spanish-language format was
salsa
,
merengue
and other forms of
Tropical music
as "Radio Caliente." From
2000
to
2002
, XEPRS was the Spanish-language home of the
Anaheim Angels
, including its
championship year of 2002
.
Sports radio
[
edit
]
In 2001, another powerful AM station in Tijuana, XETRA (now
XEWW
), began
simulcasting
much of the English-language sports programming also heard on
KLAC
570 in Los Angeles and a few other AM stations around Southern California, with the moniker "XTRA Sports". Several of the AM 690 hosts and sportscasters were released, including
Bill Werndl
, John Kentera, and others. That left the San Diego radio market without a local all-sports station. The former head of programming for XTRA Sports,
John Lynch
, saw the void and formed the Broadcast Company of the Americas, launching a new all-sports station on XEPRS in March 2003. He brought over most of the on-air talent released from 690 XETRA. John Lynch has another involvement in the world of sports; he's the father of the former
NFL
defensive back
, also known as
John Lynch
. In addition, John Lynch Sr. helped introduce
Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton
to San Diego sports radio.
In 2004, XEPRS acquired the rights to become the
flagship station
of the
San Diego Padres
.
[12]
XEPRS was the Padres' home station until 2016, when
Entercom
won the rights and began broadcasting the games on
alternative rock
station
KBZT
.
Beginning February 1, 2006, XEPRS started
simulcasting
its sports talk programming on
sister station
XHBCE-FM
105.7, based in
Tecate, Baja California
. This operation was aimed at improving the station's signal to Eastern
San Diego County
as well as giving XEPRS listeners the choice of hearing it on FM or AM. The station then became known as "XX (Double X) Sports Radio." News updates were produced by San Diego television station
KUSI
.
On April 15, 2008, at 9 a.m., XX Sports Radio ended the simulcast on 105.7 MHz. XHBCE-FM became an
oldies
radio station branded as "105.7 The Walrus." This was the first FM oldies station in San Diego since
XHOCL-FM
flipped to a
Spanish language
format on September 1, 2005. As a result of the simulcast's break-up (except for Padres games), XX Sports Radio was renamed "XX 1090."
In
2009
, the Padres simulcast was moved to
XEPE-AM
1700.
On October 6, 2010, XEPRS became a part-time affiliate of
ESPN Radio
, simulcasting sister station XEPE overnights and weekends, dropping the
Sporting News Radio
affiliation XEPRS held since
2008
.
XEPRS has also carried
San Diego Toreros
men's basketball,
San Diego State Aztecs
college football
and basketball, and the
San Diego Gulls
AHL
hockey
, and has aired a few games for the
Anaheim Ducks
, the Gulls' parent club.
[
clarification needed
]
[
citation needed
]
Beginning with the 2018 season, XEPRS carried
Los Angeles Rams
football
games.
[13]
Return of "The Mighty 1090"
[
edit
]
On December 17, 2012, the station re-branded as "The Mighty 1090" to coincide with the return of the Scott & BR Show.
[14]
On January 2, 2013, the station became the San Diego outlet for
CBS Sports Radio
with a line-up featuring
Jim Rome
's syndicated show on CBS, plus local San Diego hosts heard mornings and afternoons. In 2014, the station signed Dan Sileo to host its morning drive show.
In April 2018, XEPRS got new competition on the FM dial when
Entercom
switched
KEGY
97.3 to a sports format, branded as "97.3 The Fan."
[15]
It became the San Diego Padres' flagship station, taking over from co-owned
KBZT
94.9. Dan Sileo, who left XEPRS earlier in the year, joined The Fan for a morning
drive time
show. As a result, XEPRS gave up its affiliation with CBS Sports Radio, since Entercom owns a stake in that network and began carrying its programming on KEGY. On nights and weekends, XEPRS returned to airing ESPN Radio, also heard on co-owned XEPE.
Return to Spanish-language programming
[
edit
]
In December 2018, it was reported that the Bichara family, owners of Interamericana de Radio, as well as stations in
Monterrey
and
McAllen, Texas
, was not happy with its relationship with BCA. The Bicharas began looking for a new operator for the station for $100,000 a month in rent, or $11 million to buy the station. At the same time,
Jaime Bonilla Valdez
's Media Sports de Mexico had halted BCA's program supply to two stations it owned in a rent dispute.
[16]
On April 10, 2019, XEPRS replaced BCA's sports format with a simulcast of one of the Bichara family's McAllen stations,
KJAV
104.9. The BCA-operated webcast aired ESPN Radio programming for the remainder of the day.
[17]
The webcast resumed carrying "Mighty 1090"'s local sports shows on April 11.
[18]
[19]
[20]
In several tweets, Andres Bichara revealed that BCA had not paid its rent for XEPRS in four months and that issues between BCA and the Bicharas had dated back three years.
[21]
BCA shut down the "Mighty 1090" audio stream on April 29, 2019.
[22]
XEPE also halted its broadcasts of ESPN Radio, leaving the San Diego-Tijuana market without an ESPN English-language affiliate.
"The Mightier 1090"
[
edit
]
In April 2020, Bill Hagen, owner of an advertising agency in
Flagstaff, Arizona
, signed a five-year lease with XEPRS owner Interamericana de Radio and announced plans to relaunch the station as "The Mightier 1090" with a mix of talk, sports and lifestyle features.
[23]
On August 12, XEPRS begun
stunting
with a loop of the station's "History of 1090". The loop featured the history of the frequency and some of the station's eras with
Wolfman Jack
"The Soul Express", and its prior "Mighty 1090" existence, while also taking pot shots at a previous management running it into the ground. The loop also promoted the newly relaunched station as "the first radio station in the cloud, with no studios".
[24]
The station, operated by
SportsGrid
, launched at 9 a.m. on August 17. XEPRS carries
SportsGrid
programming,
The Rich Eisen Show
,
Scott Kaplan
, and
SportsMap
programming.
On January 10, 2022, XEPRS added programming from
ESPN Radio
, including its live NFL, MLB, and NBA play-by-play broadcasts.
[25]
XEPRS added
The Jim Rome Show
to its afternoon lineup on June 2 that year; the show's previous San Diego affiliate,
KWFN
, dropped it in February.
[26]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones
.
Infraestructura de Estaciones de Radio AM
. Last modified 2018-05-16. Retrieved 2015-06-10. Technical information from the
IFT Coverage Viewer
.
- ^
"FCC Query results "XePRS"
"
.
- ^
FCCdata.org/XEPRS
- ^
RPC: Concession for XERB, 8-31-36
- ^
Broadcasting Yearbook 1960 page B-91
- ^
Fowler, Gene; Crawford, Bill (1987).
Border Radio
. University of Texas Press.
ISBN
0-87719-066-6
.
- ^
Gene Fowler and Bill Crawford.
"Border Radio"
.
Texas State Historical Association
. Texas State Historical Association
. Retrieved
18 September
2014
.
- ^
Pullman, Kip.
"Wolfman Jack"
.
American Graffiti Page
. Archived from
the original
on 2009-10-26
. Retrieved
2009-05-14
.
- ^
Barrett, Don.
"LARadio.com, Los Angeles Radio People, G"
. Retrieved
2011-09-13
.
- ^
There's More to Clear Channel Than 'The Larry King Show'
. Billboard Magazine. 1982-08-14. p. 22
. Retrieved
2011-09-05
.
- ^
XPRS Signs Off Oldies
. Billboard Magazine. 1985-02-16. p. 12
. Retrieved
2011-09-05
.
- ^
"Padres extend contract with XX Sports Radio"
.
press release
. Major League Baseball. 2007-02-21
. Retrieved
2009-05-14
.
- ^
"L.A. Rams Get San Diego Presence"
June 7, 2018,
Inside Radio
- ^
"Mighty Changes At XX1090 San Diego"
.
Radio Insight
. December 10, 2012
. Retrieved
18 September
2014
.
- ^
InsideRadio.com "Entercom Unplugs ‘The Machine,’ Launches ‘The Fan." Apr 12, 2018
- ^
Leighton, Ken (14 December 2018).
"Mexicans cut off the Max 105.7"
.
San Diego Reader
. Retrieved
17 December
2018
.
- ^
Venta, Lance (April 10, 2019).
"Mighty 1090 San Diego Off The Air"
.
RadioInsight
. Retrieved
April 10,
2019
.
- ^
Ong, Jermaine (April 11, 2019).
"Sports talk station Mighty 1090 returns, but not on radio"
.
KGTV
. Retrieved
April 11,
2019
.
- ^
First Max Now Mighty A Mexican Operators BCA Bounce
(Retrieved from Radio and Business Report, rbr.com 12 April 2019)
- ^
Sports Prograrmming Abruptly Off-The-Air at XERPS
(Retrieved 12 April 2019 from All Access Music Group website)
- ^
Weisberg, Lori (April 11, 2019).
"Mighty 1090 won't be back on the air until it makes its payments, station licensee says"
.
San Diego Union-Tribune
. Retrieved
April 12,
2019
.
- ^
Togerson, Derek (April 29, 2019).
"Mighty 1090 Permanently Off the Air"
.
NBC 7 San Diego
. Retrieved
April 29,
2019
.
- ^
"Investor Leases XEPRS; Will Launch 'The Mightier 1090' This Summer"
.
Talkers.com
. April 27, 2020
. Retrieved
August 17,
2020
.
- ^
Venta, Lance (August 12, 2020).
"1090 XEPRS Begins Stunting In Preparation Of Mightier Launch"
. Retrieved
August 17,
2020
.
- ^
"The Mightier 1090 Adds ESPN Radio Programming"
.
RadioInsight
. 11 January 2022
. Retrieved
2022-01-11
.
- ^
"Jim Rome Show Gets Mightier In San Diego"
.
RadioInsight
. 2 June 2022
. Retrieved
2022-06-03
.
- Gilder, Eric (2003).
Mass Media Moments in the United Kingdom, the USSR and the USA
. University of Sibiu Press, Romania.
ISBN
973-651-596-6
.
radioinsight
.com
/headlines
/195809
/1090-xeprs-begins-stunting-in-preparation-of-mightier-launch
/
External links
[
edit
]
SportsMap
Radio Network stations in the United States
|
---|
- KLAV
/1230 (Las Vegas)
- KREW
/1400 (Plainview)
- KRLV
/920 (Las Vegas)
- WSCO
/1570 (Appleton/Oshkosh)
- WLBK
/1360 (DeKalb)
- WXVW
/1450 (Jeffersonville, In./Louisville)
- WXYT-FM
/97.1 (Detroit)
- XEPRS
/1090 (San Diego/Tijuana)
- WAUD
/1230 (Auburn, Alabama)
|
|