XEG-AM

XEG-AM is a Class A radio station on clear-channel frequency 1050 kHz in the state of Nuevo León, Mexico.[1] It is licensed for Guadalupe, Nuevo León and brands itself as serving Monterrey. Known for its border blaster status in the 1950s,[3] it now uses the name La Ranchera de Monterrey and broadcasts ranchera music.[2]

XEG-AM
CityGuadalupe, Nuevo León[1]
Broadcast areaMonterrey Metropolitan area
Frequency1050 kHz[1]
BrandingLa Ranchera de Monterrey[2]
SloganLa Mera Mera[2]
Programming
Language(s)Spanish
FormatRegional Mexican[2]
Ownership
OwnerNucleo Radio Monterrey
(La Voz de Norteamerica, S.A. de C.V.[1])
XHRL-FM, XHCHL-FM, XECT-AM
History
First air date
1944[2]
Technical information
ClassA (clear-channel)
Power100 kW night
100 kW day[1]
Links
WebcastXEG-AM

History

XEG received its concession on February 21, 1944. In 1950, the advertising time on XEG came under the control of Harold Schwartz of Chicago who also came to represent co-owned XERB-AM near Tijuana/Rosarito, Baja California, the station made famous in the movie American Graffiti.

During the mid- and late 1970s, XEG (then at 150 kW power, directional north) was known for its nighttime English-language Soul/R&B music shows. For 4–6 hours per night, taped transcriptions from KGFJ (Los Angeles) disc jockeys made specifically for XEG were audible all throughout the Southern, Southwestern and Midwestern US, and in central Canada.

In the late 1970s, XEG's powerful nighttime signal attracted several U.S. ministries, including Billy James Hargis. But between programs, commercials occasionally offered suspicious-sounding medicines which promised to "cure cancer" and other illnesses. By 1982, they were known as "The Golden Gospel Giant".[4]

The XEG mailing address announced on the air was antiquated: "Post Office Box 28, St. Louis, 66, Missouri." This was more than a decade after ZIP codes were introduced across the U.S. As of November 2014, QSL (reception report) cards are still served at this address (currently: PO Box 28, St. Louis, MO 63166-0028.)

AM radio waves are of a much lower acoustical quality than FM, but during hours of darkness the Earth’s ionosphere drops sharply, typically from an altitude of roughly 600 miles to 30 miles, and the much longer wave length of the AM transmissions causes them to be refracted off of that lowered layer so that they “skip” back to ground level several hundred miles away. Accordingly, that causes the border blaster stations like XEG to be valuable as a commercial advertising medium far from their transmitters on the south side of the US border. Depending on atmospheric conditions, multiple skips can result in acceptable night time AM reception as far north as Canada.

References
  1. Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones. Infraestructura de Estaciones de Radio AM. Last modified 2018-05-16. Retrieved 2014-07-02. Technical information from the IFT Coverage Viewer.
  2. "Conócenos". XEG La Rachera (in Spanish). Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. Retrieved 2009-04-25. La Ranchera de Monterrey es una estación con mas de 60 años al aire, antes conocida como la voz de Norteamérica, ha sido la portadora de la musica mexicana desde 1944.
  3. http://www.modestoradiomuseum.org/border%20stations%20geo.html
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 11, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  • Wolfman Jack's old station howling once again. - Dallas Times Herald, January 2, 1983. - primarily about XERF but it also includes background information on the border-blasters.
  • Border Radio by Fowler, Gene and Crawford, Bill. Texas Monthly Press, Austin. 1987 ISBN 0-87719-066-6
  • Mass Media Moments in the United Kingdom, the USSR and the US, by Gilder, Eric. - "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu Press, Romania. 2003 ISBN 973-651-596-6

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