Coordinates: 32°28′17″N 100°00′19″W / 32.47139°N 100.00528°W / 32.47139; -100.00528

KMXO

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KMXO
Broadcast areaMerkel/Abilene, Texas
Frequency1500 kHz
BrandingRadio Fe
Programming
Language(s)Spanish
FormatChristian radio
Ownership
OwnerZacarías Serrato
History
First air date
June 1, 1963[1]
Former call signs
  • KWFA (–1977)
  • KBGG (1977–1982)[2]
  • KMIO (1982–1983)
Call sign meaning
"Mexico" and a variation on previous KMIO designation[3]
Technical information[4]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID55244
ClassD
Power250 watts (daytime only)
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.kmxoradiofe.com

KMXO (1500 AM) is a Spanish-language radio station licensed to Merkel, Texas, and serving the Abilene area. Because KMXO shares the same frequency as "clear channel" station KSTP in St. Paul, Minnesota; it broadcasts only during the daytime hours.

History

David W. Ratliff, trading as the Taylor County Broadcasting Company, received a construction permit to build a new radio station in Merkel on February 26, 1962.[2] The call letters KTCT were assigned before being changed to KWFA, under which designation the station began on June 1, 1963.[2] Studios were built at the corner of Baker and N. 2nd streets by Keith Hodo, who had become the head of Taylor County Broadcasting months before sign-on.[5][2] Almost out of the gate, KWFA was in financial dire straits. In November, a judge placed the young station into receivership; the receiver appointed a new manager, Bart LaRue, who switched the station from Top 40 to middle-of-the-road.[6] LaRue became receiver in 1964 and relinquished those duties to John Curtis three years later.[2] The largest creditor, Harold D. Nichols, successfully petitioned in 1968 to have the license transferred to him.[7] The simulcast was broken up in October 1983, by which time KMIO-AM-FM had returned to country.[8] The country format remained on FM, while the AM station became home to the first Spanish-language radio station in the Big Country, using the KMXO call letters—a take on the former KMIO designation that also represented "Mexico".[3] One of the operators of the new station was Manuel Hernández, who in the 1960s at KWFA had hosted the first Spanish-language radio program in the area and later did the same at KRBC (1470 AM).[9] KMXO, La Reina del Aire (Queen of the Air), became Hispanic-owned in 1986 when it was purchased by Ray Silva. The station received strong support from the local Hispanic community, but few non-Hispanic businesses bought advertising time.[10] However, the station fell silent by 1991, when Silva filed for personal bankruptcy[11] and the outlet paid back taxes under threat of seizure by sheriff's deputies.[12] It almost was the end of the line altogether. The Federal Communications Commission canceled the license and deleted the call letters in May 1993; Silva filed a petition for reconsideration, after which the FCC reinstated the license and his authority to operate that December.[13] Silva sold KMXO in 2014 to Zacarías Serrato, who had already been operating it under a Spanish-language Christian format as Radio Fe since at least 1998.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "KBGG(AM)" (PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1981. p. C-232 (510). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 FCC History Cards for KMXO
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Zamarripa, Hermelinda (December 4, 1983). "Big Country Listeners Getting Tex-Mex, Salsa, Mariachi Music". The Abilene Reporter-News. p. 21A.
  4. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for KMXO". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  5. ↑ "FCC Merkel Okay Awaited". The Abilene Reporter-News. March 17, 1963. p. 1-B. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Bart LaRue Named Manager of Radio Station at Merkel". The Abilene Reporter-News (Morning ed.). November 27, 1963. p. 5-A. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  7. ↑ "KWFA Creditor Asks Takeover". The Abilene Reporter-News (Morning ed.). May 17, 1968. p. 9-D. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Format doesn't change, but call letters do". The Abilene Reporter-News. November 6, 1984. p. 6-A.
  9. ↑ Suarez, Carmen (February 23, 1992). "Hernandez family movers, shakers in Hispanic culture". The Abilene Reporter-News. p. 5A. (This article says he worked under Curtis at KWFA in 1961 when Curtis was only later the receiver and the station began in 1963.)
  10. ↑ Horn, Richard (June 28, 1987). "Radio man: Merkel-based Spanish station is man's dream". The Abilene Reporter-News. pp. 1E, 4E.
  11. ↑ "Public records: Federal bankruptcy court". The Abilene Reporter-News. April 19, 1991. p. 9C. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  12. ↑ Shaughnessy, Patrick (March 21, 1991). "City businesses pay up to avoid being shut up". The Abilene Reporter-News. pp. 1A, 8A. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Elsewhere" (PDF). M Street Journal. January 12, 1994. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  14. ↑ "KMXO 1500" (PDF). The M Street Radio Directory. 1998. p. 582. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-10-16. Retrieved 2021-10-16.

External links

32°28′17″N 100°00′19″W / 32.47139°N 100.00528°W / 32.47139; -100.00528

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