XETRA (AM)
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- For other meanings of XETRA, see XETRA
XETRA are the call letters of a border-blaster radio station licensed to the Tijuana / Rosarito area of Baja California, Mexico, with additional studio facilities in Burbank, California. They are a high-power station, with their 77,500 watt signal sometimes reaching as far as the middle of the San Joaquin Valley, but otherwise covering nearly all of Southern California. It operates with 50,000 watts at night.
Its current format is Spanish-language talk radio under the brand name "W Radio." It primarily serves the Los Angeles radio market, even though the station has a stronger signal in San Diego.
It began its life as XEAK ("the Mighty 690", a moniker that its XETRA successor would use in later years), playing the hits of its time. It signed off briefly in 1961, and shortly after made Southern California broadcast history as they became "Extra News", the first 24-hour all-news station in Southern California.
In succeeding decades, XTRA (without the "E", as U.S. listeners would otherwise refer to) would switch formats numerous times. During most of the 1970s and 1980s it was a Beautiful Music station, competing with K-JOY on the FM dial. During its Beautiful Music years, XETRA became one of the first AM stations in the San Diego area to broadcast in stereo.
When interest in the Beautiful Music format died down in the late 70s, XETRA switched formats to Top 40/adult contemporary music, once again billing itself as "the Mighty 690". When low ratings dictated the format didn't work, they switched to an oldies format, and XETRA called themselves "69 XTRA Gold".
Shortly after, XETRA became an all sports station, and was billed as "XTRA Sports", affiliating themselves with ESPN Radio. For a number of years, the station was the broadcast home of the San Diego Chargers National Football League team. In the latter part of the 1990s and most of the 2000s, they decided to simulcast with Los Angeles station KXTA in order to better serve the Los Angeles area.
The station's best-known sportscaster in the sports format is Lee Hacksaw Hamilton, who hosted a nightly sports talk program from 1987 until 2005, and was also the play-by-play voice of the Chargers from 1987 to 1996. Hacksaw is famous (and infamous) for his "best 15 minutes in radio" with "Hacksaw's Headlines" and using such phrases as "I am bleeping brilliant!"
In 2005, Clear Channel Communications chose to drop the station's all-sports format and replace it with pop standards (carried over from Los Angeles' KLAC).
In 2006, Clear Channel sold the station after the Federal Communications Commission ruled that the stations licensed to Mexico had to be counted against the U.S. ownership caps (three AM stations and five FM stations). Some of these outlets, including XETRA-FM, XHRM, and XHOCL, were spun off into Finest City Broadcasting, owned by a former Clear Channel executive. However, XETRA-AM was sold to another company, who introduced the format the station has now.
The first day of broadcasts of W Radio was February 6, 2006. It was expected to move out of the Clear Channel complex and into another location by the end of May.
Another San Diego radio station, on the FM dial, also bills itself as XETRA (see XETRA-FM for details).
See also
References
- 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 USA, by Gilder, Eric. - "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu Press, Romania. 2003 ISBN 973-651-596-6
External links
| AM radio stations in the San Diego / Tijuana market''' | |
|---|---|
| By frequency | 540 | 600 | 620 | 690 | 760 | 800 | 860 | 910 | 950 | 1000 | 1030 | 1040 | 1090 | 1130 | 1170 | 1210 | 1240 | 1270 | 1310 | 1360 | 1390 | 1420 | 1450 | 1470 | 1550 | 1630 | 1700 |
| By callsign |
KCBQ | KCEO | KECR | KFMB | KFSD | KLSD | KOGO | KPRZ | KSDO | KSON | KURS | XEAZ | XEBG | XEC | XEKAM | XEKT | XEMO | XEPE | XEPRS | XERCN | XESPN | XETRA | XESDD | XESS | XESURF | XEUT | XEXX |
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