KMXO explained

KMXO
City:Merkel, Texas, US
Area:Merkel/Abilene, Texas
Branding:Radio Fe
Airdate:June 1, 1963[1]
Frequency:1500 kHz
Format:Christian radio
Language:Spanish
Power:250 watts (daytime only)
Class:D
Facility Id:55244
Callsign Meaning:"Mexico" and a variation on previous KMIO designation
Owner:Zacarías Serrato
Licensing Authority:FCC

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. The call letters KTCT were assigned before being changed to KWFA, under which designation the station began on June 1, 1963. 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.[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.[3] LaRue became receiver in 1964 and relinquished those duties to John Curtis three years later. The largest creditor, Harold D. Nichols, successfully petitioned in 1968 to have the license transferred to him.[4]

Nichols owned KWFA until 1977, when he sold it to Gaylon Christi and Ted Connell of Killeen. The call letters were changed to KBGG and the format to country alongside several other planned facility improvements.[5] The country format lasted just two years before KBGG flipped to gospel music in 1979.[6] An FM station owned by KBGG, KMIO-FM 102.3, began on May 3, 1982. KBGG became KMIO and primarily simulcast the new FM's format of beautiful music and adult standards.[7] The change came ahead of a sale of both properties in 1983 to Bob Hanna, a Dallas media broker.[8]

The simulcast was broken up in October 1983, by which time KMIO-AM-FM had returned to country.[9] 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".[10] 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).[11]

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.[12] However, the station fell silent by 1991, when Silva filed for personal bankruptcy[13] and the outlet paid back taxes under threat of seizure by sheriff's deputies.[14] 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.[15]

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.[16]

External links

32.4714°N -100.0053°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: KBGG(AM). C-232 (510). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1981. 2020-08-14. 2021-03-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20210308131403/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1981/1981-BC-YB.pdf. live.
  2. News: FCC Merkel Okay Awaited. 1-B. March 17, 1963. The Abilene Reporter-News. October 15, 2021. October 16, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211016043014/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87068106/fcc-merkel-okay-awaited/. live.
  3. News: Bart LaRue Named Manager of Radio Station at Merkel. 5-A. November 27, 1963. The Abilene Reporter-News. Morning. October 15, 2021. October 16, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211016043014/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87068113/bart-larue-named-manager-of-radio/. live.
  4. News: KWFA Creditor Asks Takeover. Morning. May 17, 1968. 9-D. The Abilene Reporter-News. October 15, 2021. October 16, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211016043015/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87068124/kwfa-creditor-asks-takeover/. live.
  5. News: Merkel Radio Station Changes Owners, Name. 7-A. The Abilene Reporter-News. May 17, 1977. October 15, 2021. October 16, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211016043015/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87068134/merkel-radio-station-changes-owners/. live.
  6. News: Thank Heaven For New Radio Station. Cherryl. Norris. 5-A. The Abilene Reporter-News. June 14, 1979. October 15, 2021. October 16, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211016043015/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87068140/thank-heaven-for-new-radio-station/. live.
  7. News: KMIO to Start Broadcasting. The Abilene Reporter-News. May 2, 1982. 3-B.
  8. News: Changing Hands. December 13, 1982. Broadcasting. 70. 2021-10-15. 2021-03-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20210308042440/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1982/BC-1982-12-13.pdf. live.
  9. News: 6-A. Format doesn't change, but call letters do. The Abilene Reporter-News. November 6, 1984.
  10. News: Big Country Listeners Getting Tex-Mex, Salsa, Mariachi Music. 21A. Hermelinda. Zamarripa. The Abilene Reporter-News. December 4, 1983.
  11. News: Hernandez family movers, shakers in Hispanic culture. Carmen. Suarez. The Abilene Reporter-News. February 23, 1992. 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.)
  12. News: Radio man: Merkel-based Spanish station is man's dream. 1E, 4E. Richard. Horn. The Abilene Reporter-News. June 28, 1987.
  13. News: Public records: Federal bankruptcy court. The Abilene Reporter-News. April 19, 1991. 9C. October 15, 2021. October 16, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211016043123/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87068195/public-records-federal-bankruptcy-court/. live.
  14. News: City businesses pay up to avoid being shut up. 1A, 8A. Patrick. Shaughnessy. March 21, 1991. The Abilene Reporter-News. October 15, 2021. October 16, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211016043124/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87068186/city-businesses-pay-up-to-avoid-being/. live.
  15. News: Elsewhere. 6. M Street Journal. January 12, 1994. World Radio History. October 15, 2021. March 9, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210309181647/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-M-Street/M-Street-Journal/M-Street-1994-01.pdf#page=18. live.
  16. News: KMXO 1500. 582. The M Street Radio Directory. 1998. 2021-10-16. 2021-10-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20211016043122/https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Annuals/Archive-M-Street-IDX/IDX/1989-1999/1998/M-Street-8-1998-OCR-Page-0576.pdf. live.

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