- Border blaster
A border blaster is a licensed commercial
radio station that transmits at very high power from one nation to another. Border Blasters should not be confused with international broadcast stations.The term is perhaps most widely used in the
United States of America to describe radio stations broadcasting from various Mexican cities near the border.With broadcasting signals far more powerful than U.S. stations, the Mexican Border Blasters could be heard over large areas of the U.S. from the 1940s to the '70s, often to the great irritation of American radio stations, whose signals could be overpowered by their Mexican counterparts. These are also sometimes referred to as X Stations for their
call letters : Mexican stations are assigned callsigns beginning with X, whereas American stations begin with the letters W or K and Canadian stations with C or VO.On
November 9 ,1972 in Washington, D.C., the United States and Mexico signed an "Agreement Concerning Frequency Modulation Broadcasting in the 87.5 to 108 MHz Band". Since then, in theFM band power levels and frequency assignments have been set by mutual agreement between the two countries. AM radio border-blasters still exist, though they are largely ignored due to the decline of AM radio in the U.S. There are several such stations licensed by Mexico's [http://cofetel.gob.mx/wb/Cofetel_2008/Cofe_infraestructura Secretary of Communications and Transport] using transmitters with aneffective radiated power similar to those of major licensed commercial stations located within the USA.In 1973 the border blaster XERB became world famous when
George Lucas featured the station as the source for the musical soundtrack of his motion picture "American Graffiti ".Background
In contrast to
pirate radio stations which broadcast illegally, border blasters are licensed by the government upon whose soil they are located. Pirate radio stations are freebooters from offshore, outside theterritorial waters of the nation they are trying to serve, or ones that are illegally operating in defiance of national law within its sovereign territory.A similar situation developed in Europe, beginning with Radio Luxembourg after World War II. The British government identified these stations as "pirates" because the Sunday broadcast was reserved for British listeners (deliberately coinciding with with the BBC Sundays of religious programmes) [History of International Broadcasting, by James Wood, ISBN 0863413021 p46] . The broadcasts were considered illegal on British soil as these stations were breaking the monopoly of the non-commercial
BBC . Listening to the broadcasts was technically a violation of UK radio-license laws of the day. The same radio périphérique, or "peripheric radio", phenomenon existed inFrance from the 1930s until the legalization of private broadcasting in the early 1980s, which allowed Radio Luxembourg fromLuxembourg , Radio Andorre and Sud Radio fromAndorra , Radio Monte Carlo fromMonaco , and Europe 1 fromSaarland ,Germany to begin legally broadcasting signals across international borders.In Mexico and the United States, while the federal government of the United States did not particularly like them, the stations were allowed to flourish. A Texas governor would even use the stations as a part of his election campaign. The U.S., unlike the UK, has never required a license to listen to broadcast radio or television, and the only restriction placed upon border-blasters was a law which prohibited studios in the U.S. from linking by telephone to border-blaster transmitters in Mexico. This law, part of the
Brinkley Act , was introduced in the wake ofJohn R. Brinkley 's flirtation withfascism prior to World War II on XERA. The Brinkley Act is still on the books in the U.S., but licenses under that act are now routinely granted as long as the station follows applicable U.S. and Mexican regulations.The British government created a similar measure after World War II, the state-owned telephone monopoly prevented studios in Britain from linking by telephone to the transmitters of Radio Luxembourg. These restrictions were mostly lifted following the privatisation and demonopolisation of the UK telephone system.
Signals of many U.S. and
Canadian radio, and to a lesser extent television, stations cross over into neighboring territory. These stations are usually not considered "border blasters" as the programming is not primarily targeted at listeners and viewers on the other side of the border. U.S. and Canadian stations have always adhered to similar maximum power levels and the overspill is regarded as unintentional and largely unavoidable. One possible exception to that overall rule was CKLW in Windsor, Ontario, across the river from Detroit. While licensed as a normal Class I-B station, its 50,000 watt directional signal blanketed Michigan and northern Ohio east to Cleveland. American-owned until 1970, it functioned as a Detroit-market station during the 1960s and 1970s. Its Motown-flavored personality top 40 format made it one of the most highly-rated stations in the Midwestern US. The decline of AM radio as a music source in the 70s, combined with new Canadian government rules imposing minimum domestic music content, made it difficult for CKLW to continue to compete for listeners with American FM music stations which offered clean stereo sound and faced no program content restrictions. So CKLW abandoned top-40 and largely abandoned its efforts to compete in the Detroit market in the 80s and today is a news/talk station aimed specifically at an Ontario audience.The mythology surrounding the history of the border blaster stations in Mexico is extensive and many conflicting reports have been written about them. The following geographical list shows where these stations are or were located. Where possible, multiple sourced references have been consulted, and will be cited in order to eliminate conflicting and error-driven reports.
Programming
Most border blaster stations today program Spanish-language programming targeted at the Mexican side of the border. Some of the Spanish language border blasters target the US side of the border, some target both.
As was the case between the 1930s and the 1970s, some border blaster stations in areas near larger American border cities such as San Diego are leased out by American broadcasting companies and air English-language programming targeting American audiences. During those decades border radio was used by preachers who solicited donations, and advertisers who sold products of questionable value. [Miller, Tom. On the Border: Portraits of America’s Southwestern Frontier, pp. 76-87.] The American side leases the station from the Mexican station owners/licence holders and feeds programming from their American studios to the Mexican transmitters via satellite.
Due to Mexican government regulations, these stations, like all radio stations in Mexico, must air "La Hora Nacional" a/k/a "
The Mexican National Hour " on Sunday evenings (usually 8pm or 10pm, depending on where the station is located) and "Himno Nacional Mexicano " (The Mexican National Anthem) at 12 midnight and 5am. In addition, they must also give station identification in Spanish. This is usually done softly or during commercial breaks so the listeners on the American side won't usually notice it.Character
Geographical list of border blasters
Baja California Tijuana /Rosarito :*
XEPRS-AM : This is the radio station, formerly known as XERB, featured in theGeorge Lucas movie "American Graffiti " starringWolfman Jack as thedisc jockey . He moved to this station following his work on XERF.:*XETRA-FM :*XETRA-AM :*XEBC-AM :*XEAK-AM:*XELO-AM :*XHITZ-FM :*XHMORE-FM :*XHOCL-FM :*XHRM-FM :*XETV-TV Sonora
= Nogales =:*
XELO-AM :*XHSN-FM A top 40/ reggaeton mix station that features songs in both English and Spanish. The signal can be picked up as far away as Tucson.Chihuahua Ciudad Juárez :*
XEROK-AM :*XEJ-AM :*XHPX-FMCoahuila Ciudad Acuña :*XER: "Sunshine Station between the Nations" broadcasting on AM at 735kHz. This was the original station licensed to Dr.
John R. Brinkley inMexico as the Villa Acuña Broadcasting Company. It first signed onAugust 18 ,1932 with a 50 kW transmitter and claimed 75kW ERP via an omnidirectional antenna. The engineering was by Will Branch ofFort Worth who had engineeredWBAP forAmon Carter , owner of the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram". It was shut down by the Mexican authorities onFebruary 24 ,1933 and the Villa Acuña Broadcasting Company was dissolved.:*XERA: In September 1935 Dr. Brinkley gained a new license for Villa Acuña from the Government of Mexico with new call letters of XERA. His new operating company was Cia Mexicana Radiofusori Fronteriza and the station came on the air from the same location as the old XER but with a directional antenna. His new transmitter power was 500 kW, but with his new antenna he claimed an output of 1MW. XERA called itself "the world's most powerful broadcasting station" and "Variety" magazine claimed that it could be heard in New York City. Following the signing of various treaties, the Government of Mexico revoked the license of XERA in the closing days of 1939.:*XERF-AM : from 1947. The station that madeWolfman Jack world famous for hisdisc jockey and sales presentations between 1962 and 1964. This station came on the air long after the era of both XERA and Dr. Brinkley, but it initially used his old facilities although the powerful transmitter of XERA had been dismantled and shipped elsewhere. The station later moved to a new building where a 250kWRCA main transmitter was installed.
= Piedras Negras =:*
XEPN-AM was sister station to XER/XERA, and was also controlled by Dr. John Brinkley.:*XELO-AM Nuevo León Monterrey :*
XEG-AM : In 1950 the advertising time of this station came under the control ofHarold Schwartz ofChicago , who also came to represent XERB near Tijuana/Rosarito (the station made famous in the movie "American Graffiti ".):*XET-AM Tamaulipas Nuevo Laredo :*
XENT-AM : Operated byNorman G. Baker from 1933 until forced off the air in 1940; "The Calliaphone Station" (for an air-operated calliope invented by Baker) promoted a cancer-cure clinic of Baker's, essentially continuing his former stationKTNT ("Know The Naked Truth") ofMuscatine ,Iowa , as was itself forced off the air in 1932. Brochures for the clinic urged patients to "phone 666 upon arrival in Laredo," attracting many complaints to the American Medical Association as invoked reference to Revelation 13:18, citing 666 as the Mark of the Beast. XENT-AM later moved toLa Paz, Baja California Sur , power adjusted to 5kW Day / 750W Night.:*
XEXO-AM
XEXO-AM moved toCiudad Mante, Tamaulipas power adjusted to 5kW Day / 500W Night.Reynosa :*
XED-AM : The first radio station in Mexico to be considered a border-blaster. XED was originally located at Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and was under the advertising sales management of the International Broadcasting Company. Located across the Rio Grande from McAllen, Texas, the station broadcast with a power of 10 kilowatts that was the most powerful transmitter in Mexico at that time.:*XEAW-AM : Another station that came under the management control of Dr.John R. Brinkley . (See XER and XERA.)Tampico :*
XEFW-AM ee also
*
List of international radio broadcasters andList of international television broadcasters – Such as theBBC World Service andVoice of America .*
List of international religious radio broadcasters andInternational religious television broadcasters – A list of religious broadcasting organizations (with links to specific entries), whose intended audience is international in scope. Examples include the broadcasting services ofGene Scott andTrans World Radio which has specialized in broadcasting religious radio messages to various countries closed to U.S. missionairies and radio preachers; it has operated in Europe fromMonte Carlo (until 2004) and various nations in Africa.*
Pirate radio – An explanation of how one nation can license a station that another nation regards as a "pirate radio" signal. The traditional interpretation of "pirate radio" is where a station operates without a license from on land and within a sovereign nation in defiance of its broadcasting laws; or from offshore without a license (other than permission of the ship or marine structure registry) from outside of theterritorial waters of asovereign nation , but directing its broadcasting signals into that nation. Radio Luxembourg was regarded as a "pirate" station even though it broadcast with a license issued by the government ofLuxembourg . TheUnited States never branded the border blasters along its international frontier withMexico as pirates, but it did regard them as a problem which it attempted to resolve in part by the introduction of theBrinkley Act . TheUnited Kingdom adopted the same response with regards to Radio Luxembourg.*
Atlantic 252 . A border blaster into theUnited Kingdom , from the neighbouring Republic of Ireland.*
city of license *
rimshot (broadcasting) External links
* [http://www.nya.us/wolfman.html Dedication of the Wolfman Jack Memorial in Del Rio, Texas]
* [http://www.ciudadacuna.com.mx/index.php Official Ciudad Acuña municipal website] – (in Spanish)
* [http://www.well.com/user/dmsml/xlnc/index.html Investigation of radio operations in Tijuana, BC] , conducted by broadcast engineer Donald MussellReferences
*"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
*"Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the United Mexican States Relating to the FM Broadcasting Services in the Band 88-108 MHz", datedAugust 11 ,1992 . This agreement implies the existence of an earlier agreement, datedNovember 9 ,1972 . (Article 10) [http://www.fcc.gov/ib/sand/agree/mex_broad_agree.html Link to Texts of Broadcast Agreements with Mexico]
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