WGUE (1180 kHz) is a commercial AM

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

Turrell, Arkansas Turrell is a city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 517. Geography Turrell is located in northern Crittenden County at (35.376351, -90.264583). It is bordered by the town of Gilmore to the ...

, serving the Memphis metropolitan area. WGUE is owned by Butron Media Corporation and airs a Regional Mexican

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is off Legion Road in

West Memphis, Arkansas West Memphis is the largest city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 26,245 at the 2010 census, ranking it as the state's 18th largest city, behind Bella Vista. It is part of the Memphis metropolitan area, and is ...

. WGUE broadcasts with 5,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s by day. But because

AM 1180 AM or Am may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * A minor, a minor scale in music * ''A.M.'' (Chris Young album) * ''A.M.'' (Wilco album) * ''AM'' (Abraham Mateo album) * ''AM'' (Arctic Monkeys album) * AM (musician), American musician ...

is a clear channel frequency reserved for Class A

WHAM Wham! was a British pop music duo. Wham may also refer to: Places * Wham, North Yorkshire, England, a hamlet in the Yorkshire Dales, United Kingdom * Wham, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States Stations * WHAM (AM), a talk radio ...

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

, WGUE must drastically reduce power at night to 26 watts (during

critical hours Critical hours for radio stations is the time from sunrise to two hours after sunrise, and from two hours before sunset until sunset, local time. During this time, certain American radio stations may be operating with reduced power as a result of Se ...

it operates with 3,500 watts). WGUE programming is also heard in the Memphis area on an FM

translator station A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

at 99.3

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

History

In April 1987, the station first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

as KPLX. It was a 1,000 watt

daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...

, broadcasting on 1170 kHz and licensed to

Collierville, Tennessee Collierville is a town in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and a suburb located in the Memphis metropolitan area. With a population of 51,324 in the 2020 census, Collierville is the third largest municipality in the county after Memphis ...

. On December 15, 2009, the station switched from 1170 to 1180 and moved its city of license to Turrell, Arkansas. In 2012, the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

became KXIQ. On January 1, 2014, KXIQ changed format from

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

, branded as "Y 105.5" (simulcasting on FM translator W288BJ 105.5 FM), and changed call letters to WUMY on January 15, 2014. On January 24, 2014, WUMY rebranded its station from "Y 105.5" by adding another translator as "Big Country 105.5/100.1". On November 30, 2017, WUMY swapped call signs with sister station WGUE and took on the "Guess FM" classic hits format that had been on that frequency. While on 1180, Guess FM was associated with three translators, adding W257CY on 99.3 MHz. On June 15, 2018, Memphis First Ventures filed to sell WGUE and W257CY to Butron Media Corporation for $799,000. Butron Media Corporation is owned by Sergio Butron and Ivette Butron Ramos and also manages the heritage Spanish-language station in Memphis, WGSF "Radio Ambiente", under a time brokerage agreement. Butron also acquired the construction permit for a second translator facility, K268DA on 101.5 MHz; the remaining translators were paired with other stations as part of the sale of the Mighty Media Group cluster. The sale to Butron Media was consummated on August 27, 2018. In August 2018, Guess FM moved to

WOWW WOWW (1430 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Germantown, Tennessee, and serving the Memphis metropolitan area. WOWW carries a Top 40 (CHR) radio format and calls itself "B97.7". It is owned and operated by Flinn Broadcasting ...

1430 and 97.7, making way for WGUE to be relaunched as ''La Jefa'' with a Regional Mexican format.

FM translator

References

External links

La Jefa 99.3 & 1180 FacebookWGUE website
* * µ Regional Mexican radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1986 1986 establishments in Arkansas {{Arkansas-radio-station-stub