KXEW is a commercial

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 radio ...

located in

South Tucson, Arizona South Tucson is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States and an enclave of the much larger city of Tucson. South Tucson is known for being heavily influenced by Hispanic, and especially Mexican, culture; restaurants and shops which sell tr ...

, broadcasting to the

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, area on 1600 AM. KXEW airs a

tejano Tejanos (, ; singular: ''Tejano/a''; Spanish for "Texan", originally borrowed from the Caddo ''tayshas'') are the residents of the state of Texas who are culturally descended from the Mexican population of Tejas and Coahuila that lived in the ...

music format branded as "Radio Tejano". The station is owned by . Its studios are located north of downtown Tucson along Oracle Road, while the transmitter site is in South Tucson.

History

KXEW first signed on for broadcasting on May 10, 1963, operating local sunrise to sunset with a directional array at 1600 kHz with 1,000 watts of power. The callsign was inspired by those of Mexico City's giant AM station XEW. The station was owned and operated by Pan American Radio Corporation; J. Carlos McCormick was its president, CEO and majority shareholder. The totally Spanish-language format featured traditional Mexican, Latin American and Spanish recorded music, with hourly newscasts and sports and social commentary segments throughout the day. The style of programming was an adaptation of "Color Radio" that had been borrowed from its innovator, former Tucson disc jockey, Chuck Blore. Oscar Humberto Stevens, Sr. was the first station manager, and Lorenzo Palma Cárdenas was the first program director. The directional antenna array was designed by and the station's studio, transmitter and phaser equipment installed by Oscar Leon Cuellar, who later became Arizona's first registered professional engineer with a broadcasting and communication specialization. The station was nicknamed Radio Fiesta. During its first years of operation some of the radio personalities who served on its staff were Alfonso Gárfias, Chato López Quintana, Tony Castro Miranda, Arnulfo "Fito" Palma Cárdenas, Ernesto Portillo Villalobos, Enrique Villegas Grácia and Manuel Palma Parra. Oscar Stevens, Carlos McCormick, Ernesto Portillo, Lorenzo Palma, Tony Castro and Enrique Villegas had formerly worked at

KEVT KEVT (1210 AM broadcasting, AM) was a radio station licensed to Sahuarita, Arizona, United States, and served the Tucson area. KEVT was owned by One Mart Corporation. History KQTL In December 1982, various applicants filed to build a new radio s ...

, Tucson's first all Spanish-language station. KXEW was the first Arizona commercial radio station license granted to a corporation/person controlled and managed by an applicant of Mexican ancestry. KXEW was sold in 1968 to a group headed by the entertainer Harry Belafonte. It continued under the management of Ernesto Portillo.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Spanish Radio Stations in Arizona XEW XEW Radio stations established in 1963 1963 establishments in Arizona IHeartMedia radio stations Tejano music