Telemax is a Mexican

broadcast television Broadcast television systems (or terrestrial television systems outside the US and Canada) are the encoding or formatting systems for the transmission and reception of terrestrial television signals. Analog television systems were standardized ...

network based in

Hermosillo, Sonora Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo municipality, the state's ...

. Its flagship station is XEWH-TDT in Hermosillo, and is available nationally through satellite and cable coverage. It is also available through a network of over-the-air repeaters, which extend its flagship station's coverage throughout

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

. Telemax is owned by the State of Sonora and its stated mission is "to promote Sonoran culture and values, the works and programs of the government, and timely and truthful broadcast of information to various social segments of the population."

History

XEWH history

The history of

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...

XEWH precedes that of Telemax by over 30 years. Founded November 27, 1957 by the Azcárraga family, XEWH went on the air May 30, 1959 as part of

Telesistema Mexicano Telesistema Mexicano was the predecessor of Televisa. Telesistema Mexicano was a television alliance made up of the independently owned television flagship stations XEW-TV, XEW Canal 2, XHTV-TV, XHTV Canal 4, and XHGC-TV, XHGC Canal 5 in Mexico, D ...

, hence the callsign XEWH, from "XEW", the Telesistema Mexicano flagship station in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, and "H", for Hermosillo. As typical of Telesistema Mexicano stations, XEWH operated independently, but that changed in 1969. The station became a mere retransmitter of programs from Mexico City, likely from

XEW-TV XEW-TDT (channel 2) is a television station in Mexico City, Mexico. The station is owned by TelevisaUnivision and is the flagship station to the Las Estrellas network. XEW is the second-oldest Televisa station and Mexico City's second-oldest s ...

, and remained so until 1978, when it was acquired by local businessmen and broke away to resume producing local programming. In 1984, the station was sold to the Sonoran government. State government decree 369 on August 22, 1985, established XEWH as the official voice of the Sonoran government. Also in 1985, the government began building a network of low-power television stations throughout Sonora to rebroadcast XEWH. XEWH is one of the few public television stations in Mexico to operate under a commercial concession. Its transmitter is located on Cerro La Cementera in Hermosillo along with those for Hermosillo's other television stations. In March 2018, in order to facilitate the repacking of TV services out of the 600 MHz band (channels 38-51), XEWH was assigned channel 19 for continued digital operations.

Telemax history

The year 1990 saw the launch of Telemax, a new identity for the state-run television station. The initial construction of the statewide network was coming to a close, but as Telemax, the number of stations in the network increased rapidly. Seven stations were added in 1996, and 26 more were added in 1997, bringing the number of stations to 58. In 2015, Telemax changed its format radically to offer half-hour newscasts at the top of the hour on weekdays, as well as educational programming on weekends. The network relaunch included a new logo and slogan, #TuVozSeEscucha (Your Voice is Heard), as well as an emphasis on social media interaction. On September 8, 2015, Telemax went HD and launched 17 HD transmitters.

Programming

On weekdays Telemax's programming is heavy on news programming. The station's live shows begin at 6:30am with the morning program ''Despierta Sonora'' and for most of the day mix the half-hour newscasts (and some hour-long shows, at 2 and 8pm) with other shows focusing on topics including health and sports. On the weekends Telemax produces no newscasts and carries large quantities of national educational programming, as well as some of its own productions like ''Conociendo Sonora'' and a Sunday Mass.

Transmitters

The following television transmitters, all owned by the Government of the State of Sonora, broadcast Telemax programming. , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , -

Coverage in the United States

Telemax programming also airs on a few low-power stations in the United States: * KSDI-LD 33.1,

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

* KUDF-LD 14.2,

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

* KDVD-LD 50.2,

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

* KRMF-LD 7.5,

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

* WEQT-LD 9.3,

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

* WMMF-LD 19.13,

Vero Beach, Florida Vero Beach is a city in and the county seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,354. Nicknamed "The Hibiscus City", Vero is situated about south ...

Telemax was formerly carried on KPHE-LD 44.2,

, until that station was sold in May 2022. In mid 2022, Telemax has ceased broadcasting on KHMP-LD 18.5,

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, being replaced by another network.

References

External links

Telemax Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telemax (Television Network) Television networks in Mexico Public television in Mexico Television stations in Sonora Mass media in Hermosillo Television channels and stations established in 1959