Broadcast area San Diego-Tijuana Frequency 1700 kHz Format Sports/Business Talk | Branding ESPN 1700 First air date March 28, 2005 | |
City Tecate, Baja California | ||
XEPE-AM at 1700 kHz is an English-language sports radio station calling itself ESPN 1700. XEPE is licensed to Tecate, Baja California, Mexico. Like other Baja California stations broadcasting in English near the Mexico-United States border, it focuses on listeners in the San Diego, California area. The station carries programming from ESPN Radio most of the day. On weekdays, between 9 am and 4 pm, it carries business and money related programming, including syndicated shows from Dave Ramsey, San Diego-based Ray Lucia and local hosts.
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XEPE is on the air 24 hours a day at 10,000 watts in the AM expanded band, commonly known as the "X band". The 1700 kHz frequency has de facto clear channel status. There are no expanded AM band stations at AM 1700 in the United States west of Texas or in the rest of Mexico. Unlike X-band stations in the U.S., which reduce their power to 1,000 watts at night, XEPE keeps its 10,000 watts of power around the clock.
XEPE's programming and sales rights in the U.S. are owned by Local Media of San Diego, a division of the Broadcast Company of the Americas. The same firm operates XEPRS-AM, a sports station affiliated with CBS Sports Radio and known as "The Mighty 1090", and Classic Hits station XHPRS-FM known as "105.7 Max-FM". The studios and offices are located in the neighborhood of Sorrento Valley, San Diego.
History
The history of XEPE begins in August 1987, when Guillermo Dionisio Salas Vargas was selected by the Mexican government from among 19 applicants to operate a station on 1600 kHz. The call sign assigned at that time was XETCT-AM. By the time a concession was issued in 1994, the station had the call sign XEKTT-AM. In 1999, XEKTT was sold to Carlos de Jesús Quiñones Armendáriz (Radio S.A.), who in turn sold the station to Media Sports de México, S.A. de C.V.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, both the frequency and call sign changed, the former on several occasions. XEKTT unsuccessfully experimented with a move to a lower frequency. It abruptly moved to 550 kHz, which caused interference concerns for US stations. XEKTT was prompted to move to 560, but that did not remediate the interference and instead prompted action by US broadcasters who sought to revoke XEKTT's authorization to receive programming from across the border. In 2004, the SCT (Mexico's communications authority) authorized the station to move to 1700 kHz, and in February 2005, the call sign was changed to XEPE-AM.
XEPE was on the air in the spring of 2005 and used to supplement sister XEPRS in its coverage of San Diego Padres games. That August, XEPE added a business talk format under the branding "Cash 1700". On August 1, 2007, XEPE switched to a talk radio format, while keeping some business talk programs, such as financial talk show host Ray Lucia. Conservative syndicated talk shows from Michael Reagan and Dennis Miller were also on the schedule. After progressive talk station 1360 KLSD switched to a sports format, XEPE tried adding some liberal-leaning shows including one locally hosted by Stacy Taylor. The syndicated The Lionel Show was carried during overnight hours.
In late 2009, XEPE became a partner to sister station XEPRS 1090. XEPRS was enjoying success as San Diego's top sports radio station and XEPE began running some of the games and sports shows that XEPRS couldn't carry due to other commitments. On September 27, 2010, XEPE announced that it had fully made the transition to sports talk, although some midday and afternoon hours, it continued to carry paid business programs. The Ray Lucia financial show airs every weekday. The station was branded as "ESPN 1700" with programming from the ESPN Radio network, effective October 6, 2010.
Sports rights
Currently, play-by-play on ESPN 1700 consists of the University of San Diego football and basketball games and San Diego Gulls hockey games (on a secondary basis, shared with XEPRS).
At one time, it aired San Diego State Aztecs basketball (now on KOGO or KLSD), the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer (now on KLAC and KEIB in Los Angeles), and San Diego Sockers PASL games. It was also the flagship station of the San Diego Shockwave of the National Indoor Football League until the league suspended operations. It also had broadcast rights to the Lake Elsinore Storm minor league baseball team until 2009, when it lost the rights to KXFG.