City Tampico, Tamaulipas First air date 1932 | Branding Hits FM Format CHR | |
Frequency 810 kHz AM
106.3 MHz FM Power AM: 50 kW day
1 kW night | ||
XHFW-FM and XEFW-AM are a pair of radio stations in Tampico, operating on 106.3 MHz and 810 kHz. They are owned by Grupo Flores and operated by Multimedios Radio. 810 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency; KGO and WGY share Class A status on this frequency. XEFW-AM must reduce nighttime power to protect KGO & WGY from interference.
History
XEFW-AM 1240 received its concession in 1932. The 70-watt station owned by José Expedito Martínez until 1937, when the Flores family entered broadcasting by way of a joint partnership with Martínez. XEFW later moved to 810 kHz and ramped up its power to 50,000 watts day and night, earning it the distinction of being a border blaster in the eyes of some.
In the 1980s, XEFW cut its power back to 10,000 watts day and a mere 250 watts at night, later boosted back to 50,000/1,000. The station was now exclusively owned by the Flores family, which had built a local cluster featuring XEFW, AM sister XETW-AM 860, XHON-FM 96.1, and XHFW-TV channel 9.
In 2011, the Flores family took advantage of the government's program to migrate AM stations to FM and converted XEFW into XHFW-FM broadcasting on 106.3 MHz. XHFW was known as La Estrella.
In 2016, the Flores family ceded operation of its radio stations to Multimedios Radio, which converted them to their own formats. XHFW was given the Hits FM pop format.