XEJPV-1560 off? Others to follow?
You may recall that just about a year ago, the IFT cited several stations owned by Grupo Mega Radio in the Ciudad Juarez market for failing to renew their licenses. All of the stations in question remained on the air at that time.
Today I noticed that the web site and Facebook page for XEJPV-1560 had been taken down sometime this month.
One response I received on a Mexican radio Facebook group tonight indicated that Grupo Mega Radio was indeed shutting down all of their AMs in this market whose licenses have not been renewed in recent years. In addition to XEJPV-1560, that could mean XEZOL-860, XEFV-1000, XEF-1420, and maybe XECJC-1490 (I hadn’t heard that XECJC’s license was expired like the others are, but the respondent said Mega Radio was planning to shut down all their Juarez stations except a 105.9 FM).
This MIGHT mean that XEJPV-1560 is already off the air (can anyone confirm?). If so, that would leave XEMAS as the last surviving Mexican station on the once-crowded frequency of 1560. Combined with the recent shutdown of KKAA, that could really open up 1560 for DX, especially in the central part of the country. It could surely make things a bit more interesting at the Border Inn, where I have been chasing several low-power stations in the central US.
Additionally, I would think that losing so many stations in a market over a short period, if it really happens, could seemingly give one or more low-rated stations on the El Paso side a good reason to consider flipping to some kind of Spanish language format. That’s just conjecture, of course…
Tim Hall, CA, abdx iog via WOR groups.io