WREY
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| City | Saint Paul, Minnesota |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Minneapolis-St. Paul |
| Branding | Radio Rey |
| Slogan | Es La Ley! (It's the law!) |
| Frequency | 630 kHz |
| First air date | 1951 (as WCOW) |
| Format | Regional Mexican |
| Power | 1,000 watts day 2,500 watts night |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 41970 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 44°52′1″N 92°54′2″W / 44.86694°N 92.90056°WCoordinates: 44°52′1″N 92°54′2″W / 44.86694°N 92.90056°W |
| Callsign meaning | W (Radio) Rey (Spanish for "King") |
| Former callsigns | WCOW (1951-1957) WISK (1957-1959) KDWB (1959-1991) WDGY (1991-2008) |
| Former frequencies | 1590 kHz (1951-1959) |
| Owner | Borgen Broadcasting |
| Sister stations | WDGY |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | radiorey630am.com |
WREY (630 kHz, "Radio Rey") is a Spanish-language AM radio station with studios located in the Westside neighborhood in St. Paul. It is licensed to Saint Paul, Minnesota, although it was licensed to Hudson, Wisconsin from 1997 to 2005. The station's signal covers the Minneapolis-St. Paul media market. The transmitter and towers are located in Woodbury, Minnesota along South Washington County Highway 19.
"Rey" is the Spanish word for "king" and the station uses a crown as part of its logo. It broadcasts a Regional Mexican music format, at 1,000 watts by day and 2,500 watts at night.
On August 25, 2016 WREY was granted a Federal Communications Commission construction permit to increase day power to 3,000 watts and decrease night power to 2,400 watts.
The 630 kHz frequency is perhaps best known as the longtime home of KDWB from 1959 until 1986. For almost two decades, KDWB was a heated rival of the original WDGY, located at 1130 kHz. When WDGY dropped its call letters in 1991 to become KFAN, KDWB's owner adopted the abandoned WDGY call sign for 630 kHz, where it remained until 2008.
The station signed on in 1951 at 1590 kHz as WCOW, playing country and old-time music. In its early days, WCOW signed on with a cowbell. The station's owners, the Tedesco brothers (Vic, Nick and Al), had previously launched WSHB in Stillwater, Minnesota, and attempted the following year to get into television on channel 17 but financial backing fell through. The channel 17 allocation was later awarded to Twin Cities Public Television in 1965.
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