XEB-AM
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| City | Mexico City |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Mexico City |
| Branding | La B Grande (The Big B) |
| Slogan | "El buen tono de la radio" ("The good tone of the radio") |
| Frequency | 1220 kHz 94.5 FM HD2 XHIMER-FM 89.1 FM HD2 XHCAH-FM. |
| First air date | September 14, 1923 |
| Format | Spanish Classic Contemporary |
| Language(s) | Spanish |
| Power | 100,000 Watts |
| Class | A |
| Callsign meaning | El Buen Tono (original owner) |
| Former callsigns | CYB (1923–1929) |
| Owner | Instituto Mexicano de la Radio |
| Sister stations |
XEDTL-AM, XEMP-AM, XEQK-AM; XHIMER-FM, XHIMR-FM, XHOF-FM; XERMX-OC (defunct) |
| Webcast | XEB-AM |
| Website | XEB-AM website |
XEB-AM (branded as La B Grande) is a radio station on AM frequency 1220 kHz, serving Mexico City and surrounding areas in Mexico. It airs a Spanish language classic contemporary format with music from the 1940s to the 1970s. It has been owned by the Instituto Mexicano de la Radio (IMER), a Mexican government public broadcaster, since IMER's founding in 1983.
On June 16, 1923, the first test transmissions were launched of a radio station then known as CYB, as part of the First International Radio Fair. It was launched by a cigarette company, the Compañía Cigarrera del Buen Tono, S.A., as a promotional activity; at the same time, it launched a cigarette brand "Radio" Its first complete transmission occurred on September 14, 1923, live commentary of the fight between Jack Dempsey and Luis Ángel Firpo from New York. José Velasco captured the New York station's signal at Pachuca and relayed the information to Enrique W. Curtiss, who broadcast it over CYB. The next day, the station held its inaugural concert, which included a message from Spanish king Alfonso XIII. From October 1923, CYB broadcast on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 8-9pm. At the end of 1923, CYB broadcast a bullfight for the first time ever; the next year, it did so live from the El Toreo ring in Condesa, its first remote broadcast.
While the CYB callsign had been used since the station signed on, it was formally awarded to the station the next year at an international convention in Bern, where Mexico received callsigns CYA to CZZ. In Washington in 1929, Mexico moved to the XE callsign range and the station became XEB.
XEB was notable as a station where many important personalities and genres in Mexican radio got their start. In 1929, actress Pura Córdoba founded a drama group devoted to performing radio plays, which laid down the foundation for the genre's success in Mexico. Jorge Marrón, Julio Sotelo, Enrique W. Curtiss and others all started at XEB, which at this time was located at 665 kHz.
In August 1933, XEB debuted on shortwave as XEBT on 6000 kHz; the next year, in October 1934, its medium wave station moved to 1030 kHz. Walter Cross Buchanan was the chief engineer from the mid-1930s, also working at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional where he created the electronic engineering program. He later became the Secretary of Communications and Transport.
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Wikipedia