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XHRIO-TV

XHRIO-TDT
Matamoros, Tamaulipas/McAllen, Texas
Mexico/United States
City Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Branding CW 15 Rio Grande Valley
Channels Digital: 26 (UHF)
Virtual: 15
Subchannels
Affiliations The CW (2016–present)
Owner Entravision
(concession and transmitter owned by a Mexican company)
(TVNorte, S.A. de C.V.)
First air date January 12, 1979
Call letters' meaning
Sister station(s)
Former callsigns
  • XHRIO-TV (1979–2001)
  • XHHUPN-TV (2001–2005)
Former channel number(s) 2 (VHF analog, 1979–2015)
Former affiliations
Transmitter power 250 kW
Height 317 m
Facility ID 180803
Transmitter coordinates 25°56′28″N 97°50′49″W / 25.94111°N 97.84694°W / 25.94111; -97.84694
Website Official Website

XHRIO-TDT, virtual channel 15 (RF channel 26), is a television station in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico which mainly serves as an English language station serving as The CW affiliate for the Rio Grande Valley area in southern Texas. The station maintains their basic license-compliant studios from Matamoros, with a second facility across the border in McAllen, Texas serving as the main facility for the station. Previously, XHRIO had served as a primary Fox affiliate from 2005 to 2012 and of MundoFox/MundoMax between 2012 and 2016.

The concession for channel 2 was awarded in 1964, receiving the callsign of XHCR-TV and owned by Cadena Radiotelevisora del Norte, S.A. de C.V., a company owned by respected broadcaster Clemente Serna Alvear of Mexico City. In 1973, the name of the concessionaire was changed to Televisoras del Bajo Bravo, S.A.

In 1977, a joint venture was formed between the owners of KRIO (910 AM) in McAllen and KRIX (99.5 FM; now KKPS) in Brownsville and Serna Alvear. The venture brought channel 2 to the air on January 12, 1979 as XHRIO-TV (with callsign authorized on March 16 of that year), an English language independent station. It branded as XRIO-TV-2, running primarily reruns of older US shows and recent feature films. The studios were co-located in McAllen with KRIO. The transmitter was eight miles south of the Rio Grande and the Harlingen antenna farm. Since XHRIO-TV was perceived by its American competitors (KRGV-TV and KGBT-TV) as a "border blaster" or pirate station, both being unfounded, they set about to block live delivery of programming across the US border.


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