XHRIO-TV
Encyclopedia
XHRIO-TV, channel 2, also known as Fox Rio 2 or Fox XRIO, is the local Fox
affiliate for the Lower Rio Grande Valley
. It is licensed to Matamoros
, Mexico, but serves American audiences across the Rio Grande Valley area
from studios in McAllen, Texas
. It can be seen on Time Warner Cable
channel 6 in analog and digital cable channel 870 in high definition
, as well as on sister station KNVO's third digital subchannel. XHRIO is operated by KNVO owner Entravision under a local marketing agreement
; Mexican law does not allow foreigners to own any media outlets.
XHRIO carries the full Fox schedule, along with MyNetworkTV
programming nightly at 10 p.m., and Tr3́s during late night and early morning hours (generally 1 a.m. to 9 a.m.).
(now Televisa
).
In 1977, a joint venture was formed between the owners of KRIO
(910) in McAllen and KRIX (99.5; now KKPS
) in Brownsville
and respected broadcaster Clemente Serna Alvear of Mexico City
, holder of the license for the channel 2 transmitter. The venture returned channel 2 to the air on January 12, 1979 as XHRIO-TV, 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 colocated 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, they set about to block live delivery of programming across the US border. Thus, a monumental effort was required to cross the equipment and tower into Mexico, then to build and maintain the 100 kilowatt facility. The American side, responsible for constructing both halves of the facility, disregarded many Mexican communications and labor laws. In fact, American engineers were smuggled into the Mexican site in the late night hours to complete the construction. The station then began to transmit without authority of the Mexican government, and was not even using its correct call sign at any stage during its broadcast day. Notified that government authorities were on their way to shut down the transmitter, American technicians and Mexican operators alike fled the site. This was resolved and the station soon returned.
Although XHRIO-TV had a broadcast signal superior to its US counterparts, it suffered from serious underfunding and mismanagement by the ownership of the studio facility. During its first year, the technical staff which had created the facility against incredible odds slowly departed. Power to the transmitter site was sporadic and replacement technical people were not up to the task. Thus, XHRIO-TV was never able to establish an advertising base in the English market, despite extremely successful initial ratings. In 1981, the owners of the Mexican license ended the delivery of programming tapes across the border to the channel 2 transmitter, and converted XHRIO to a Spanish language
station, first as a local channel for Matamoros viewers, and later as a Telemundo
affiliate. In the late 1990s, the station reverted back to English language programming and became XHHUPN-TV, a UPN
affiliate. In 2005, the station reverted back to the XHRIO-TV calls and dropped UPN for Fox.
Fox programming had previously been seen on XHFOX (channel 17), but in the early 2000s, station owner Televisa
dumped the Fox affiliation and flipped that channel to a XEW-TV
repeater as XHTAM-TV
. Prior to XHFOX's arrival and before XHRIO took Fox, Lower Rio Grande viewers on the American side received the network from the nationwide Foxnet
channel.
is scheduled to start HD broadcasts by 2010. XHRIO has been assigned UHF channel 26 for digital broadcasting by the Mexican government. In June 2010, KNVO began broadcasting Univision HD and XHRIO began broadcasting on digital channel 26 and is displayed as 2-1 and 67-1
" regulations from the FCC
. This means that, apart from low-powered affiliates in the US, XHRIO is the only Fox affiliate that local cable systems are not required to carry. However, US cable systems are effectively required to carry XHRIO anyway, since it is operated by Entravision, which owns stations on the American side of the border. The same must-carry rules give full-powered American stations the option of "retransmission consent", or requesting compensation from cable systems to carry their station. In this case, Entravision has the right to require cable systems to offer XHRIO as part of the compensation for carrying KNVO.
On September 27, 2006, DirecTV
added XHRIO to its lineup in the Rio Grande Valley market; prior to that date, DirecTV viewers in that market received Fox programming from Corpus Christi
's K47DF
. On November 6, 2008, DirecTV
added XHRIO's HD channel to its local HD line-up in the Valley. It can be found on channel 2.
On September 14, 2007, Time Warner Cable
added XHRIO-TDT to its HD
service on digital cable channel 870, and can also be seen on ATSC/QAM channel 117.4, 48.9 or 79.9 (depending location) on basic cable.
In spring 2009, Dish Network
added XHRIO's HD feed to its local channel line-up in the Valley. It can be found on channel 2.
A full local newscast would not air on the station until March 12, 2007, when XHRIO debuted Fox 2 News at Nine. The 30 minute newscast airs Monday through Friday at 9 p.m. It was not the first 9 p.m. newscast in the area, as XHFOX produced one while it was a Fox affiliate. Like many Fox affiliates, XHRIO takes advantage of the network's shorter primetime schedule by scheduling their newscasts an hour before the other local affiliates in the region. In addition to local/national news, weather and sports, Fox 2 News also includes "Around The World In 80 Seconds", an 80 second segment dedicated to International news, health news and entertainment news. XHRIO's newscast line-up is somewhat similar to that of sister station KNVO's Spanish language
newscasts since both stations share the same facility.
On September 27, 2010, XHRIO began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.
Weather
Sports
Reporters
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
affiliate for the Lower Rio Grande Valley
Rio Grande Valley
The Rio Grande Valley or the Lower Rio Grande Valley, informally called The Valley, is an area located in the southernmost tip of South Texas...
. It is licensed to Matamoros
Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. Matamoros is the second largest and second...
, Mexico, but serves American audiences across the Rio Grande Valley area
Rio Grande Valley
The Rio Grande Valley or the Lower Rio Grande Valley, informally called The Valley, is an area located in the southernmost tip of South Texas...
from studios in McAllen, Texas
McAllen, Texas
McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. It is located at the southern tip of Texas in an area known as the Rio Grande Valley and is part of the . Its southern boundary is located about five miles from the U.S.–Mexico border and the Mexican city of Reynosa, the Rio...
. It can be seen on Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
channel 6 in analog and digital cable channel 870 in high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
, as well as on sister station KNVO's third digital subchannel. XHRIO is operated by KNVO owner Entravision under a local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
; Mexican law does not allow foreigners to own any media outlets.
XHRIO carries the full Fox schedule, along with MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
programming nightly at 10 p.m., and Tr3́s during late night and early morning hours (generally 1 a.m. to 9 a.m.).
History
The first incarnation of channel 2 operated in the 1960s; known as XETX channel 2. This was quickly shut down by its family ownership, Telesistema MexicanoTelesistema Mexicano
Telesistema Mexicano is the predecessor of Televisa. Telesistema Mexicano was a television alliance made up of the independently owned television flagship stations XEW Canal 2, XHTV Canal 4, and XHGC Canal 5 in Mexico, Distrito Federal.-History:...
(now Televisa
Televisa
Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...
).
In 1977, a joint venture was formed between the owners of KRIO
KRIO (AM)
KRIO is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish language Christian radio format. Licensed to McAllen, Texas, USA, the station serves the McAllen-Brownsville-Harlingen area. The station is currently owned by Rio Grande Bible Institute, Inc.....
(910) in McAllen and KRIX (99.5; now KKPS
KKPS
KKPS is a radio station broadcasting a Tejano format. Licensed to Brownsville, Texas, USA, the station serves the McAllen-Brownsville-Harlingen area. The station is currently owned by Entravision Holdings, LLC.-History:...
) in Brownsville
Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...
and respected broadcaster Clemente Serna Alvear of Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, holder of the license for the channel 2 transmitter. The venture returned channel 2 to the air on January 12, 1979 as XHRIO-TV, 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 colocated 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
KRGV-TV
KRGV-TV is the local ABC affiliate television station for the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas . It is licensed to Weslaco, Texas, with studios in Weslaco and transmitter in Santa Maria, Texas...
and KGBT-TV
KGBT-TV
KGBT-TV, virtual channel 4 , is a CBS affiliate located in Harlingen, Texas. Its market includes the greater Rio Grande Valley metropolitan area. KGBT is currently owned by Barrington Broadcasting Company. Its transmitter is located in Cameron County, Texas...
) as a "border blaster
Border blaster
A border blaster is a licensed commercial radio station that transmits at very high power from one nation to another. Border blasters should not be confused with international broadcast stations...
" or pirate station, they set about to block live delivery of programming across the US border. Thus, a monumental effort was required to cross the equipment and tower into Mexico, then to build and maintain the 100 kilowatt facility. The American side, responsible for constructing both halves of the facility, disregarded many Mexican communications and labor laws. In fact, American engineers were smuggled into the Mexican site in the late night hours to complete the construction. The station then began to transmit without authority of the Mexican government, and was not even using its correct call sign at any stage during its broadcast day. Notified that government authorities were on their way to shut down the transmitter, American technicians and Mexican operators alike fled the site. This was resolved and the station soon returned.
Although XHRIO-TV had a broadcast signal superior to its US counterparts, it suffered from serious underfunding and mismanagement by the ownership of the studio facility. During its first year, the technical staff which had created the facility against incredible odds slowly departed. Power to the transmitter site was sporadic and replacement technical people were not up to the task. Thus, XHRIO-TV was never able to establish an advertising base in the English market, despite extremely successful initial ratings. In 1981, the owners of the Mexican license ended the delivery of programming tapes across the border to the channel 2 transmitter, and converted XHRIO to a Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
station, first as a local channel for Matamoros viewers, and later as a Telemundo
Telemundo
Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
affiliate. In the late 1990s, the station reverted back to English language programming and became XHHUPN-TV, a UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
affiliate. In 2005, the station reverted back to the XHRIO-TV calls and dropped UPN for Fox.
Fox programming had previously been seen on XHFOX (channel 17), but in the early 2000s, station owner Televisa
Televisa
Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...
dumped the Fox affiliation and flipped that channel to a XEW-TV
XEW-TV
XEW-TV is the call sign assigned to channel 2, a television station in Mexico City, Mexico. The station is owned by Televisa and is the flagship station to the Canal de las Estrellas network. XEW is second oldest Televisa and Mexico City's station, founded in 1951.-References:...
repeater as XHTAM-TV
XHTAM-TV
XHTAM is the television call sign for the Televisa television station channel 17 in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The station is the second affiliate of Canal de las Estrellas licensed to Matamoros, XERV being the other...
. Prior to XHFOX's arrival and before XHRIO took Fox, Lower Rio Grande viewers on the American side received the network from the nationwide Foxnet
Foxnet
Foxnet was a cable network that was available to markets in the United States without an affiliate of the Fox Network. It was usually available in very small television markets....
channel.
Digital television
Because it is licensed in Mexico, XHRIO is not subject to the United States' discontinuation of analog television. Mexico has a different timetable for its own transition to digital, in which stations in this market will be required to begin digital broadcasting sometime between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2018 (although XHRIO may at its discretion broadcast a digital signal before then). Until then, it is likely XHRIO's digital HD simulcast will remain on KNVO's digital subchannel, although UnivisionUnivision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
is scheduled to start HD broadcasts by 2010. XHRIO has been assigned UHF channel 26 for digital broadcasting by the Mexican government. In June 2010, KNVO began broadcasting Univision HD and XHRIO began broadcasting on digital channel 26 and is displayed as 2-1 and 67-1
Carriage issues
Because XHRIO is licensed and broadcasting from Mexico, it is not covered under US "must-carryMust-carry
In cable television, governments apply a must-carry regulation stating that locally-licensed television stations must be carried on a cable provider's system.- Canada :...
" regulations from the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
. This means that, apart from low-powered affiliates in the US, XHRIO is the only Fox affiliate that local cable systems are not required to carry. However, US cable systems are effectively required to carry XHRIO anyway, since it is operated by Entravision, which owns stations on the American side of the border. The same must-carry rules give full-powered American stations the option of "retransmission consent", or requesting compensation from cable systems to carry their station. In this case, Entravision has the right to require cable systems to offer XHRIO as part of the compensation for carrying KNVO.
On September 27, 2006, DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
added XHRIO to its lineup in the Rio Grande Valley market; prior to that date, DirecTV viewers in that market received Fox programming from Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
's K47DF
K47DF
K47DF is an independent television station in Corpus Christi, Texas. It broadcasts a low-powered analog signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter southeast of downtown along TX 358...
. On November 6, 2008, DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
added XHRIO's HD channel to its local HD line-up in the Valley. It can be found on channel 2.
On September 14, 2007, Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
added XHRIO-TDT to its HD
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
service on digital cable channel 870, and can also be seen on ATSC/QAM channel 117.4, 48.9 or 79.9 (depending location) on basic cable.
In spring 2009, Dish Network
Dish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
added XHRIO's HD feed to its local channel line-up in the Valley. It can be found on channel 2.
News operation
When XHRIO debuted in 1979, the station produced hourly bilingual news briefs with KRIO newscasters Fred Cantu and Rod Santa Ana during evening programming.A full local newscast would not air on the station until March 12, 2007, when XHRIO debuted Fox 2 News at Nine. The 30 minute newscast airs Monday through Friday at 9 p.m. It was not the first 9 p.m. newscast in the area, as XHFOX produced one while it was a Fox affiliate. Like many Fox affiliates, XHRIO takes advantage of the network's shorter primetime schedule by scheduling their newscasts an hour before the other local affiliates in the region. In addition to local/national news, weather and sports, Fox 2 News also includes "Around The World In 80 Seconds", an 80 second segment dedicated to International news, health news and entertainment news. XHRIO's newscast line-up is somewhat similar to that of sister station KNVO's Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
newscasts since both stations share the same facility.
On September 27, 2010, XHRIO began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.
Newscast titles
- TV-2 Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1979–1981) - Noticentro 2 (1981–1986)
- Noticiero Canal 2 (1986–1995)
- Fox 2 News (2007–2010)
- Fox 2 News HD (2010–present)
Station slogans
- Canal 2, Su Hogar Para el Entretenimiento! (early 1980s)
- Canal 2, El Canal de las Estrellas (mid-1980s)
- Venga a Casa al Canal 2 (late 1980s)
- At 9, It's News, At 10, It's History (2007–2010)
- At 9, It's News, At 10, It's History, Now in High Definition (2010-present)
News team
Anchors- Antonietta Collins - weeknights at 9 p.m.; also reporter
- Octavio Saenz - weeknights at 9 p.m.
Weather
- Belen De Leon - lead weather anchor; weeknights at 9 p.m.
Sports
- Rigo Montenegro - lead sports anchor; weeknights at 9 p.m.
Reporters
- Antonio Lujan - general assignment reporter
- Anna Ramirez - health reporter
- Antonio Rodrigurez - general assignment reporter