Radio Educación is a cultural radio station in Mexico, based in Mexico City. Radio Educación airs Spanish-language cultural and educational programming. The primary broadcast signal is XECPAE-AM (formerly XEEP-AM) 1060 kHz, broadcasting on a North American clear-channel frequency and sharing Class A status with KYW in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Radio Educación also operates a shortwave station, XEPPM-OC on 6.185 MHz, and an FM radio station in Mérida, Yucatán, as well as FM stations to be built at Hermosillo, Sonora, and Morelia, Michoacán.
Radio Educación is an independent agency of the Secretariat of Culture, which was created in 2015. Prior to then, it was operated by the Secretariat of Public Education in cooperation with the National Council for Culture and Arts.
History
Foundation and first era
The emergence of radio coincided with one of the most important education policies in Mexican history. Under Secretariat of Public Education José Vasconcelos, Mexico went on a literacy crusade. Radio had been considered as a vehicle for cultural programming and the educational mission being carried out by the government, prompting interest from the SEP to enter radio.
On November 21, 1922, Vasconcelos's deputy secretary, Francisco Figueroa, asked President Álvaro Obregón for permission to invest in a 250-watt transmitter and 50 receivers. The federal government initially denied the SEP because it was trying to work with radiotelephone operators, but interest in Mexican radio grew. On June 7, 1923, General Amado Aguirre set guidelines for radio stations, and on July 15, 1924, 13 days after Vasconcelos stepped down, the SEP got its radio station. A transmitter was bought from WEAF in New York and installed on the third floor of the SEP's building. Joaquín Beristáin was charged with designing the first program lineup.
On November 30, 1924, the SEP station began formal operations under the callsign CYE, which was changed within a matter of days to CZE. The station broadcast on 560 kilohertz with 500 watts. María Luisa Ross was the station's first full director, being named on January 1, 1925. Early programming included telecourses, arts programming, and an early news program.
In 1928, the Dirección General de Telégrafos modified the station's permit, changing the callsign to XFX and its frequency to 910 kHz. With the new frequency, XFX was capable of covering most of Mexico, as well as into other countries. During this time, XFX had several coverage firsts, being the first radio station to report of the assassination of President Obregón and to transmit the criminal trial of his assassin, José León Toral; it frequently did remote broadcasts.
For a brief time, the government showed an interest in expanding the radio service. In 1929, the SEP obtained control of station XFC, which was operated by the state government of Veracruz in Xalapa and broadcast on 860 kHz with 350 watts. However, lack of personnel, poorly maintained equipment and few receivers led to the station being on the air just two years.
As the 1920s became the 1930s, economic conditions in Mexico posed a threat to the continuing operation of Radio Educación. XFX, with programming including long Chamber of Deputies debates and other official acts, simply could not guarantee advertisers continued regular exposure. Interference problems cropped up, and the station used four different frequencies between 1928 and 1933. The station's technical problems in this period were exacerbated by equipment starting to fail, leading to an effective transmitting power of 100 watts, and a new guideline from the Secretariat of Communications and Public Works (SCOP) mandating that radio stations transmitting within population centers move to facilities outside of the city.
In 1933, Agustín Yáñez became Radio Educación's fourth director, after María Luisa Ross, Alejandro Michel, and another term by Ross. It was under Yáñez that the station went through some of its best periods, offering more public educational programming, musical concerts, and courses for rural schools. In 1934, Radio Educación was the key station for the transmission of the dedication of the Palacio de Bellas Artes. He also inaugurated a new transmission facility at 610 kHz, and the station began broadcasting 15 hours a day; the facilities had been acquired from the recently closed station XETR, owned by El Universal.