XHEW-TV

XHEW-TV was the call sign of a former local repeater of Mexico's Once TV network in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. The station was operated through Patronato Cultural de Televisión de Matamoros, Tamps., A.C., a local broadcasting organization represented by José Julián Sacramento Garza, a Tamaulipas politician who later served as a senator and federal deputy. Its role was to relay Once TV programming to viewers in the Matamoros border market rather than function as a nationally independent television brand. The station received authorization on January 22, 1991, and operated using virtual channel 13. Its service was short-lived by broadcast-industry standards: the transmitter went off the air by 1999 after an equipment failure, and the permit was ultimately cancelled by Mexico's Federal Telecommunications Commission, commonly known as CoFeTel, in 2007. The cancellation ended XHEW-TV's formal operation as a licensed repeater. Channel assignments in the region later changed. Virtual channel 13 became associated with Imagen Televisión's Reynosa–Matamoros transmitter, XHCTRM-TDT, while physical VHF channel 13 was used by KRGV-TV, the ABC affiliate serving Weslaco in the adjacent South Texas market. In September 2025, Canal Once was reported to be returning to the broader border area through XHCPCF-TDT on physical VHF channel 9 in Reynosa. That development does not revive XHEW-TV itself, and the availability of the new signal in Matamoros remained uncertain. XHEW-TV is therefore best understood as a defunct local television transmission outlet and historical call sign, not as a currently operating standalone station.

XHEW-TV was a Mexican television repeater associated with Once TV and intended to serve Matamoros, Tamaulipas, a city on the Mexico–United States border. Its license holder was Patronato Cultural de Televisión de Matamoros, Tamps., A.C. The organization was represented by José Julián Sacramento Garza, who was also known for his political career in Tamaulipas. Unlike a general consumer brand, XHEW-TV functioned primarily as a regulated broadcast facility and call sign through which network programming could be transmitted to a local audience. The station was authorized on January 22, 1991. Its service used virtual channel 13 and formed part of Once TV's efforts to distribute programming beyond its principal coverage areas. Available historical information does not identify a substantial locally produced programming slate, separate commercial strategy, or independent corporate identity beyond its relationship with the network and its permit holder. XHEW-TV ceased broadcasting by 1999 after an equipment failure. The outage became permanent rather than a temporary interruption, and the station's authorization was later cancelled by CoFeTel in 2007. This regulatory cancellation formally concluded the station's licensed operation. There is no indication in the available material that XHEW-TV resumed transmission or was converted into a digital successor using the same call sign. Following the station's disappearance, the regional channel landscape changed. Virtual channel 13 came to be used by Imagen Televisión through its Reynosa–Matamoros transmitter, XHCTRM-TDT. Physical VHF channel 13 was also occupied in the nearby South Texas market by KRGV-TV, the ABC affiliate based in Weslaco. These later assignments should not be interpreted as a continuation of XHEW-TV; they represent subsequent uses of related channel resources in the wider border region. In September 2025, Canal Once was reported to be returning to the border area through XHCPCF-TDT in Reynosa, transmitting on physical VHF channel 9. The extent to which that signal would be available in Matamoros was not known. The reported Reynosa development provides regional context for Once TV's later border presence, but it does not restore the former XHEW-TV operation. XHEW-TV remains a defunct historical repeater whose principal documented milestones are its 1991 authorization, its disappearance from the air by 1999, and its permit cancellation in 2007.

• 2025

  Once TV reported to return to the border region

  [1]XHEW-TVen.wikipedia.org

  Canal Once was reported to be returning to Reynosa through XHCPCF-TDT, although its availability in Matamoros remained uncertain.

• 2007

  Permit cancelled

  [1]XHEW-TVen.wikipedia.org

  CoFeTel cancelled XHEW-TV's permit, ending the station's formal authorization.

• 1999

  Broadcasting ceased

  [1]XHEW-TVen.wikipedia.org

  The station went off the air by 1999 following an equipment failure.

• 1991

  Authorization granted

  [1]XHEW-TVen.wikipedia.org

  XHEW-TV was authorized on January 22 to operate as an Once TV repeater serving Matamoros, Tamaulipas.

A local border-market repeater intended to extend Once TV programming to Matamoros viewers.

• Television broadcasting · 1991

  Once TV relay service

  XHEW-TV's principal offering was over-the-air retransmission of Once TV programming to the Matamoros market. The station served as a local transmission outlet rather than a separately branded national network, and the available historical record does not document a distinct slate of original programs or a separate consumer product portfolio.

• 2007

  Regulatory cancellation of the broadcast permitOther

  Background

  XHEW-TV had already gone off the air after an equipment failure and no longer operated as an active repeater.

  Action taken

  CoFeTel cancelled the station's permit.

  Aftermath

  XHEW-TV remained defunct, while later broadcasters used channel assignments in the wider Reynosa–Matamoros and South Texas region.

  Source

1. 1XHEW-TVen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Once TV official websiteoncetv-ipn.net