XHTM-TDT

XHTM-TDT is a Mexican television station licensed to and transmitting from Altzomoni in the State of Mexico. It operates on virtual channel 2 as a relay of Las Estrellas, the national broadcast network associated with Televisa. The station is historically important because its predecessor became one of Mexico’s earliest television stations outside Mexico City and helped establish the relay infrastructure that later enabled Televisa programming to reach a national audience. The station began broadcasting in 1952 under the callsign XEQ-TV on channel 9. Its original concessionaire was Radio Panamericana, S.A., and the station was associated with Emilio Azcárraga and the XEQ radio operation in Mexico City. Its transmitter was installed at Paso de Cortés, on the high-altitude mountain area later identified with the Altzomoni transmission site. The location gave the station an unusually large service footprint and made it an early example of using elevated terrain to extend television coverage over central Mexico. At launch, XEQ-TV was only the second television station constructed outside Mexico City and the country’s fourth television station overall. The creation of XEQ-TV formed part of the early development of a national relay system. Its signal was intended to reach millions of additional viewers, and the station’s existence encouraged the construction of other relay facilities in the same mountain region. A related Canal 5 transmitter, XEX, was subsequently established nearby. Together, XHTM and XEX became important components of the television coverage system serving central Mexico. The station’s identity and channel assignment changed during a major reorganization of the Mexico City television band in 1985. The Mexico City station then using the XHTM callsign moved to channel 9 and adopted the XEQ-TV callsign. The former XEX-TV service moved to channel 8, while the former XEQ-TV service moved to channel 10 and assumed the XHTM callsign. The present XHTM service therefore descends from the earlier XEQ-TV operation but acquired its current callsign and channel position through this reallocation. In 1994, XHTM and XEX were joined at the mountain site by XHATZ-TV on channel 32. XHATZ formed part of a wider concession involving dozens of stations intended to extend the reach of the XEQ and related network services. Over time, the Altzomoni facilities became part of a wider group of relay stations covering areas from Taxco de Alarcón in Guerrero through Puebla and Hidalgo to Tlaxcala. The service area includes transmitters or associated coverage in Pachuca, Cuernavaca, and San Martín Texmelucan, among other locations. XHTM’s initial digital operations were based at Televisa’s Puebla transmitter site, alongside the digital facilities of its Altzomoni sister stations and the analog and digital services of Puebla independent station XHP-TV. In 2015, final digital facilities were constructed at Altzomoni. The transition also brought a substantial power increase, from 45 kW to 236 kW, strengthening the station’s digital coverage. XHTM-TDT consequently functions less as a conventional locally originated channel than as a strategically located terrestrial relay within the Las Estrellas network.

XHTM-TDT traces its history to XEQ-TV, which began broadcasting in late 1952 on channel 9 from the Paso de Cortés area of the State of Mexico. The station was owned by Radio Panamericana, S.A., and was associated with Emilio Azcárraga’s XEQ radio interests. It was the second television station built outside Mexico City, after XELD-TV in Matamoros, and the fourth television station in Mexico. Its mountain location, at an elevation of approximately 4,086 metres, was selected to provide an exceptionally broad signal footprint. Contemporary descriptions regarded the site as one of the highest television transmission locations in the world. The station was established during the formative period of Mexican television. Its signal helped extend programming to viewers beyond the capital and demonstrated the value of high-altitude relay infrastructure. The operation became an early building block in the network of transmitters that eventually supported Televisa’s nationwide distribution. A related XEX-TV Canal 5 transmitter was later constructed on the same mountain, creating a major paired transmission site for national television services. A significant change took place in 1985, when television channel assignments in and around Mexico City were reorganized. The Mexico City station that had been using the XHTM callsign moved to channel 9 and took the XEQ-TV callsign. The former XEX-TV service was moved to channel 8, while the former XEQ-TV service was moved to channel 10 and adopted the XHTM callsign. This process explains why the station’s current callsign differs from the XEQ-TV identity under which the Altzomoni service originally operated. In 1994, the mountain installation expanded again with the addition of XHATZ-TV on channel 32. The station was part of a broader concession involving 62 stations, intended to support the national extension of the XEQ television service. XHTM and XEX subsequently operated as key relay facilities for a wide area of central Mexico. Their coverage network reached from Taxco de Alarcón in Guerrero to Tlaxcala and included service infrastructure associated with Pachuca, Cuernavaca, San Martín Texmelucan, and other population centres. The transition to digital broadcasting initially placed XHTM’s digital equipment at Televisa’s Puebla transmitter site. That location also housed digital operations for the Altzomoni sister stations and the analog and digital facilities of Puebla independent station XHP-TV. In 2015, permanent digital facilities were completed at Altzomoni. At the same time, the station’s authorized power increased from 45 kW to 236 kW, improving the reach and robustness of its digital signal. Today, XHTM-TDT is identified with virtual channel 2 and relays Las Estrellas programming. Its principal significance lies in transmission rather than locally branded programming: it is part of the terrestrial infrastructure that distributes a national television service throughout a large and geographically varied central-Mexico region.

• 2015

  Completion of final digital facilities

  [1]XHTM-TDTen.wikipedia.org

  Final digital facilities were installed at Altzomoni, and the station’s power increased from 45 kW to 236 kW.

• 1994

  Expansion of the mountain relay complex

  [1]XHTM-TDTen.wikipedia.org

  XHATZ-TV joined XHTM and XEX at the mountain site as part of a broader concession intended to expand national television coverage.

• 1985

  Calls and channel reassignment

  [1]XHTM-TDTen.wikipedia.org

  A reorganization of television assignments moved the former XEQ-TV operation to channel 10 and gave it the XHTM callsign.

• 1952

  Launch as XEQ-TV

  [1]XHTM-TDTen.wikipedia.org

  The station began broadcasting from the Paso de Cortés area on channel 9 as XEQ-TV, becoming the second television station established outside Mexico City and the fourth in Mexico.

A high-elevation regional relay operation extending Las Estrellas television coverage across a large central-Mexico service area.

• Broadcast television

  Las Estrellas relay service

  XHTM-TDT carries Las Estrellas programming on virtual channel 2. The station primarily serves as a terrestrial relay rather than as a separately positioned local programming brand, extending the national network’s availability across central Mexico through the Altzomoni transmission site and associated coverage infrastructure.

• Transmission infrastructure · 2015

  Digital terrestrial transmission

  The station’s digital operations were consolidated at final facilities in Altzomoni in 2015. The upgraded installation increased authorized power from 45 kW to 236 kW, supporting a broad digital service area that includes parts of the State of Mexico, Puebla, Hidalgo, Morelos, Guerrero, and Tlaxcala.

• 2015

  Move to final digital facilitiesGeneration change

  Background

  XHTM’s initial digital operations were based at Televisa’s Puebla transmitter site rather than at the final Altzomoni installation.

  Action taken

  Final digital facilities were built at Altzomoni and transmission power was increased from 45 kW to 236 kW.

  Aftermath

  The station gained a stronger digital transmission platform at its principal high-elevation site.

  Source

• 1985

  Reassignment of callsign and channelStrategy

  Background

  A Mexico City television-band reorganization required several stations to exchange channel positions and callsigns.

  Action taken

  The former XEQ-TV service moved to channel 10 and adopted the XHTM callsign, establishing the identity associated with the present station.

  Aftermath

  XHTM continued as a major relay operation from the mountain site, while the former XHTM Mexico City identity moved to channel 9 under the XEQ-TV callsign.

  Source

1. 1XHTM-TDTen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Televisa Pueblatelevisaregional.com