Editing XHRF-FM (section)

==Cross-national operation (1949{{ndash}}1986)==
The facilities of the old [[border blaster]] [[XERA-AM|XERA]], which had been created by [[John R. Brinkley]], were confiscated by the Mexican government in {{year|1939}}, and Villa Acuña did not have another high-power station until {{format date|1947|02|22}}, when the Compañía Radiodifusora de Coahuila, S.A., headed by Ramón D. Bósquez and Arturo González, signed XERF-AM on the air on {{frequency|1570|kHz}}. The station used XERA's old transmission site, with a power of {{val|50000|u=watts|fmt=commas}} (later increased to {{val|100000|u=watts|fmt=commas}}); its first day of broadcasting included a formal opening featuring programs from the chambers of commerce of both Villa Acuña and [[Del Rio, Texas]] and the presence of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saltillo|Bishop of Saltillo]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73127303/|title=Radio Station XERF Opening Saturday|work=[[Del Rio News-Herald]] | page = 1 | date = 1947-02-21 | edition = Afternoon | volume = XVIII | issue = 242 | via = [[Newspapers.com]] | df = dmy-all}}</ref> For many years, the station made money by selling its time after nightfall to American evangelists who broadcast in English to the United States.

===The {{year|1959}} border blaster===
Prior to {{year|1959}}, XERF retained the Wilson and Howard Radio Advertising Agency to handle its United States ad sales. In that year, Bósquez and González formed a Texas corporation called Inter-American Radio Advertising, Inc. which was located on Pecan Street in [[Del Rio, Texas]]. While XERF's concession remained with Compañía Radiodifusora de Coahuila, the actual control of the airtime and the management of the facilities in Ciudad Acuña were under the control of Inter-American Radio Advertising.

The Texas company purchased a {{val|250000|u=watt|fmt=commas}} RCA transmitter to broadcast an omni-directional [[clear-channel station|clear channel]] signal on AM 1570, which originated some distance from the old XERA facilities within three new prefabricated concrete buildings with flat roofs. The sales brochure for XERF offered this explanation about the operation of the station (emphasis and wording shown as in the original text):
<blockquote>There is, of course, one BIG difference between U.S. and Mexican Stations, and that is a matter of POWER; American Stations are limited a maximum {{val|50000|u=watts|fmt=commas}} ... a limitation that does '''not''' exist under Mexican regulation. X.E.R.F. for example, is licensed to operate on {{val|250000|u=watts|fmt=commas}} power, and the Department of Communication and Public Works of the Mexican Government has authorized a power increase to {{val|500000|u=watts|fmt=commas}}. Such power could result in serious interference if wave lengths were not strictly maintained, but the equipment with which X.E.R.F., operates assures its signal to stay "right on the beam." This is something constantly checked by FCC monitor stations, a degree of regulation by the U.S. Government alike that is imposed upon U.S. Stations. Operating on a clear channel, X.E.R.F. is heard nightly in all parts of the fifty States in the United States, Canada and Latin-America.</blockquote>

Although reference was made to a power increase, the station only had an RCA {{val|250000|u=watt|fmt=commas}} transmitter.

===Paul Kallinger===
The booming bass voice of Paul Kallinger was used to sell many of the products on XERF. At night, his recorded spots between the different sponsored shows served as a jingle break. Kallinger remained on the Texas side of the border and recorded his spots at a studio in Del Rio, because he did not want to become embroiled with the lawlessness that swirled around the XERF studio and transmitter on the other side of the border. In between the different religious programs, Kallinger would tell XERF listeners in various versions that:

<blockquote>It’s always good to know that we have some fine people out there listening to the most powerful commercial voice in the world ... From alongside the beautiful Rio Grande, this is XERF, Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico. Our mailing address is Del Rio, Texas. This is Paul Kallinger.</blockquote>

As Mexican law required stations to identify in Spanish, the portion identifying the station's call letters and the station's location in Mexico, was then repeated in that language.

Kallinger, along with fellow XERF alumni Bill Mack, were inducted into the [[Texas Country Music Hall of Fame|Texas Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame]] in {{year|1999}} in recognition of their influence on the development of country music.<ref name="KallingerMack_HallOfFame" />

===Wolfman Jack (1962{{ndash}}1964)===
With the birth of [[rock and roll]] and its promotion by [[disc jockey]]s such as [[Alan Freed]], a new interest was taken in the unrestricted superpower airwaves that were available in [[Mexico]]. Alan Freed had originally called himself the ''[[Moondog]]'' after hearing the name used by an experimental street musician in New York City. Freed not only adopted the name but used the recording of a howl to give his early broadcasts a unique character since he was featuring [[African Americans|African-American]] music that was getting a great reception from America's [[White people|White]] teenagers.

One of Freed's fans was Bob Smith, a disc jockey who also adopted the ''Moondog'' theme by calling himself [[Wolfman Jack]] and adding his own sound effects. Smith took his act to Inter-American Radio Advertising, who sent him to the studio and transmitter site of XERF. It was here that Wolfman Jack invented his own style of border blasting by turning the airwaves into one long infomercial featuring music and off-the-wall products.

Wolfman Jack gained a huge audience which brought in enough money to not only pay the bills, but to cause bandits and corrupt officials to also take enough interest in taking over his promotions for themselves. As a result, Smith began to pay his own security force to protect him, because although he lived in Del Rio, Texas, because of the [[Brinkley Act]] he had to actually broadcast from the station itself in Ciudad Acuña in Mexico.

===Lawlessness and death===
In {{format date|1963|04}}, XERF returned to the headlines when armed men seized the station.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73126806/ | work = [[Del Rio News-Herald]] | title = Armed Men Seize Control of XERF; Chase Out Station Employees | page = 1 | date = 1963-04-19 | edition = Afternoon | issue = 27 |access-date=March 10, 2021 | location = Ciudad Acuna | via = [[Newspapers.com]] | df = dmy-all}}</ref> Mexican authorities intervened, stationing federal troops to guard the station. In testimony, employees said they were chased, and that one armed man threatened Kallinger with a .45 pistol.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73127373/|page=1|work=Del Rio News-Herald|title=Federal Authorities Intervene in XERF Radio Dispute|date=21 April 1963|access-date=March 10, 2021 | edition = Morning | issue = 28 | location = Ciudad Acuna | via = [[Newspapers.com]] | df = dmy-all}}</ref> After a legal dispute, a judge found in favor of Saúl Montes, the station's administrator, who put the station back on the air.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73126874/|page=2A|date=12 May 1963|work=Del Rio News-Herald|title=Judge Authorizes Montes to Put XERF Back On Air}}</ref> In {{format date|1964|01}}, a gun battle at the station left a 50-year-old man dead; his body was found on an adjoining ranch.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73126920/|page=1|accessdate=March 10, 2021|work=Del Rio News-Herald|title=Gunbattle at XERF Leaves Man Dead|date=21 January 1964}}</ref> Station personnel broadcast panicked pleas for help, prompting local residents to notify the authorities.

After the second gun battle, Bob Smith decided to leave for [[XEPRS-AM|XERB]], a border blaster in [[Tijuana]] and listenable in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]]. It was this station that [[George Lucas]] featured in the {{year|1973}} movie ''[[American Graffiti]]''.

Meanwhile, XERF reverted to selling time according to the old format devised by Dr. Brinkley. It featured paid programming, most of it from American fringe evangelists, right-wing political groups and [[black nationalism|Black Nationalist]] messages from the [[Nation of Islam]]. In {{year|1969}}, a pastor sued the station for removing him from its air, alleging that the contract he had signed was for the duration of its broadcast concession.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73126972/|page=1|agency=UPI|accessdate=March 10, 2021|work=Del Rio News-Herald|title=Minister Files Suit Against Radio Station|date=2 October 1969}}</ref> In the early {{decade|1970}}, the station faced another lawsuit over contracts for airtime on XERF.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73127025/|page=5A|work=Del Rio News-Herald|title=Texas High Court Ruling Returns XERF Case Here|date=6 June 1974}}</ref>

In early {{year|1976}}, station employees who had been seeking back wages for 13 years, since the {{year|1963}} gunfight, won a victory in Mexican court, and Montes was appointed the sole administrator of XERF.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34911637/ |accessdate=March 10, 2021 | title=XERF Intervention Recalls Bloody History of Station|date=3 February 1976|work=Del Rio News-Herald}}</ref>

With the advent of FM stereo radio broadcasting, interest in the static-prone mono AM signals of XERF began to wane and its signal was switched from the {{val|250|u=kilowatt}} RCA transmitter, which was never paid for and which consistently kept breaking down, to a new {{val|50|u=kilowatt}} transmitter. Its program schedule consisted of primarily religious shows,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73127101/|work=Del Rio News-Herald|title=Breaker, breaker, XERF may soon blast music again|date=25 July 1982|pages=1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73127144/ 4A]|first=Mack|last=Sisk|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> and it did not broadcast during the day.<ref name="day">{{cite news|title=Christian programs air over XERF daytime|date=27 August 1982|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73127189/|work=Del Rio News-Herald|page=7B}}</ref>