WXES

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

title: "WXES" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["radio-stations-in-chicago", "spanish-language-radio-stations-in-illinois", "daytime-only-radio-stations-in-illinois", "radio-stations-established-in-1926", "1926-establishments-in-illinois", "christian-radio-stations-in-illinois", "catholic-radio-stations", "christianity-in-chicago", "catholic-church-in-illinois"] topic_path: "geography/spain" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WXES" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox radio station"]

Field	Value
name	WXES
city	Chicago, Illinois
network	ESNE Radio
frequency
country	US
airdate
language	Spanish
format	Catholic radio
power	4,200 watts (days only)
class	D
facility_id	65972
coordinates
callsign_meaning	"El Sembrador" (The Sower)
former_callsigns	WMBI (1926–2021)
former_frequencies	1080 kHz (1928–1941)
owner	El Sembrador Ministries
licensing_authority	FCC
website
::

WXES (1110 AM) is a noncommercial radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, United States, that operates during the datime hours only. It carries Spanish-language Catholic programming, owned and operated by ESNE Radio via El Sembrador Ministries.

The station's transmitter is off North Palazzo Drive near West Moorland Avenue in Addison, Illinois.

History

The station signed on the air on July 28, 1926. Its original call sign was WMBI, which stood for the Moody Bible Institute. The station originally broadcast at 1080 kHz, sharing time with WCBD. WMBI's frequency was changed to 1110 kHz in March 1941, as a result of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA). For 95 years, the station was operated by Moody Bible, originally broadcasting English-language Christian programming.

For decades, WMBI, like many major Chicago stations, could be heard in much of West Michigan; indeed, it had substantial listenership in that region, as far east as Grand Rapids. However, as more stations signed on in West Michigan, WMBI was crowded out.

In 1960, Moody Bible added an FM station at 90.1 MHz, WMBI-FM. At first, the two stations simulcast their programming, but over time the FM station developed its own programming. WMBI 1110 switched to a Spanish-language Christian format on February 6, 2012, making it the first full-time format of its kind on analog radio in Chicago. In 2019, Moody announced it intended to sell the station.

In 2021, El Sembrador Ministries acquired 1110 WMBI and a permit for an FM translator, W292GB at 106.3 FM. The price tag was $1.6 million. ESNE Radio already aired part-time on WNDZ in Portage, Indiana. The transaction was consummated on July 13, 2021. On July 19, the station's call sign was changed to WXES.

References

"History Cards for WXES (WMBI)". [[Federal Communications Commission]]}} ([[Wikipedia:WikiProject Radio Stations/History Cards.
Rouech, Chris. (December 2, 1987). "Christian radio station plans February debut". The Grand Rapids Press.
Butler, Ruth. (January 20, 1989). "New Christian radio station kicks off with Moody programs". The Grand Rapids Press.
(February 6, 2012). "WMBI-AM launches Spanish-speaking Christian station". Radio & Television Business Report.
Feder, Robert. (July 16, 2019). "Robservations: Moody Bible Institute selling AM radio stations". Robert Feder.
Venta, Lance. (March 31, 2021). "El Sembrador Ministries Enters Chicago". RadioInsight.
[https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=65972&Callsign=WXES65972 Call Sign History], fcc.gov. Retrieved August 10, 2021.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::