Complex sentence: In 1981, the owners of the Mexican license ended the delivery of programming tapes across the border to the channel 2 transmitter, and converted XHRIO to a Spanish language station, first as a local channel for Matamoros viewers, and later as a Telemundo affiliate.
Split into simpler sentences: In 1981, the owners of the Mexican license "pulled the plug" on the delivery of programming tapes across the border to the Channel 2 transmitter. As a result, channel 2 would later become a Spanish language station, first as a local channel for Matamoros viewers, and later as a Telemundo affiliate.