Radio stations from Fresnillo, Zacatecas

Fresnillo, Zacatecas, doesn't usually make the short list of famous Mexican radio cities. It's not Mexico City with its 350 stations, nor Guadalajara with its big networks and legendary morning shows. But for a mid-sized city in the Zacatecan plateau, Fresnillo has a radio story worth telling — one that stretches back to 1940, when AM radio was still a luxury, and that today includes eight stations you can stream live from anywhere in the United States.

If your family is from Fresnillo, or you grew up between Fresnillo and cities like Chicago, Los Angeles or Dallas (all with large Zacatecan communities), this guide is for you. We'll walk through the real history of the city's stations, what's on the air today, and how to listen without confusion about time zones.

The Story of Fresnillo Radio, Told Through Three Stations

Fresnillo's radio history is best understood through three specific stations, each representing a different era. Together they cover more than 80 years of broadcasting.

XEMA: The Pioneer of 1940

The oldest station in the story is XEMA-AM, which received its concession on July 26, 1940. It was founded by José Miguel Acevedo Mora and broadcast on 1340 kHz — the kind of small AM signal that, in the 1940s, was often the only source of news and music for an entire region.

In January 1972, the station was sold to Hilda Gómez de Bonilla, who moved it to 690 kHz. That move mattered more than it might sound: the frequency change allowed the station to boost its daytime power from 1 kW to 10 kW, dramatically widening its reach across the Zacatecan countryside at a time when hundreds of thousands of zacatecanos were already migrating north to the United States.

The station's most recent chapter reflects a change happening across all of Mexico. In 2011, XEMA received authorization to migrate from AM to FM, becoming XHEMA-FM on 107.1 MHz. It didn't stay there long: in September 2013 it moved to 107.9 MHz and increased its power to a striking 100,000 watts. Today that signal lives on as La Mejor FM 107.9, carrying the national "La Mejor" regional Mexican format from MVS Radio, owned by Grupo Radiofónico B-15.

So the station your grandfather may have heard on a battery-powered AM receiver in the 1940s is today a 100-kilowatt FM powerhouse playing banda and norteño — a full-circle kind of story.

XEYQ: The Second Wave

While XEMA was already decades old, a second station arrived in the late 1970s. XEYQ-AM 1500 received its concession on September 28, 1978, founded by Edmundo Llamas Felix. It broadcast with 5,000 watts during the day but only 150 watts at night — a common arrangement for AM stations, since AM signals travel differently after dark.

In 1997, the station was sold to Radio Comunicación de Zacatecas, which moved it to 640 kHz and boosted nighttime power to 1,000 watts. In 2000, a company called Ralla Zacatecana became the concession holder. Then, in November 2010, XEYQ got the green light to migrate to the FM band — joining the same AM-to-FM wave that carried XEMA over just a year later.

Today that signal is La Rancherita 98.5 (XHYQ-FM), owned by Grupo Radiofónico Zer and carrying the regional Mexican "La Rancherita" format. It's one of the most-listened stations from Fresnillo in our catalog.

XHRRA: The Newcomer

The newest chapter is Stereo Fresnillo (XHRRA-FM), which received its permit on August 1, 2012 — a non-commercial station also owned by Grupo Radiofónico Zer. Its most interesting moment is very recent: in April 2024, the station moved to 91.1 MHz specifically to clear the 106–108 MHz range for community and indigenous stations, as a condition of its concession renewal approved in December 2023.

That detail says something real about Mexican radio policy today: frequencies at the top of the FM band are being reserved for community voices, and stations like Stereo Fresnillo 91.1 are literally moving aside to make room.

The Stations to Know Today

Our catalog currently lists eight live stations from Fresnillo. Here are the ones our listeners tune into most:

• W Radio 94.3 — the local outlet of the well-known W Radio talk and news network, a favorite for keeping up with national conversation. Also available as 94.3 W Radio.
• La Mejor FM 107.9 and La Mejor 107.9 — banda, norteño and regional Mexican, heir to the XEMA legacy described above.
• La Rancherita 98.5 — regional Mexican on the XHYQ signal.
• Stereo Fresnillo 91.1 — the non-commercial option from Grupo Radiofónico Zer.

A note on the doubled listings: some stations appear under more than one name in our catalog because they're listed with different common names. W Radio 94.3 and 94.3 W Radio are the same frequency; likewise for the two La Mejor entries at 107.9. Pick whichever page loads best for you.

What You'll Hear: Genres in Fresnillo

Fresnillo's dial leans heavily regional, which matches the city's musical identity. Here's how the local stations break down by genre in our catalog:

• Regional Mexican: 4 stations — the backbone of the city's sound
• Latin Pop and Hits: 3 stations
• News and Talk: 3 stations
• Sports: 3 stations
• Banda: 2 stations
• Romantic and Ballads: 1 station
• Classics and Retro: 1 station

If you want the sound of a Fresnillo Sunday afternoon — family gathered, carne asada, music on — the regional Mexican and banda stations are your best bet. W Radio 94.3 is the choice for news and long-form talk, especially in the mornings. And for those quiet late evenings, the romantic and classics stations carry the baladas many of us heard our parents play.

How to Listen from the United States

This is the part that matters most for our readers. Every Fresnillo station in our catalog streams live online, which means distance is no longer an issue. A few practical tips:

• Internet radio beats shortwave. Nobody needs to fiddle with antennas anymore. Open the station page — for example, La Mejor FM 107.9 — and press play. It works on phones, tablets and computers.
• Bookmark your station. If you listen daily, save the page to your home screen so it's one tap away, like any app.
• Use Wi-Fi when possible. Live streams use a steady data connection. An hour of radio uses far less data than video, but on a limited mobile plan, Wi-Fi still saves you.
• Try the genre pages. If you just want banda or just want news, the genre pages listed above filter all stations at once — including Fresnillo's — so you can hop between cities freely.

The Time Difference

Fresnillo, like all of Zacatecas, is in Mexico's Central Time Zone. This lines up directly with US Central Time, which makes listening simple:

• Central Time (Chicago, Dallas, Houston): same clock as Fresnillo. A 7:00 a.m. news show in Fresnillo starts at 7:00 a.m. your time.
• Eastern Time (New York, Florida): Fresnillo is one hour behind. A show at 8:00 a.m. there is 9:00 a.m. for you.
• Mountain Time (Denver, Phoenix area for most of the year): Fresnillo is one hour ahead.
• Pacific Time (Los Angeles, San José): Fresnillo is two hours ahead. Morning drive-time radio in Fresnillo (roughly 6–10 a.m.) plays from 4–8 a.m. Pacific — great for early risers or night-shift workers heading home.

Note that the US and Mexico no longer change clocks on exactly the same dates for daylight saving time, so for a couple of weeks each year these differences can shift by an hour. If a show seems to be starting late or early, that's usually why.

When to Listen

Mexican regional radio follows a fairly predictable daily rhythm, and knowing it helps you catch the good stuff:

• Mornings (6–10 a.m. Central): news blocks, talk shows, and cheerful grupera to wake up. W Radio's national programming is strongest here.
• Midday (12–2 p.m.): often music-heavy, sometimes with dedications and community announcements — the closest thing to how local AM radio sounded decades ago.
• Afternoons and evenings: sports programming tends to peak, especially when fútbol or Mexican league baseball is on.
• Weekends: the golden hours for banda, norteño and live remote broadcasts from local events, fairs and festivals.

Beyond Fresnillo: Nearby Regions to Explore

Eight stations is a solid lineup for one city, but part of the joy of internet radio is wandering. If you want to broaden your listening:

• Sinaloa — 67 stations, and if you love banda, this is the birthplace of the genre. The jump from Fresnillo's regional stations to Sinaloa's is a natural one.
• Jalisco — 54 stations across the state, heavy on mariachi and regional sounds.
• Chihuahua — 54 stations, useful if your family's migration route ran through the north.
• Nuevo León — 41 stations, with Monterrey itself offering 52 more, one of Mexico's strongest radio markets.
• Veracruz — 44 stations and a completely different musical flavor: son jarocho, tropical and cumbia.
• And for the full picture, Mexico countrywide, including Mexico City with its 350 stations.

A Small City with a Long Signal

What stands out about Fresnillo is how much history fits into one medium-sized city. A station founded in 1940 on a tiny AM frequency is now broadcasting banda at 100,000 watts. A 1978 AM station became a modern FM regional format. And a 2012 non-commercial station just rearranged its own frequency to make space for community radio. Few cities of Fresnillo's size can tell that story in three stations.

For the Zacatecan diaspora in the US, that history is personal. These are the voices your family grew up with, the music played at weddings and quinceañeras, the news read in the accent of home. Whether you're in Chicago or Los Angeles, the signal reaches you now — no antenna required, just a tap on the station page and a little attention to the clock.