Radio stations from La Paz, Baja California Sur

La Paz is small compared to Mexico's radio capitals, but its dial carries an outsized history. This was the home of Baja California Sur's very first radio station, its first FM station, and a state radio network that has served remote communities across the peninsula for decades. If your family is from La Paz, or you fell in love with the city on a trip along the Sea of Cortez, the local dial is a direct line back.

This guide walks through that history, the stations worth knowing today, the sounds that define the city, and how to listen live from the United States. We currently list 15 live stations from La Paz, all streaming free.

The story of La Paz radio, told through its stations

The first station in the state: XENT-AM

Radio in Baja California Sur begins with RADIO FÓRMULA 97.5, though today's station sounds nothing like the original.

The call sign XENT has one of the strangest backstories in Mexican radio. It was first used by a border blaster licensed to Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, which broadcast at night from 1933 to 1940 with a reported power of 50 to 150 kilowatts. That station was the continuation of KTNT, run by Norman G. Baker, an Iowa broadcaster and notorious cancer-cure promoter whose previous station had been forced off the air in 1931 for excessive self-promotion and a lack of candor. The XENT transmitter was later sold and moved to San Antonio in a controversial 1944–1945 deal — a footnote in US radio history.

The call sign then found a new life far to the west. On July 19, 1956, a concession for XENT-AM was granted to Radio La Paz, S.A. It was the first radio station in Baja California Sur, operated by the King family, who would later launch XHK-TV channel 10. For decades the King family's Radio La Paz shaped broadcasting in the state. In the mid-2000s, the station was sold to Radio Fórmula, the major national talk network, and today you can hear it in La Paz as Radio Fórmula on 97.5 FM and 790 AM.

The Aréchiga family arrives: XEHZ and La HZ

The state's second radio station belongs to the other great La Paz broadcasting family. 105.5 La HZ traces its roots to XEHZ, the first station of the Aréchiga Espinoza family, which received its concession on December 4, 1963. In 2011, the station was authorized to migrate to the FM band, where it continues today as XHHZ-FM 105.5.

The Aréchiga Espinoza group, Promomedios California, would go on to become a radio force in the state — and it did so partly by acquiring stations from the King family's empire, as you'll see next.

The first FM station in Baja California Sur

ALEGRÍA MEXICANA 90.1 holds a milestone: its call sign XHW received its concession on April 23, 1964, making it the first FM station in Baja California Sur. It launched with just 250 watts, owned by Radio La Paz, S.A., the King family company controlled by Francisco King Rondero, a true pioneer of radio and television in the state.

By 1986, XHW was transmitting with 880 watts. In the 1980s, the station was sold to Promomedios California — the Aréchiga Espinoza group — folding this piece of King family history into the rival dynasty's portfolio. Today it broadcasts as Alegría Mexicana, a name that tells you exactly what to expect: regional Mexican music and the warmth of home.

Radio for the whole state: La Radio de Sudcalifornia

Not all of La Paz's radio history is commercial. LA RADIO DE SUDCALIFORNIA 99.1 is the state radio network of Baja California Sur, and its origins go back to March 31, 1984, when state radio services began broadcasting from XEBCS-AM on 1050 kHz.

In 1996, the station — then known as Radio Cultural — merged with the new Canal 8 television station in La Paz to form the state's Instituto Estatal de Radio y Televisión. The network's modern shape came in 2011, when the state government received permits to build FM stations on 99.1 MHz in La Paz, Bahía de Tortugas, Cabo San Lucas, Ciudad Constitución, Guerrero Negro, Loreto, and Santa Rosalía. Most programming still originates in the capital, with the Los Cabos area producing some of its own content — and since 2022, the Los Cabos transmitter carries separate programming for the southern part of the state.

There is one more twist: in 2013, XEBCS-AM was authorized to migrate to FM as XHEBCS-FM 99.9, but that facility was never built. In 2024, the state announced it would transfer the unused concession to the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, which owns XEUBS-AM 1180 in La Paz. The transfer was approved on May 7, 2025 — so university radio in La Paz may soon have an FM home too.

Stations to know today

Here are the La Paz stations our listeners tune into most, and what each one is good for:

• Estéreo Romance 100.7 — the most-listened station in our La Paz catalog. Ballads and romantic music, ideal for quiet mornings or late evenings.
• Digimix 95, 95.9 FM — contemporary hits and pop for a younger audience.
• Alegría Mexicana 90.1 — regional Mexican music from the state's first FM station.
• La HZ 105.5 — another strong regional Mexican option with deep family roots in the city.
• La Radio de Sudcalifornia 99.1 — state news, culture, and public-service programming.
• Radio Fórmula 97.5 — national news and talk from one of Mexico's biggest networks.
• Altavoz Radio 88.9 — a community and cultural voice on the dial.

What La Paz sounds like: genres on the dial

The musical identity of La Paz leans heavily regional, which makes sense for a city so tied to ranchera and banda traditions of the northwest. Here is how our 15 stations break down by genre:

• Regional Mexicano — 7 stations, the heart of the La Paz dial
• Románticas y Baladas — 5 stations
• Banda — 5 stations
• Pop Latino y Éxitos — 2 stations
• Noticias y Hablada — 2 stations
• Comunitaria y Cultural — 2 stations
• Clásicos y Retro — 2 stations
• Deportes — 1 station

A practical reading of those numbers: for music, start with the regional Mexican and banda stations if you want the sound of a Sunday family gathering, or Estéreo Romance if your parents played baladas in the car. For news and connection to what is happening in Baja California Sur, La Radio de Sudcalifornia and Radio Fórmula cover the state and the nation respectively.

How to listen from the US

Every La Paz station in our directory streams live and free, so all you need is a phone, tablet, or computer.

A few tips that make a real difference:

• Mind the time difference. La Paz sits in the Mountain time zone. If you are on the US East Coast, La Paz radio is two hours behind you; on the US West Coast, one hour ahead. That means a morning show airing at 8:00 a.m. in La Paz starts at 10:00 a.m. in New York or 7:00 a.m. in Los Angeles. Drive-time shows in the late afternoon in La Paz land conveniently around lunch or mid-afternoon for East Coast listeners.
• Morning shows are the cultural heart. Spanish-language morning programs carry local news, dedications, and humor. Catching them live is the closest thing to being there over breakfast.
• Save your favorites. Once you find the stations that feel like home, bookmark them. If your family is from La Paz, ask which frequency they grew up with — with stations dating to the 1950s and 1960s, chances are there is a story attached.
• News and sports for expat life. If you want to follow events in Baja California Sur — elections, hurricanes, fishing seasons, the Cabo scene — the state network on 99.1 is your best source, with Radio Fórmula adding national perspective.

Explore radio beyond La Paz

La Paz is a great starting point, but Mexico's radio landscape is enormous. Our full Mexico directory covers the whole country, and these regional listings pair naturally with La Paz:

• Sinaloa — 67 stations. The musical neighbor across the Gulf of California, and the cradle of banda. If you love the banda stations of La Paz, Sinaloa's dial is the deep catalog.
• Ciudad de México — 350 stations, the largest selection in the country, for every genre imaginable.
• Guadalajara, Jalisco — 59 stations in the home of mariachi and regional Mexican music.
• Jalisco state — 54 more stations beyond Guadalajara.
• Monterrey, Nuevo León — 52 stations from the norteño heartland.
• Chihuahua — 54 stations from Mexico's largest state.
• Veracruz — 44 stations with a distinctly tropical, son jarocho flavor.
• Nuevo León — 41 stations across the state.

Why La Paz radio is worth your presets

Few cities of its size can claim La Paz's radio pedigree: the first AM station in Baja California Sur in 1956, the first FM station in 1964, and a state network that reaches from Guerrero Negro to Cabo San Lucas. Two families — the Kings and the Aréchiga Espinozas — built an industry from scratch on a remote peninsula, and their stations are still on the air today.

Press play on Estéreo Romance for the ballads, Alegría Mexicana for the banda, or La Radio de Sudcalifornia for the news of home. However far you are from the Malecón, the sound of La Paz is only a tap away.