Radio stations from Mexicali, Baja California

Radio in Mexicali, Baja California: The Border City on the Dial

Mexicali is a city built on crossing lines. It sits directly across the border from Calexico, California, and its radio dial reflects that double life: Mexican networks, border-blasting signals, and stations that generations of families have grown up with on both sides of the line. If you're from Mexicali and living in the US, tuning in is one of the fastest ways to feel at home again — the same hosts, the same news cycle, the same music your parents played in the car.

Our directory currently lists 35 live stations from Mexicali, and this guide walks you through the story of the city's radio told through those stations, what to listen to today, and how to handle the time difference when you're streaming from el otro lado.

The Story of Mexicali Radio, Told Through Its Stations

Mexicali's radio history isn't abstract. You can trace it dial by dial, because many of the stations broadcasting today have been on the air for decades under one name or another.

The AM foundations: the 1950s

The oldest story in our catalog belongs to 790 AM. XESU-AM received its concession in 1957 and was founded by Ignacio Cárdenas Galvez, then sold to Luis Blando López in the 1960s. Today that signal lives on as part of La Dinámica 105.9, which transmits on FM alongside its AM sister on 790 La Dinámica, both owned by Radiorama. That AM-to-FM pairing is a very Mexican radio story: the FM signal arrived in 1994, during the first wave of AM-FM combos authorized in Mexico, and the two frequencies have shared identity ever since.

If you grew up with Mexicali AM radio, you already know how important those frequencies were in a desert city where the signal carried far after dark. Stations like W RADIO 940, LA GRAN D 1050 and Radio Mexicana 910 continue that AM tradition today.

The FM boom: the 1970s and 1980s

The 1970s and 1980s brought FM to Mexicali, and with it the stations that defined the city's sound for a generation.

Globo 101.9 (XHPF-FM) received its first concession in 1976, with the original concession holder Frecuencia Modulada de Mexicali, S.A. It's now part of MVS Radio and carries the romantic Globo format — baladas, classics, and that unmistakable warm delivery. Here's the detail that makes XHPF special nationally: it was one of the last stations anywhere to keep the name "FM Globo," the brand MVS used for decades. By 2018, only XHPF in Mexicali and one station in Ojinaga, Chihuahua, still used it, before the format expanded again to Guadalajara, Monterrey and Tijuana. For romantics in the US, Globo 101.9 is one of the most-listened stations in our whole Mexicali catalog — and now you know why it sounds so classic. It anchors the Románticas y Baladas offering in the city.

A few years later came two more FM stations that are still on the air:

• 91.5 FM (XHJC-FM) was concessioned in 1980 to José de Jesús Cortés y Barbosa. Its first format was called Fórmula Melódica — better known locally as "Musicali" — which lasted about a year before relaunching as pop station Sonido 91. In the nineties it was sold to MVS Radio and became Pulsar FM, a brand MVS shared with Grupo Imagen at the time. When MVS launched Exa FM nationally in 2000, the station followed, and it's been EXA FM 91.5 ever since. Pop in Spanish, youth-oriented, with the network's signature energy.
• 92.3 FM (XHMMF) also got its concession in 1980, though the frequency had been proposed as far back as 1964. It started as Estéreo Ritmo with Spanish-language pop, became La Poderosa in the 2000s, and in 2013 adopted the grupera format it carries today as La Bestia Grupera 92.3. If your family listened to pop on 92.3 in the eighties and you tune in now expecting the same, expect banda instead — stations change clothes, but the frequency keeps its soul.
• 89.9 FM (XHSOL-FM) was concessioned in 1983 and hit the air as Stereo Sol — it should have been XHFE-FM by callsign order, but came on as XHSOL instead. Its format history reads like a playlist of Mexican radio franchises: Ke Buena (Televisa Radio) in 2004, pop as "89.9 Only Hits" in 2006, then "Máxima," then La Invasora (grupera) in 2009, then oldies as Tu Recuerdo in 2011. The current pop format, Súper, first arrived in 2013, briefly swapped places with an adult contemporary format on another frequency, and returned to 89.9 for good in 2016. Today it's 89.9 Super.

The 1990s and 2000s: consolidation and format roulette

The most dramatic biography in the catalog belongs to 96.9 FM (XHMUG-FM). Its concession dates to 1994, originally for a different frequency (94.1) in Murguía, under Héctor Renato Brassea Eguía. It launched as tropical station La Sabrosita, then moved to Mexicali and 96.9. Since then it's been Fuerza Latina (regional Mexican, 2003), La Z under Grupo Radio México (2009), La Poderosa under Radiorama (2016), Toño under Larsa (2017), and La Poderosa again after Radiorama took back operations in 2018 — this time with classic hits in English and Spanish. From 2019 it even simulcast with 1050 AM until Cadena RASA acquired that frequency in 2023. LA PODEROSA 96.9 is currently listed as silent in our catalog, a reminder that border radio is a business with real casualties — but its story is Mexicali's story.

The 2000s and beyond brought the big national brands to full strength in Mexicali: MVS's news network on AM, Televisa's LOS40 for top-40 pop on 90.7 LOS40, and public radio from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California on 104.1 UABC Radio — the city's university voice and a great source of local culture and discussion.

The Stations to Know Today

Out of the 35 stations in our Mexicali catalog, these are the ones our listeners tune into most:

• Globo 101.9 — romantic classics and baladas, the nostalgic anchor of the dial.
• W RADIO 940 — the W Radio network's talk, news and big-name hosts on AM.
• BUENISIIMA and BUENISIIMA 850 — regional Mexican energy, on FM and AM.
• +Acceso Total — one of the city's most-streamed stations, in the talk/variety lane.
• LA GRAN D 1050 — AM regional Mexican, the old-school favorite.
• EXA FM 91.5 — current pop in Spanish.
• 1120 Noticias MVS — all-news MVS, ideal for staying current with Mexico from abroad.
• LA DINÁMICA 105.9 — Radiorama's FM/AM combo.
• La Bestia Grupera 92.3 — grupera and banda.
• 89.9 Super — pop hits.
• 104.1 UABC Radio — university public radio.
• 1370 Vida — a quieter corner of the AM dial.

A quick note on duplicates: some stations appear twice in the catalog because they're listed under different names (for example NOTICIAS MVS 1120 and 1120 Noticias MVS, or VIDA 1370 and 1370 Vida). If one stream doesn't load, try its twin — it's the same station with an alternate listing.

What Genres Dominate the Mexicali Dial

The genre breakdown tells you a lot about what this city listens to:

• Pop Latino and hits — 21 stations. The biggest category by far. Between Exa, Los40, Super and more, Mexicali leans heavily into current Spanish-language pop.
• Clásicos y Retro — 14 stations. Decades of radio history mean decades of catalogs to draw from. Globo 101.9 lives here, alongside classic hits stations.
• Noticias y Hablada — 13 stations. Strong for a mid-size city. MVS Noticias on 1120, W Radio on 940 and +Acceso Total keep you informed; browse all of them in Noticias y Hablada.
• Rock en Español — 12 stations. Baja California has always had a rock streak, and Mexicali's dial shows it.
• Regional Mexicano — 10 stations. Banda, norteño and grupera, from Buenisiima to La Bestia Grupera.
• Románticas y Baladas — 7 stations, Electrónica — 2, and Deportes — 2 round out the dial.

If you're building a listening routine, try this: news from Mexico on 1120 or 940 with your morning coffee, pop or rock through the workday, and Globo's baladas in the evening when the homesickness hits. It works out to a full day of Mexicali without leaving your kitchen.

How to Listen from the US (and the Time Difference)

Here's the practical part. Every station above streams live through our directory — no app downloads, no FM antenna, no border radio static.

A few tips:

• Mind the time zone. Mexicali is in Pacific Time, matching California, Arizona (for most of the year) and Nevada. If you're in Texas, Illinois, New York or Florida, Mexicali is 1 to 3 hours behind you. A 7:00 AM Mexicali morning show starts at 8:00 AM in Chicago, 9:00 AM in New York, 10:00 AM in San Juan. Plan your news and morning-show listening around that.
• Border radio is a two-way street. Because Mexicali's transmitters sit right on the border, many stations were designed to reach listeners in California's Imperial Valley and beyond. Streaming just extends that old tradition.
• News timing matters. Mexican morning news and midday talk generally air in the morning and early afternoon Pacific Time. From the East Coast, that means late morning and mid-afternoon local time — perfect for a lunchtime check-in with home.
• If a stream stalls, try the alternate listing. As mentioned, several stations have two catalog entries; one is often more stable than the other.

Explore Beyond Mexicali

Once you've got your Mexicali stations saved, the rest of Mexico is a click away through our Mexico directory. A few natural next stops:

• Ciudad de México — 350 stations, the deepest dial in the country, including the national network flagships you'll recognize from Mexicali.
• Sinaloa — 67 stations and the home sound of banda and regional Mexican music.
• Guadalajara, Jalisco — 59 stations from Mexico's second-biggest radio market.
• Chihuahua — 54 stations from the north.
• Monterrey, Nuevo León — 52 stations, with a rock and news identity all its own.
• Veracruz — 44 stations and the tropical sound of the Gulf.
• Jalisco and Nuevo León — full state listings beyond the big cities.

If Globo 101.9's romantic format is your thing, you'll find the same Globo sound now reaching listeners in Guadalajara, Monterrey and Tijuana — one more way a Mexicali original became a national brand.

Why Mexicali Radio Is Worth Keeping On

Few Mexican cities have a radio identity as layered as Mexicali's. A dial where a 1957 AM signal still shares a brand with its FM sister, where a 1976 romantic station outlasted nearly every other "FM Globo" in the country, and where one frequency has carried six different formats in thirty years — that's a living archive of Mexican broadcasting.

Whether you left Mexicali last year or your family left a generation ago, those voices are still on the air. Press play on Globo 101.9 or 1120 Noticias MVS, and you're back on Benito Juárez Boulevard at rush hour, minus the heat.