Radio stations from Pachuca, Hidalgo

La Bella Airosa on the Dial

Pachuca doesn't get the attention that Mexico City or Guadalajara get when people talk about Mexican radio, but the capital of Hidalgo has one of the most interesting dial histories in central Mexico. It is home to the very first radio station in the state of Hidalgo, a station that is still on the air today, and its FM band tells a story of format changes, call letter swaps, and national franchises coming and going.

If you grew up in Pachuca or somewhere nearby in Hidalgo, the names on the dial will feel familiar the moment you see them. And if you live in the United States now, the good news is that the whole Pachuca dial is available to stream live, so the sound of home is one click away, any time of day or night.

Where It All Began: The First Station in Hidalgo

The story of radio in Pachuca starts with what is today LA COMADRE 104.5. Behind the grupera music and the "comadre" branding sits XHRD-FM, and behind that sits a concession that dates back to October 4, 1945, when the station was licensed as XEPK-AM, transmitting initially on 1420 kHz.

XEPK went on the air on December 1 of that same year, making it the first radio station in the state of Hidalgo. The governor at the time, Vicente Aguirre del Castillo, was present at the inauguration, which tells you something about how big a moment this was for the city. Radio was still a young medium in Mexico, and for Pachuca to have its own station was a point of regional pride.

The station was originally owned by Red Central Radiofónica. Before long, XEPK moved to 1190 kHz and became a daytime-only station, which was common for AM stations of that era. Daytime operation meant the station had to sign off when the sun went down, a limitation that shaped listening habits for decades.

A New Call Sign, a New FM Signal

In the 1980s, the station's call sign changed to XEFIE-AM, and it gave birth to an FM companion, XHFIE-FM 104.5. That FM signal is the direct ancestor of the 104.5 you can hear in Pachuca today.

By the mid-1990s, another change came: the calls were swapped to XERD-AM 1240 and XHRD-FM 104.5, part of an exchange with the original XERD on 1420, which today is the sister station XHPK-FM 92.5. If you have ever wondered why Pachuca's dial history seems like a shell game of call letters, this is why. Stations traded identities, formats evolved, and the AM/FM combo structure settled into what it is now.

Today, the station operates as a combo: XERD-AM 1240 and XHRD-FM 104.5, owned by Grupo ACIR, carrying a grupera format under the La Comadre brand. So when you tune in to hear grupero, cumbia, and banda, you are listening to a signal whose roots go back to that December day in 1945 when Hidalgo first heard its own voice on the radio.

The Modern Era: One Frequency, Many Names

If the La Comadre story is about continuity, the story of CRYSTAL 106.1 is about change. XHPCA-FM received its concession on October 25, 1991, founded by Carlos Rafael González Aragón Ortiz, and was later sold to Grupo Siete Comunicación, which owns it today.

The station began with the Crystal format, a Regional Mexican brand. But 106.1 has worn many hats since:

• Crystal — the original Regional Mexican format
• Exa FM — starting in 2004, after Grupo Siete signed an agreement with MVS Radio
• Neurótica FM — relaunched in February 2008 after the MVS deal ended, borrowing a name already used on the company's XHTOM-FM in Toluca
• Los 40 Principales — the franchised pop format adopted on February 27, 2009, lasting until January 1, 2013
• +Radio (Más Radio) and later Neurótik — different names for essentially the same pop format, into 2021
• Radio Disney — from May 31, 2021, becoming Grupo Siete's third Radio Disney station
• Crystal again — on August 29, 2022, XHPCA and XHMY-FM 95.7 swapped formats, and Crystal returned to 106.1

That last swap is why the dial looks the way it does now: 106.1 is Regional Mexican again as Radio Crystal, while 95.7 carries the Radio Disney franchise. You can hear the current result at RADIO DISNEY 95.7 and 106.1 Crystal. For listeners who grew up in Pachuca in the 2000s or 2010s, the 106.1 frequency probably means something different depending on the year they left. The format may have changed, but the frequency has been a constant companion through three decades.

The Stations to Know Today

The catalog currently lists 8 live stations from Pachuca. Beyond the two big historical signals, here are the others worth knowing:

• MIX 92.5 — the pop and hits station, sitting on the frequency that connects back to the original XERD on 1420 through its sister station XHPK-FM 92.5. A solid choice for current Latin pop.
• Radio Disney — the youth pop franchise, now on 95.7 after the 2022 format swap.
• Mayéutica Radio — a different kind of voice on the Pachuca dial, worth a listen if you want something beyond the commercial formats.

Between these and the La Comadre and Crystal signals, you get a good picture of what Pachuca listens to: grupera and banda for the older crowd, pop and hits for younger listeners, and a few more specialized options.

What You'll Hear: Genres on the Pachuca Dial

Pachuca's 8 stations break down across a surprising range of genres. Here is the landscape, with links to explore each one beyond Pachuca:

• Pop Latino and Hits — the biggest category, with 6 stations in the catalog. Stations like MIX 92.5 and Radio Disney carry the current charts. Browse more at Pop Latino.
• Rock en Español — 4 stations serve Spanish-language rock fans, a genre with deep roots in central Mexico. See Rock en Español.
• Regional Mexicano — 4 stations, including Crystal 106.1, playing the grupero, norteño, and banda sounds of home. Explore Regional Mexicano.
• Noticias and Talk — 2 stations for news and spoken word, useful for keeping up with what is happening in Hidalgo. Try Noticias.
• Banda — 2 stations dedicated to banda, the sound of many a family gathering. See Banda.
• Electrónica — 1 station for electronic music. Browse Electrónica.
• Deportes — 1 station for sports talk and live coverage. See Deportes.
• Clásicos y Retro — 1 station for the classics. Explore Clásicos.

For a city its size, that is a genuinely varied dial. Grupera dominates the identity of Pachuca radio, thanks in part to La Comadre's long history, but pop and rock have a strong presence too.

How to Listen from the United States

Everything listed above streams live online, which means distance is no longer a barrier. A few practical tips:

• Bookmark your station page. Each station in the catalog has its own page with the live player, so save your favorites for one-tap access.
• Listen on your phone. The streams work on mobile, so you can have Pachuca radio in the kitchen, the car, or on your commute.
• Use the news stations for connection. If you want to know what is happening back in Hidalgo, the news and talk stations are your best window, especially around elections, weather events, or local festivals.
• Morning shows are the heartbeat. Like most Mexican stations, the big personalities tend to be on in the morning local time. Plan around that if you want the full show experience rather than just music.

The Time Difference

This part is simple, and it works in your favor. Almost all of Mexico, including Hidalgo, dropped daylight saving time, so Pachuca sits at a fixed offset from US time zones:

• Eastern Time (New York, Miami, Atlanta): Pachuca is 1 hour behind, most of the year. During the weeks when the US is on daylight saving time and Mexico is not, Pachuca is 2 hours behind.
• Central Time (Chicago, Dallas, Houston): Pachuca is usually on the same clock, though during US daylight saving weeks it is 1 hour behind.
• Mountain and Pacific Time: subtract 1 to 2 additional hours depending on the season.

The practical takeaway: if you are on Central Time, Pachuca's morning shows start when your morning starts. An 8 AM show in Pachuca is 8 AM in Houston for most of the year. East Coast listeners get it at 9 or 10 AM, which is perfect for a mid-morning coffee with the sound of home.

Explore Beyond Pachuca

Pachuca's dial is small but mighty, and once you have explored it, the catalog opens up the rest of Mexico. Hidalgo sits close to Mexico City, and much of Pachuca's media world is connected to the capital. Some places to explore next:

• Mexico City — the giant, with 350 stations. If it exists in Mexican radio, it exists here.
• Guadalajara — 59 stations from Mexico's second great radio city.
• Monterrey — 52 stations with a northern flavor.
• Veracruz — 44 stations from the Gulf coast.
• Chihuahua — 54 stations from the north.
• Sinaloa — 67 stations, home turf of banda music.
• Or start wide with the full Mexico directory.

Veracruz is a natural neighbor for Hidalgo listeners, given the historical migration ties between the two states, and many families in Hidalgo have roots or relatives on the Gulf side. Sinaloa is worth a visit if banda is your sound, since it is the genre's heartland.

A Dial Worth Returning To

Pachuca's radio story is really two stories. One is about endurance: a station that signed on in December 1945 as the first in Hidalgo, changed frequencies, changed call letters, changed owners, and is still on the air today playing grupera for the city. The other is about reinvention: a frequency that has been Crystal, Exa, Neurótica, Los 40, and Radio Disney, finally circling back to where it started.

Both stories are still playing out live, every day, on the Pachuca dial. Whether you left Hidalgo last year or thirty years ago, the sound of La Bella Airosola is waiting, streaming live, no matter which US time zone you call home now.