Radio stations from Puebla, Puebla

Puebla is one of those Mexican cities where radio feels genuinely local. The Angelópolis has its own station families, its own frequency battles, and a dial that reflects the city's character: romantic, regional, talkative, and musical all at once. Our catalog currently lists 28 live stations from Puebla, and several of them carry stories that go back decades — including one that starts in 1940.

If you grew up in Puebla, or your parents did, this guide walks the dial in roughly chronological order: the oldest stations first, then the frequency shuffle of recent years, then what to listen to today and how to hear it from the United States.

The oldest voice: XECD, the second station in Puebla

The story of Puebla radio really begins with XECD. It was the second radio station in the city, signing on the air on May 5, 1940 — a deliberate date, launching on the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla. It broadcast its first six months on 1340 kHz with 350 watts under concession holder Ricardo Vázquez.

The station changed hands several times in its early decades: Roberto Cañedo bought it in 1946, Oscar Frese Márquez took over five years later, and in 1954 Joaquín Grajales Corral acquired it. In 1969 the concession became Radio Puebla, S.A., and XECD grew into the flagship of Grupo Oro — a group still run by the Grajales family today.

XECD spent time as "Fórmula 1170" (affiliated with Radio Fórmula between 2004 and 2007), then became Ciudad W in 2015, linked to the W Radio network. In early 2018 it moved to FM at 92.9 MHz and adopted the romantic La Romántica format. When that format went online-only in 2021, the frequency flipped to Radio Disney, which is what you'll hear there now — with La Romántica surviving on the station's HD2 subchannel. The AM transmitter finally went silent in 2020.

A station born in Atlixco: the long road of Pasión FM

One of Puebla's most tangled station histories starts not in the capital but in nearby Atlixco. The concession for Pasión FM dates to June 17, 1961, when XEXD-AM 1450 was granted to Georgina Martínez Gardeazabal, broadcasting to Atlixco with 500 watts by day and 250 by night.

By the 1980s the station had become XEPUE-AM, still in Atlixco. After a 1996 sale to Operadora de Radio de Puebla, it relocated to the city of Puebla on 1210 kHz. Its FM migration was approved in 2018, and XHPUE-FM signed on that August at 92.1 FM, immediately swapping its regional Mexican "La Mexicana" format for the romantic Pasión FM coming over from 94.1.

But 92.1 was contested ground. Another station, XEEG, successfully appealed for the frequency, and in October 2020 XHPUE was ordered to move to 104.3 MHz, where Pasión FM lives today. For a stretch it even carried an overnight electronic music block called Kick FM, which ended in 2021. The AM signal was shut off for good in May 2020.

The FM boom of the 1970s

Puebla's FM band came alive in the early 1970s, and two stations from that era still shape the dial.

EXA FM 94.1, known then as XHJE-FM, began broadcasting in 1971 and received its concession in December 1972 — making it the first FM station in the state. Founded by Juan José Espejo Puente with a format called "La Chica Musical," it later passed to Grupo HR (today's Cinco Radio). In the mid-nineties it carried ACIR's English-language "Mix FM" brand, then became pop station "Más 94" in 2002. In 2016 it went romantic as Pasión FM, and when that format moved away in 2018, XHJE ended up in the hands of MVS Radio, which installed its national Exa FM pop format. That's what plays on 94.1 today.

La Grupera 89.3 got its concession in April 1975, founded by Ramón Bojalil Bojalil and operated by Organización Radio Oro as pop station "Estéreo Uno," later the tropical "Estéreo Tropicálida." Sold to Cinco Radio in the late 1980s, it became "Fantasía," then "Stereo 89.3" in the nineties. In 2002 the big switch happened: XHNP went regional Mexican as La Grupera, and its pop music moved over to 94.1. That 2002 format swap is a nice example of how Puebla's stations share a single family tree.

Two more FM concessions from the seventies round out the era:

• AMOR 103.3, granted in February 1976, originally held by Roberto H. López Hernández and first broadcasting at 93.3 MHz. Today it's an ACIR station carrying the romantic Amor format.
• La Tropical Caliente 102.1, conceded in December 1978 and founded by Vicente Capillo Rocha, originally at 90.9 MHz. It spent 1986 to 2001 operated by Cinco Radio and a period with Grupo ACIR before landing with Grupo JV Comunicaciones, where it plays grupera today.

The 1970s AM stations that became today's FM brands

Three current FM stations trace back to AM concessions from around 1970 — and all three ended up in the middle of the same regulatory mess involving unpaid migration fees.

W Radio 92.1 began as XEEG, conceded in November 1970 and licensed to Ramón Bojalil y Bojalil in Panzacola, on the Tlaxcala–Puebla border. It moved into the city of Puebla in the eighties. Its FM migration was approved in 2018, but the migration fee went unpaid, and the frequency was briefly assigned to another station — kicking off years of legal wrangling. After a court found the regulator at fault, XEEG finally got its FM home at 92.1, broadcasting full-time on FM since October 2023. In 2023 it also adopted the W Radio news and talk format under Grupo Radio Cañón, simulcasting on 1280 AM.

La Magnífica 95.5 has a parallel story. Its ancestor, XEZT-AM 1250, was conceded the same day as XEEG in November 1970 and sold in 1976. The approved 2017 migration to 95.5 FM fell through over the fee — which, it later emerged, the regulator itself had miscalculated. A lawsuit followed, a court ruled in the station's favor, and La Magnífica finally debuted on FM in November 2021 with its grupera format, now owned by Tribuna Comunicación.

La Comadre 105.5 is the third piece of the puzzle. XEHIT-AM 1310 was conceded in September 1968 and later acquired by Grupo ACIR. Its migration to 95.5 FM was approved in 2018 — but that was the frequency XEZT was fighting for, and XEZT won in court. So in October 2020, XHHIT-FM was moved to 105.5 MHz, changing format at the same time from Spanish oldies (Radio Felicidad) to the grupera La Comadre brand it carries today, transmitting from San Bernardino Tlaxcalancingo.

If you followed all that frequency chess, you understand Puebla radio better than most locals. The short version: today's dial is the result of a genuinely chaotic AM-to-FM migration in the late 2010s.

The 1980s newcomers

MATCH 90.1 received its concession in December 1977 and was owned by Ricardo Salas Ramón until 1986, when Radio Oro bought it. For years it was the pop station "Digital 90.1," until November 2014, when it became Radio Disney. That lasted exactly a decade of brand relationships ending: in December of that same period, Disney and ACIR mutually ended their partnership across twelve Mexican cities, and ten of those stations — including this one — flipped to ACIR's replacement pop format, Match. It's now one of the most-listened-to stations in our Puebla catalog.

MIX 91.7 was conceded in January 1982 to Juan Baptista Campo Rodríguez and sold to ACIR in 1993. It carries the adult hits Mix format.

And for something different, UP! 92.5.2 is an HD subchannel of XHZM-FM, Grupo Ultra's Ultra 92.5 — proof that Puebla radio has moved into the HD multicasting era alongside Mexico City's biggest markets.

What Puebla listens to

The genres on Puebla's dial mirror the city's tastes. In our catalog the breakdown looks like this:

• Pop Latino and hits: 15 stations
• News and talk: 11 stations
• Rock en Español: 10 stations
• Regional Mexican: 6 stations
• Romántica and baladas: 5 stations
• Clásicos and retro: 5 stations
• Banda: 5 stations
• Sports: 3 stations

Pop dominates, but the romantic tradition runs deep here — no surprise in a city that has carried formats like Amor, La Romántica, and Pasión FM across multiple frequencies for decades. If baladas are your thing, start with AMOR 103.3 or Pasión FM 104.3. For regional Mexican, La Grupera and La Comadre are the anchors. News junkies can turn to W Radio or Red Ciudadana 1120, while LA HR 1090 keeps AM alive. Browse by mood through our genre pages for pop latino, noticias, rock en español, regional mexicano, romántica, clásicos, banda, and deportes.

A quick listening tip: Mexican morning shows generally run 6 to 10 a.m. local time, and drive-time music and talk peak between 4 and 8 p.m. Local news stations tend to rebroadcast or run lighter programming late at night, so plan around those windows for the liveliest content.

Listening from the US

Puebla is in central Mexican time. Since Mexico eliminated daylight saving time, Puebla matches US Central Time during the months when most of the US is on standard time, and sits one hour behind Chicago (two behind New York) during the US summer. Practically: if it's noon in Puebla, it's 1 p.m. in Chicago from March to November, and noon the rest of the year.

That matters most for live content — morning shows, news blocks, and sports. Music stations you can enjoy any time. Our Puebla station pages stream live over the internet, so the signal is as clear in Los Angeles or Houston as it is on José María Lafragua.

A few practical pointers:

• Bookmark two or three stations rather than one, so you have a backup if a stream is down.
• For morning shows, tune in around 7 to 9 a.m. Puebla time — the sweet spot for hosts, guests, and call-ins.
• Sports fans should check deportes stations before Liga MX matches involving Puebla FC; local coverage tends to start an hour before kickoff.

Explore beyond Puebla

If Puebla's dial feels like home, the rest of the country is a click away. Mexico City has the country's largest selection with 350 stations, and many national formats you hear in Puebla — Amor, Mix, Match, W Radio — originate there. Guadalajara offers 59 stations with a distinctly tapatío flavor, while the state of Jalisco adds 54 more.

Closer to home, Veracruz brings 44 stations of tropical and son jarocho influence — a natural pairing with Puebla's own tropical history. To the north, Monterrey (52 stations, plus 41 more across Nuevo León), Chihuahua with 54, and Sinaloa with 67 — the heartland of banda — round out the map. And for everything in one place, browse the full Mexico directory.

Why the history matters

Puebla's dial isn't random. When you hear La Grupera on 89.3, you're hearing a station that was once pop "Estéreo Uno" and tropical "Tropicálida." When you hear Exa on 94.1, you're hearing the state's first FM station. When you hear W Radio on 92.1, you're hearing the end of a decade-long frequency dispute. Every station carries the traces of the ones that came before it — and for listeners far from home, that continuity is exactly the point. The voices change, the frequencies move, but Puebla radio keeps talking to Puebla. Wherever you are, you can listen.