Radio stations from Veracruz

Veracruz is one of Mexico's great radio states, and not just because of its size. Stretching from the Huasteca in the north to the tropical south around Coatzacoalcos, it has produced broadcasters, musicians, and listeners with deep loyalty to the dial. Our catalog currently lists 44 live stations from Veracruz, and the stories behind several of them trace the broader history of Mexican radio itself: AM concessions in the 1940s, the FM migration, the rise of national franchise networks, and the recent wave of consolidations.

This article walks through that history using the real station archives we have on file, then covers what you can hear today, which genres dominate the dial, and how to listen from the United States — including the time difference, the best hours to tune in, and what to do when a station changes names.

The earliest thread: from a 1946 AM concession to AMOR 91.7

The oldest story in our archives belongs to a frequency in Xalapa, the state capital. The concession for XEOZ-AM 960 was granted to Luis Ignacio Santibañez Patiño on January 16, 1946, in the early postwar expansion of Mexican AM radio. The company that holds it today was created in 1983, and in 1994 the station finally got its FM counterpart.

That FM signal is now AMOR 91.7 (Xalapa), XHOZ-FM, broadcasting a romantic format owned by Quatro Media Telecomunicaciones. It carried ACIR's satellite adult-contemporary programming in the 1990s, then switched to the romantic "Amor" image in the early 2000s — a run that lasted two decades. In October 2022, the on-air staff announced their departure, and Carlos Ferráez took over operations that November, keeping the Amor name at first. The handover followed the sale or closure of five ACIR stations across Veracruz during 2022, and the concession transfer was approved by the IFT in May 2023. In September 2023, the operator surrendered its AM authorization, leaving the station FM-only — the quiet end of a 77-year AM story.

For listeners, that history explains something practical: if you grew up with Amor in Xalapa and the stream sounds different than you remember, it's not your imagination. The brand survived the ownership change, but the people behind it did not. Romantic music is still the format — the station just belongs to a different operation now.

The second Santibañez station: from 1460 AM to W Radio

The Santibañez name appears again a generation later: XEJH-AM in Xalapa, conceded in 1980 to Luis Ignacio Santibañez Flores and transmitting on 1460 kHz. That station migrated to FM in 2012 and is today 92.9 FM (Xalapa), XHJH-FM. After the sale of ABC Radio from Organización Editorial Mexicana to NTR Medios de Comunicación in 2021, it took the Radio Cañón name, and in April 2023 it joined 21 other NTR stations in adopting a Radiópolis franchise — which is why it now carries W Radio's news and talk format.

This is one to bookmark if you want news from Mexico in real time. W Radio's programming is national conversation with local insertions, and 92.9 in Xalapa is your Veracruz connection to it.

The FM generation of the 1960s and 1970s

Two of Veracruz's current FM signals date from the era when FM music radio took hold in Mexico, and both have changed identities repeatedly since.

Soy 101.7 (Veracruz), XHPR-FM, received its concession in 1965 and began on 101.3 MHz under owner Emmy Pinto Reyes — a name that also appears in the early history of FM radio in Ciudad Juárez, where she obtained the original concession for XHEM-FM. The station moved to 101.7 in 1999 to avoid interference with other signals. Since then it has been through more identities than almost any station in the country: Vox FM, Los 40 Principales, Soy FM, Ke Buena, Pop FM, La Romántica, Oye 101, La Nueva Soy, and finally Soy 101.7. Each change reflected a national trend — the spread of Televisa's Los 40 franchise, the pop-to-grupero pivots that swept Mexican FM, and the 2016 sale to Grupo Radio Digital. Today it broadcasts as Soy FM (Veracruz), back on pop.

Ya! FM 102.9 (Veracruz), XHTS-FM, got its concession in June 1972 under Vicente Capillo Rocha at a hefty 28 kW, was sold to Radio Tipo in 1983, and by 2002 evolved from Stereo Oro into the pop station Ya! FM under what is now Grupo Pazos Radio. Fifty-plus years later it is still one of the port's go-to pop signals. You can listen today as Ya! FM (Veracruz) or YA! FM (Veracruz) — two listings for the same heritage, so pick either stream.

A practical takeaway from both stories: don't get attached to frequency-brand pairings in Veracruz. Search by city, and the stream will surface under whatever the current name is.

The 1990s and 2000s: franchises and state radio

The franchise era reshaped the whole country, and Veracruz was no exception. Radiorama's @FM hits format reached even small towns: XHPP-FM in Pánuco, conceded in May 1990, carried contemporary hits in English and Spanish from a transmitter at Pueblo Viejo, and between 2015 and 2018 it actually transmitted from across the state line in Tampico, Tamaulipas — a reminder of how geography, not state boundaries, often dictates coverage in the Huasteca, where Veracruz and Tamaulipas signals overlap.

The state itself entered broadcasting at the turn of the millennium. RadioMás (Orizaba) is the state radio network of Veracruz. It went on the air on April 6, 2000, initially with pre-recorded music and station IDs, with program production beginning that July. Most of its content originates from Xalapa and reaches listeners through five FM repeaters — though the two lowest-power ones, XHIXH-FM 107.3 in Ixhuatlán de Madero (400 watts) and XHSTX-FM 89.7 in Santiago Tuxtla (167 watts), were closed and their permits surrendered in December 2016. RadioMás remains one of the few public, state-run voices on the Veracruz dial, and a good choice when you want something outside the commercial franchise loop.

If there's one lesson from these archives, it's that Veracruz radio never sits still. Stations change names, owners, and formats constantly — which is exactly why listening live online, rather than memorizing a frequency, is the reliable way to keep up.

The stations to know today

Our catalog tracks listener popularity, and these are the most-heard Veracruz stations right now:

• La Mejor Veracruz and La Fiera Veracruz — grupero and regional Mexican favorites in the port city. There's also a second LA FIERA listing for the same market.
• La Inolvidable (Perote) and La Invasora (Perote) — the highlands east of Xalapa punch above their weight, with two of the most-listened streams in the state.
• La Ke Buena San Andrés Tuxtla and La Ke Buena Acayucan — Televisa Radio's regional Mexican franchise covering the tropical south.
• Exa FM Veracruz and LOS40 Veracruz — youth pop in the port, with LOS40 Xalapa and LOS40 Coatzacoalcos covering the capital and the far south.
• XEU La "U" de Veracruz and XEU (Veracruz) — the port's classic institution and one of the most recognizable call signs in the state.
• Radio fórmula (Veracruz) — news and talk from one of Mexico's biggest networks, also listed here.
• Fusión Veracruz — a rock-leaning mix, also available as a second stream.

And the regional picks beyond the big three cities:

• North: La Poderosa (Tuxpan), La Ola (Tuxpan), Arroba FM (Poza Rica), and La Gigante (Piedras Negras, Ver.)
• Central highlands: RadioMás (Orizaba), La Comadre 100.3 (Orizaba), La Dorada (Córdoba), La Más Buena (Córdoba), and AMOR 91.7 (Xalapa)
• Port and south: 92.9 FM (Xalapa), Ya! FM Veracruz, and Soy FM (Veracruz)

Notice how many towns appear: Veracruz city, Xalapa, Orizaba, Córdoba, Perote, Tuxpan, Poza Rica, San Andrés Tuxtla, Acayucan, Coatzacoalcos. Veracruz radio is genuinely regional — a listener in Córdoba hears a different dial than one in the port, and if your family is from Perote rather than Veracruz proper, the Perote stations may feel more like home than anything in the big city.

What the dial sounds like: genres

Veracruz is a tropical port state, but its actual dial tells a more balanced story. Here's the genre breakdown across our 44 stations:

• Pop Latino y Éxitos — 18 stations, the single biggest category
• Regional Mexicano — 14 stations
• Rock en Español — 11 stations
• Banda — 7 stations
• Tropical — 6 stations
• Salsa — 6 stations
• Noticias y Hablada — 6 stations
• Electrónica — 5 stations

A few observations worth knowing before you browse.

Tropical and salsa, the genres most associated with Veracruz's son jarocho and danzón heritage, are present but not dominant — the big regional Mexican franchises have absorbed much of that audience. If you specifically want salsa or tropical, use the genre pages rather than scrolling the full list; six stations each is a small pool and easy to miss.

Rock en Español at 11 stations is a notably strong showing, more than banda, and comparable to the tropical categories combined. Stations like Fusión Veracruz carry that mix.

The healthy news/talk presence — six stations — reflects both Radio Fórmula's reach and W Radio arriving on 92.9 in Xalapa. For Veracruzanos abroad who want to follow Mexican news in real time, this category is your daily companion.

Practical tip: genre pages are the fastest way to browse when you know what mood you're in but not which station. If you want banda, you skip straight to seven options instead of scrolling past 44. If it's Sunday and you want danzón, the tropical page gets you there in two clicks.

How to listen from the US

Every station above streams live on Radio en Vivo, which solves the biggest problem for Veracruzanos abroad: most of these signals were never meant to reach beyond their region, let alone across the border. A Tuxpan station at a few hundred watts doesn't reach Texas — but its stream does.

A few practical notes:

• Time difference. All of Veracruz observes Central Time — the same as Chicago, Dallas, and Houston, one hour ahead of Denver, two ahead of Los Angeles. For listeners on the East Coast, Veracruz radio is on your same clock. This matters for morning shows and news blocks: a 7 a.m. Xalapa drive-time program airs at 5 a.m. in Los Angeles and 8 a.m. in New York.
• Best hours to tune in. Mexican morning shows (roughly 6–10 a.m. Central) are the liveliest programming of the day — phone-ins, humor, and local news. Lunchtime hours often carry music-heavy blocks with dedications; evenings lean toward music and sports. Weekend afternoons frequently carry live local events and regional music blocks.
• Build a small routine. A pattern that works for many listeners: news on Radio fórmula (Veracruz) or 92.9 FM (Xalapa) with morning coffee, regional Mexican from La Mejor or La Fiera during the workday, and something slower like AMOR 91.7 in the evening.
• When names change, search by city. As the Soy 101.7 history shows, formats flip often — sometimes within months. If a station link stops matching what you hear, browse the Veracruz section again; the stream will be there under the current name.
• Use duplicates to your advantage. Several stations appear in our catalog twice (Ya! FM, Fusión, Radio Fórmula, LA FIERA). If one stream is slow or down, try the second listing — it's often a separate feed.

Nearby cities to explore

If you enjoy Veracruz radio, our catalog makes it easy to compare dials across Mexico. The largest selection is in Ciudad de México with 350 stations — the national reference point, where most of the franchise formats you hear in Veracruz (Los 40, Ke Buena, W Radio, Radio Fórmula) originate. Listening to the CDMX original next to its Veracruz franchise is an education in how national radio actually works.

Guadalajara, Jalisco has 59 stations and a strong regional identity of its own, while the broader Jalisco region adds 54 more. Northern Mexico offers a contrast worth hearing: Sinaloa with 67 stations is the heartland of banda music, so the genre balance there looks very different from Veracruz's. Chihuahua has 54 stations, Sonora 41, Monterrey, Nuevo León 52, and the wider Nuevo León region 41.

Start at the national Mexico page to see everything, then narrow by city or genre.

A dial worth returning to

Veracruz radio rewards attention. Behind today's familiar brand names — La Mejor, La Ke Buena, Exa, LOS40 — sit decades of concessions, sales, migrations, and reinventions: a 1946 AM license that only gave up AM in 2023, a station with ten different names in twenty years, and a state network that went on air with pre-recorded IDs and built itself into a public voice.

For listeners in the US, that history is now just a click away. Press play on a Xalapa morning show over coffee, catch the port's grupero stations in the afternoon, or let RadioMás from Orizaba keep you company in the evening. The dial back home is still very much alive.