Radio stations from Villahermosa, Tabasco

If you grew up in Villahermosa or your family did, the radio dial of Tabasco's capital carries a particular sound: humid-city cumbias, morning news with a sureste accent, tabasqueño humor, and the stations that have been the soundtrack of the Malecon, the Zona Luz, and family kitchens for generations. Today you can hear 32 stations from Villahermosa streaming live, and behind each frequency there is a real story, full of changes of ownership, formats, and names.

This guide walks through that history in order, tells you which stations matter today, breaks down what you'll hear in each genre, and explains how to listen from the US, including the time difference.

The Oldest Station in Tabasco: XEVT

Every story about radio in Villahermosa begins with XEVT 104.1. The station that today transmits as XHVT-FM on 104.1 keeps its old AM callsign because that history is worth keeping.

XEVT-AM 970 began test transmissions on August 7, 1954, and at the time it was the only radio station in the entire state. It was founded by Aquiles Calderón Marchena, authorized with 5,000 watts by day and 400 by night. The concession was granted on September 14, and the next day the station was formally inaugurated by Governor Manuel Bartlett Bautista, in the middle of an era of modernization for the state.

The early years were dramatic. On March 16, 1955, a group tried to use the station to broadcast messages of agitation; when the staff refused, they attempted to force their way in. One person died and much of the new equipment was destroyed. Transmissions resumed a month later.

In the late 1950s, the tabasqueño creative Manuel López Ochoa began his career as an announcer at XEVT. The station also changed hands and names frequently: it was "La Voz de Tabasco," then "Radio Fiesta," "Súper Variedades," and for a time Stereorey. The concession went to Radio Sureste, S.A. in 1978, then to Radio S.A. in the 1980s, and in 1999 it was sold to the Sibilla family, led by Jesús Antonio Sibilla Zurita, who had been connected to the station since the late 1950s through his newscast Telereportaje. The family relaunched it as a full-service station with news and opinion programming. The concession transferred to Jasz Radio in 2000, and on June 4, 2010, its migration to FM was approved, becoming XHVT-FM 104.1.

The 1950s and 1960s: A Second Voice

XEVT did not stay alone for long. Ya! FM 95.7 traces its origins to XEXJ-AM 1410, which received its concession on January 5, 1955, owned by Radio Televisora Tabasqueña, S.A., transmitting with 5,000 watts by day and 500 by night. In the late 1960s it adopted its current XETAB-AM callsign, and in the 1990s it moved to 1050 kHz with more power: 10,000 watts by day, 5,000 by night. In 2010, XETAB migrated to FM, and today it is the pop station XHTAB-FM 95.7.

XEVA 91.7 followed in 1960. The original XEVA-AM 790 received its concession on May 11 of that year, operating with 5,000 watts by day and 200 by night. In the 1990s it raised its power considerably, to 25,000 watts daytime and 5,000 nighttime, before migrating to FM as XHVA-FM 91.7 with authorization in June 2010. Like XEVT, it kept its old AM name, and it remains one of the most listened-to stations in the city today, alongside its catalog entry.

The 1970s: The FM Band Arrives

The 1970s brought a wave of new concessions, including the first FM signals in the market.

• W Radio 88.5: the 740 AM concession was granted in March 1971 to Enrique Lodoza Gómez, with the FM signal added in 1994. The station was known as "Stereo Vida," a Spanish contemporary format, until the launch of Exa FM in Villahermosa in 2002.
• Extremo FM 97.3: XHVB received its concession on October 9, 1979. It was owned by Eduardo León del Río and known as Super Stereo. In 2000 it was sold to its current concessionaire, Radio Núcleo, and adopted the name Extremo.
• VOX FM Radio Hits 96.5: XHOP received its concession on August 30, 1979, owned by Salvador García de los Santos, transmitting with 39 kW ERP. It was sold in the 1990s and passed to Radio Integral, the main Grupo ACIR concessionaire, in 2000.
• La Ke Buena 89.3: the story begins as XEQQQ-AM 1340 in Teapa, Tabasco, with its concession granted on April 21, 1978. After moving to Villahermosa it shifted to 880 kHz and was known as Triple Q and later Súper Q, with grupero formats.

The 1990s: New Stations and a Wandering Dial

The 1990s brought concessions that would later define the modern market, including stations that literally moved across the state before settling in the capital.

La Rancherita 99.1 began as XEVHT-AM 1270, which received its concession on September 30, 1992. It has belonged to Grupo Radiorama since then, launching as "Romántica 1270." In mid-2004 it became "Bésame 1270," repeating the signal generated from the Mexico City flagship XEQ-AM. In July 2008 it returned to Romántica 1270, but on September 17 of that year XEVHT and XEREC-AM 940 swapped formats, and XEVHT became a franchise of the W Radio news network. In 2010 the station migrated to FM, and in 2015 it switched to the pop/hits format @FM (Arroba FM). On July 4, 2021, Arroba FM ended and Oreja FM began. Then, on August 5, 2024, XHVHT changed from Oreja FM to La Rancherita, a regional Mexican format that had previously been on XHREC-FM. You can also find it listed as 99.1 La Rancherita.

LOS40 101.5 has an even longer journey. Its origins go back to XEFRO-AM 1320 in Frontera, Tabasco, owned by Raúl Estrada Tsuru, which received its concession on June 8, 1993 and was known as "Radio Frontera." In the late 1990s it moved to Paraíso, Tabasco, changed its callsign to XEPAR-AM, and adopted the name "La Buena." In the mid-2000s it moved again, this time to Villahermosa. In 2010 it was authorized to migrate to FM and went on the air that November, adopting the pop franchise Los 40.

The Great FM Migration and the Franchise Era

Notice a pattern? 2010 was the year AM stations across Villahermosa moved to FM: XEVT, XEVA, XETAB, XEVHT, and XEPAR all migrated that year or received authorization then. At the same time, national franchise formats, Ke Buena, Los 40, Exa, W Radio, increasingly shaped what local stations broadcast.

The Ke Buena story shows how this worked. In October 2010, the former Súper Q became a franchise of the national Ke Buena format, then part of Televisa Radio, just before XHQQQ-FM 89.3 launched on November 1, 2010.

Then came the shakeups. On January 1, 2020, Radio Núcleo handed operation of its three Villahermosa stations to Grupo Radio Comunicación, and all three changed format and name. XHQQQ kept its grupero sound as "Fiesta Mexicana," XHEPAR became "Estéreo Joven" as pop, and XHVB became "Inolvidable," a romantic format. After nine months, in October 2020, Radio Núcleo took direct operations back. XHQQQ and XHEPAR returned to their franchise formats, but XHVB adopted the romantic "Vox Love Station" format from Radiópolis, which later became Vox FM Radio Hits with adult contemporary music. On April 22, 2025, it dropped the Vox FM brand and brought back Extremo with its current regional Mexican format.

W Radio's path to 88.5 was equally winding. In 2012, XEKV/XHKV was sold to Radio Dinámica del Sureste, mainly owned by México Radio, the radio subsidiary of Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM). In 2021, NTR acquired OEM's ABC Radio group. The station kept the Exa FM format until April 16, 2023, when NTR's four Exa stations left that network. On April 24, 2023, through a national alliance between NTR and Radiópolis, 22 stations adopted Radiópolis franchise formats; since Ke Buena, Vox, and Los 40 already had a presence in Villahermosa, XHKV-XEKV joined the W Radio network, which had previously been in the city on XEREC-AM 940 and on XEVHT-AM 1270/XHVHT-FM 99.1 of Radiorama, exactly the station we know today as La Rancherita.

There is one more recent twist: the Amor format stayed on XHOP until December 14, 2023, when Grupo ACIR pulled its formats from the station group it operated in the market. XHOP is now part of Grupo Radio Cañón, broadcasting as VOX FM Radio Hits with adult contemporary music, and you'll also find Radio Cañón in the catalog.

What to Listen to Today

With 32 live stations, Villahermosa covers every mood. Here are reliable picks by what you're in the mood for.

News and Talk

News is the strongest genre in the city, with 16 stations. Start with XEVT, the full-service veteran, and W Radio 88.5, which carries the national W Radio talk lineup alongside regional programming. There's also the AM signal at W Radio 740.

Regional Mexican and Grupero

For música regional, La Rancherita 99.1 is the name locals trust, alongside La Poderosa and the current regional format on Extremo FM 97.3. The grupero sound lives on La Ke Buena 89.3, and Tabasco even has its own classical Mexican music station, the wonderfully named Radio Emisor Contenido con Calidad Música Clásica Mexicana Tabasco. Regional Mexican counts 8 stations in the city, 4 banda, and 2 tropical, a small but heartfelt tribute to tabasqueño cumbia culture.

Pop and Hits

For current hits, LOS40 Villahermosa at 101.5 is the flagship, with Ya! FM 95.7 and Mega FM as strong alternatives, plus La Q. Pop Latino and éxitos account for 11 stations, and románticas y baladas for 6.

Rock, Sports, and More

Rock en español is surprisingly strong here, with 12 stations carrying the genre, and 9 sports stations for following fútbol and the local scene. Radio UJAT, the university station, rounds out the dial with public-service programming, and Radio Mexicana and Radio Futurama keep classic and varied formats alive.

How to Listen from the US

Everything streams live, so all you need is a browser or phone. A few practical tips:

• Search by city, not just by station name. Stations change names often, as the histories above show. The Villahermosa catalog page keeps the current names.
• Bookmark two or three stations rather than one. If a format change hits your favorite (it happens, as 2020 and 2023 proved), you'll have a backup sound.
• Morning shows air live on local time, so plan around the time difference (below).
• Sports and news are the best live-listening genres: results and headlines feel immediate, even with a delay.

The Time Difference

Villahermosa is in the Central Time Zone, the same as Chicago, Dallas, and Houston, and one hour behind New York and Miami. This makes listening easy for the large tabasqueño communities in Texas:

• A morning show at 7 AM in Villahermosa starts at 7 AM in Houston or Dallas, 5 AM in Los Angeles, 8 AM in New York.
• Evening drive-time programming, around 5 to 8 PM local, is perfect for after-work listening anywhere in the Central zone.

No calculating, no missing the news. If you're on the East Coast, everything arrives one hour "early," which works nicely for catching morning radio before your commute.

Explore Beyond Villahermosa

Radio homesickness rarely stops at one city. If your family is from the gulf-southeast region, Veracruz, with 44 stations, is the natural next stop, close in climate, music, and accent. And when you want to zoom out, the full Mexico catalog connects you to the whole country.

For comparison, or just for wandering:

• Ciudad de México, 350 stations, the national reference for news and talk
• Guadalajara, 59 stations, and Jalisco state with 54
• Sinaloa, 67 stations, for banda country
• Chihuahua, 54 stations
• Monterrey, 52 stations, and Nuevo León with 41

A Dial That Keeps Rewriting Itself

What makes Villahermosa radio special is that its history is still in motion. XEVT has carried its 1954 legacy onto the FM band. La Rancherita 99.1 has been romantic, a W Radio affiliate, Arroba FM, Oreja FM, and regional Mexican, all within a couple of decades. Extremo left and came back. The lesson for a listener in the US: the stations endure even when the names change, and the sound of Tabasco, the news, the grupero, the cumbia, the tabasqueño voice on the microphone, travels as clearly to your kitchen in Houston or Chicago as it does to the Malecon in Villahermosa.

Press play, turn it up, and let the oldest station in Tabasco keep you company.