Radio stations from Zacatecas

Zacatecas is one of those states that people carry with them long after they leave. If you grew up between the capital, Fresnillo, Jerez, or Río Grande, the sound of home is unmistakable: banda horns, romantic balladas, the measured voice of a local news anchor reading the day's events. The good news is that all of that is still on the air, and you can hear it from Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, or wherever life took you.

Our Zacatecas catalog currently lists 24 live stations, and unlike bigger markets where national chains dominate, Zacatecas radio still feels local. Many stations serve specific towns — Fresnillo, Jerez, Río Grande, Calera — rather than just the capital. That's part of what makes listening from abroad so comforting: you're not hearing a generic national feed, you're hearing your town.

This guide walks through the story of radio in Zacatecas as told by two of its real stations, introduces the stations worth knowing today, explains the genres you'll hear, and gives you practical tips for listening from the US, including the time difference.

A Story Told in Two Stations

Detailed broadcast histories are hard to come by for regional Mexican radio, but two stations in our catalog have well-documented pasts that trace nearly eight decades of Zacatecas broadcasting. Together they tell the story of how radio in the state grew from tiny AM outlets into the FM stations we stream today.

Digital 106.5: From a 100-Watt AM Outlet to FM Pop

Digital 106.5 broadcasts today as XHLK-FM, a pop station in the city of Zacatecas owned by Grupo Radiofónico ZER. Its roots go back much further than its youth-oriented sound suggests.

The station's story begins with XELK-AM 1080, which received its concession on December 3, 1939 — a remarkably early date for a state like Zacatecas. It was a modest operation: 100 watts, owned by Jesús Macías Guerrero and José Miguel Acevedo. Radio in those years was a truly local affair, reaching only the immediate area around the transmitter.

The station changed hands and frequencies several times over the decades. In 1961 it was sold to Victoria Graciela Alba de Llamas. It transmitted on 1280 kHz with 500 watts into the 1960s, and by the 1980s it had moved to 830 kHz. Power grew steadily; by the 2000s, XELK was running 10,000 watts during daytime hours. In 2000, the station was bought by Radio Publicidad Zacatecana.

The biggest transformation came in November 2010, when XELK migrated from AM to FM and became XHLK-FM 106.5. The station carried the "Digital" pop format associated with ACIR — and here's a detail that makes it special: it is the last station anywhere to keep the Digital format. Since 2013, ACIR's pop stations switched to Radio Disney, but Digital 106.5 held on. Grupo ZER's contract with ACIR expired in early 2017, and the station now runs the format independently. In 2018, Mexico's telecom regulator (the IFT) approved a power increase and class change for XHLK-FM, cementing its place in the capital's dial.

So when you stream Digital 106.5 today, you're hearing the direct descendant of a station that signed on when radio itself was still a novelty in Zacatecas.

Radio Jerez: A Town's Voice Since 1978

If Digital 106.5 tells the capital's story, Radio Jerez (XHXM 89.1) tells the story of the smaller towns — and of Jerez specifically, the beautiful municipio that has sent so many of its natives north to the US.

Radio Jerez began in 1978 as XEXM-AM 1360, owned by Jesús Ávila Femat. AM stations like this one were the backbone of small-town Mexico: community news, local sports, requests dedicated to compadres, and music for the fiestas. The station later moved its dial position to 1150.

The migration to FM came in the 2010s, part of the same nationwide shift that transformed XELK in the capital. In 2012, XEXM requested a move to the lowest available frequency, 870, and began its migration to FM as XHXM-FM 89.1. In 2013, the concession was transferred to Arnoldo Rodríguez Zermeño, and today the station belongs to Grupo Radiofónico ZER — the same group behind Digital 106.5, which shows how local radio in Zacatecas consolidated over the decades into fewer, stronger hands.

Radio Jerez continues to broadcast programming aimed at the jerezana community, which makes it one of the best picks for Zacatecanos in the US who want to stay connected to a specific town rather than the state in general.

The Stations to Know Today

Here are the most-listened stations from our Zacatecas catalog, organized by where they broadcast.

In the Capital

• Lupe (Zacatecas) — one of the most-played stations in our catalog, a favorite among listeners on both sides of the border.
• La Líder Stereo ZER — another Grupo ZER staple and a top choice in the capital.
• Digital 106.5 — the pop descendant of XELK-AM described above.
• AMOR es — the romantic option for baladas and dedications.
• Sonido Estrella — variety programming with a local touch.
• Radio Zacatecas — the station many zacatecanos grew up with for news and civic life.
• La Voz and Caxcán FM — rounding out the capital's dial with talk and music.

In Fresnillo

Fresnillo, the state's second-largest city, has a rich dial of its own:

• La Única Fresnillo — the name says it all; a local favorite.
• La Ele (Fresnillo) and La Tremenda — two more stations with loyal local followings.
• Exa FM Fresnillo — youth-oriented hits.
• Stereo Fresnillo and WRadio Fresnillo 94.3 FM — music and national news respectively.

In Jerez, Río Grande, and Calera

• Inolvidable (Jerez) — the name means "unforgettable," and for jerezanos abroad, it often is.
• Radio Jerez — the FM descendant of that 1978 AM station.
• La Bonita del Norte (Río Grande) and La Grande (Río Grande) — serving the norteño heartland in the state's north.
• La Q Lomas De Calera 640 AM — a rare surviving AM voice, for listeners near Calera.

What You'll Hear: Genres in Zacatecas

The genre breakdown of our 24 stations tells you a lot about zacatecano taste:

• Regional Mexicano — 9 stations, the clear leader. Banda, norteño, and corridos are the soundtrack of the state.
• Románticas y Baladas — 8 stations. Dedication shows and love songs remain hugely popular, especially in the evenings.
• Pop Latino y Éxitos — 6 stations, including Digital 106.5 and Exa FM Fresnillo.
• Noticias y Hablada — 5 stations. Local news, talk shows, and community announcements — vital if you want to know what's actually happening back home.
• Rock en Español and Banda — 3 stations each.
• Clásicos y Retro — 2 stations for the oldies.
• Tropical — 1 station keeping cumbia and tropical sounds alive.

Notice the pattern: roughly two-thirds of the dial is music you'd associate with an older, hometown audience — regional Mexican, baladas, clásicos — while news and talk hold a solid share. This is radio for staying connected, not just background noise.

How to Listen from the US

Every station listed above streams live through our directory. Here's how to make the most of it:

Find your station by town, not just by name

Station names repeat across Mexico ("La Única," "La Grande" exist in many states). The fastest way to find your station is to browse the Zacatecas listings and look for your town in the station's location. If your family is from Fresnillo, filter for Fresnillo stations first.

Match your listening to local time

Zacatecas observes Central Time — the same as Chicago and Dallas, one hour ahead of Denver, two hours ahead of Los Angeles (Pacific). During the parts of the year when the US observes daylight saving time and Mexico does not, the gap can shift by an hour, so double-check before setting an alarm for a favorite show.

Practically, this means:

• Morning shows in Zacatecas (roughly 6 to 10 AM local) start at 4 AM in California — great for early risers or night-shift workers.
• Midday news and música de.request shows air at midday in the Central US time zones.
• Evening dedication programs, a staple of romantic stations like AMOR es, air in the US afternoon and early evening — perfect company for the drive home or dinner.

Use genres to discover new stations

If you love banda but have only ever listened to one station, open the Banda or Regional Mexicano genre pages and sample the other Zacatecas options. Small-town stations often play deeper cuts and take more caller requests than the big chains.

Listen on your phone, not just your computer

All our streams work on mobile. Add your two or three hometown stations to your home screen so that a single tap takes you back to Zacatecas — useful during festivals, local holidays, or when you simply want the weather report from home.

Why Local Radio Still Matters for Zacatecanos Abroad

Zacatecas has one of the highest migration rates of any Mexican state, and its diaspora in the US is enormous. Local radio is one of the few media that still speaks directly to a specific municipio — announcing ferias, reporting on local politics, playing the bands that will perform at the next fiesta. National streaming services can't do that.

That's the quiet value of stations like Radio Jerez or La Bonita del Norte: they are proof that your town is still there, still loud, still itself.

Explore Beyond Zacatecas

Once you've caught up with home, use the directory to wander. Zacatecas sits in north-central Mexico, and neighboring regions offer plenty to discover:

• Jalisco (54 stations) and Guadalajara (59 stations) — the home of banda and mariachi, a natural next stop for any zacatecano ear.
• Sinaloa (67 stations) — if you love banda sinaloense, this is the source.
• [Durango-style norteño] is well represented across the northern dials; try Chihuahua (54 stations) for norteño and regional programming.
• Monterrey (52 stations) and Nuevo León (41 stations) — big-city radio with strong norteño roots.
• Veracruz (44 stations) — for something completely different, son jarocho and tropical sounds.
• And for the full national picture, including Ciudad de México with 350 stations, browse all of Mexico.

Quick Start

If you only have five minutes, do this:

1. Open Lupe (Zacatecas) — the most-played station in our Zacatecas catalog — and see if it sounds like home.
2. If your family is from a specific town, switch to that town's station: La Única Fresnillo, Inolvidable, or La Bonita del Norte.
3. Check the local time difference and note when your station's morning show airs in your US time zone.
4. Save your favorites, and come back for the news and fiesta announcements that only hometown radio delivers.

Zacatecas radio has been on the air in one form or another since those first 100 watts in 1939. It's still going — and now, so are you, wherever you are.