Grupo Radio Centro is a

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

-based owner and operator of radio stations. It owns 30 radio stations in Mexico and the United States, including 8 radio stations in Mexico City.

History

Radio Centro's origins date to 1946, when Francisco Aguirre Jiménez formed the Cadena Radio Continental to operate

XEQR-AM XEQR-AM (branded as Radio Centro Deportes) is a radio station based in Mexico City. It is owned by Grupo Radio Centro, broadcasting sports programming. History XEFO-AM signed on January 1, 1931, as the radio station of the National Revolutionary ...

1030 and new station

XERC-AM XERC-AM is a radio station based in Mexico City on 790 kHz, currently silent. The station is owned by Grupo Radio Centro. History In 1946, Francisco Aguirre Jiménez created XERC-AM under the concessionaire ''Radio Popular de México''. This st ...

790 in Mexico City. Organización Radio Centro was formed in 1952, and the current company was founded in 1971. In 1965, it founded OIR (Organización Impulsora de la Radio), which syndicates Radio Centro's formats to stations across Mexico. Its non-Mexico City business extended further in the 1980s, when Radio Centro began selling its formats outside the United States (in 1983) and created Cadena Radio Centro (in 1986) to manage this portion of its operations. Meanwhile, in Mexico City, it had expanded to five AM stations and three new FM outlets. Radio Centro was the second media company to place its FM towers on

Cerro del Chiquihuite Cerro del Chiquihuite (Chiquihuite Hill) is a hill located in the north of Mexico City, in the borough of Gustavo A. Madero and bordering the municipality of Tlalnepantla de Baz in the State of Mexico. The hill has a height of above sea level a ...

, to the north of the city, though they are now located elsewhere. In 1994, it sold Cadena Radio Centro, picked up (and promptly shed) an investment in Heftel Broadcasting (now known as Univision Radio), and bought 33% of Radiodifusión Red (which it would later own outright). The absorption of Radiodifusión Red, also known as

Radio Programas de México Radio Programas de México (RPM) was a radio company of Mexico, founded by Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta and Clemente Serna Martínez in 1941. It was a pioneer in the expansion of Mexican radio, particularly in the creation of radio networks. RPM, ...

, brought three additional Mexico City stations into Radio Centro's stable. It also built a new building on the west side of Mexico City, known as the ''Trébol Radio Centro'' (or "Radio Centro Clover") in 1993. It also launched an initial public offering on the BMV (where Grupo Radio Centro stock continues to trade) and the

NYSE The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the List of stock exchanges, world's largest s ...

(where it delisted in 2013). In May 2000,

Televisa Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...

attempted to buy GRC and announced an agreement in principle for a merger, but the acquisition failed due to marketplace concerns. The Federal Competition Commission recommended that Televisa sell some stations, and ultimately four months after the announcement, talks ended. Other reasons for the acquisition's failure included dissent within the Aguirre family and a dispute over GRC's valuation. Another roadblock was that newscaster José Gutiérrez Vivó, who hosted the Monitor newscasts on

Radio Red ''Radio Red'' is the second album by British singer-songwriter Laura Groves, and her first under her own name. It was released on 11 August 2023 through Bella Union, and features a sole guest appearance by Sampha. The album received positive rev ...

, refused to work with Televisa. In 2012, GRC acquired 25% of

KXOS KLLI (93.9 MHz, "Cali 93.9") is an FM radio station in Los Angeles, California. Owned by the Meruelo Group, it broadcasts a bilingual Latin pop/rhythmic contemporary format. The station has studios located in Burbank, while its transmitter is ...

FM in Los Angeles, three years after signing a local marketing agreement to take control of the station's programming. On March 11, 2015, Radio Centro won one of two concession packages to build and operate a national television network. However, Radio Centro ended up not paying the 3 billion pesos to secure the concession. Seeking to limit costs after the television concession fiasco, in June 2015, shareholders approved a merger of Radio Centro with Controladora Radio México and GRM Radiodifusión, two components of

Grupo Radio México Grupo Radio México was a Mexican owner of radio stations that operated from 1973 to 2015. In 2015, it was absorbed into Grupo Radio Centro, which owns most of GRM's former stations. History Grupo Radio México was founded by Francisco Aguirre Góm ...

. The merger added 30 radio stations to Grupo Radio Centro's portfolio and marks its first major expansion outside of Mexico City. In November 2016, GRC took control of Univision Radio's El Paso cluster, consisting of

KBNA-FM KBNA-FM (97.5 MHz ''"Ké Buena 97.5"'') is a commercial radio station in El Paso, Texas. The station is owned by Grupo Radio Centro and it airs a Regional Mexican radio format. KBNA-FM's transmitter is located in the Franklin Mountains, off Sce ...

, KQBU and

KAMA ''Kama'' (Sanskrit ) means "desire, wish, longing" in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh literature.Monier Williamsकाम, kāmaMonier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary, pp 271, see 3rd column Kama often connotes sensual pleasure, sexual ...

, by local marketing agreement, and filed with the FCC to buy 25% of the stations, with the remaining shares being held by a US citizen. On November 27, 2017, a fire affected the company's main offices, forcing it to briefly suspend the broadcasts of all its Mexico City stations and relocate to an alternate site.

Stations

Mexico City

XEN-AM XEN-AM (branded as Radio Centro/El Fonógrafo) is a commercial radio station in Mexico City. It airs a talk radio and Spanish oldies radio format on 690 kHz. The station is owned by Grupo Radio Centro. XEN broadcasts with 100,000 watts by day. ...

690 *

790 (off air) *

1030 *

XERED-AM XERED-AM is a radio station in Mexico City. Located on 1110 kHz, XERED-AM is owned by Grupo Radio Centro. 1110 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency. History The concession history for XERED-AM begins with XEFO, a radio station laun ...

1110 (repeater of XHRED-FM) * XHRED-FM 88.1 *

XHFAJ-FM XHFAJ-FM is a radio station on 91.3 FM in Mexico City. The station is owned by Grupo Radio Centro and carries a Contemporary hit radio format known as Alfa 91.3. XHFAJ-FM broadcasts in HD.http://hdradio.com/mexico/estaciones HD Radio Guide for M ...

91.3 *

XEJP-FM XEJP-FM is a radio station in Mexico City. Located on 93.7 MHz, XEJP-FM is owned by Grupo Radio Centro and broadcasts contemporary music in Spanish from the 1980s to the present as "Joya 93.7". History XEJP traces its lineage to the first FM ...

93.7 *

XEQR-FM XEQR-FM is a radio station in Mexico City. Located on 107.3 MHz, XEQR-FM is owned by Grupo Radio Centro Grupo Radio Centro is a Mexico City-based owner and operator of radio stations. It owns 30 radio stations in Mexico and the United Stat ...

107.3

Guadalajara

XEDKR-AM XEDKR-AM (700 AM, "Universal") is a Spanish-language radio station in Guadalajara. It relays programming from XHRED-FM 88.1 in Mexico City. 700 kHz is a United States clear-channel frequency. History The first concession for 700 AM in ...

700 (repeater of XHRED-FM)

Monterrey

XEFB-AM XEFB-AM is a radio station on 630 AM in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. It is owned by Grupo Radio Centro and is known as La FB with a news and sports format. The frequency is currently silent. History XEFB received its concession on September ...

630 (off air) * XEH-AM 1420 *

XESTN-AM XESTN-AM ( 1540 AM, "Universal") is a Spanish-language radio station in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. It relays programming from XHRED-FM 88.1 in Mexico City. 1540 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency. History The first concession ...

1540 (repeater of XHRED-FM) * XHQQ-FM 93.3 *

XHMF-FM XHMF-FM is a radio station on 104.5 FM in Monterrey, Nuevo León. The station is operated by Grupo Radio Centro and is a relay station of Mexico City corporate cousin XHFAJ-FM, both with the English Top 40/CHR format ''Alfa''. History XHMF recei ...

104.5 (concession held by

Grupo Radiorama Grupo Radiorama is the largest owner and operator of radio stations in Mexico. Founded in 1970, the company operated nearly 400 radio stations in 2014. History Radiorama was founded on December 9, 1970, by Javier Pérez de Anda and Adrián Pered ...

) (repeater of

)

Torreón

* XHETB-FM 89.1 and

XETB-AM XETB-AM is a radio station on 1350 AM in Gómez Palacio, Durango. It is owned by Grupo Radio Centro History XETB came to air on September 24, 1931, making it the first station in the region. Original authorization was given to begin operations ...

1350

Ciudad Juarez

XEJ-AM XEJ-AM is a radio station on 970 AM in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. I ...

970 (concession held by

) *

XHEM-FM XHEM-FM (103.5 MHz) is a Mexican radio station licensed to Ciudad Juárez. The station broadcasts the La Z grupera/Regional Mexican format. History Emmy Pinto Reyes, also the original owner of XHPR-FM in Veracruz, Veracruz, received the conce ...

103.5 and

XEJCC-AM XEJCC-AM is a radio station on 720 AM in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. It is operated by Grupo Radio Centro Grupo Radio Centro is a Mexico City-based owner and operator of radio stations. It owns 30 radio stations in Mexico and the United States, i ...

720 (concession held by

) *

XHTO-FM XHTO-FM (104.3 MHz "104.3 HITfm") is an English-language Top 40 (CHR) radio station. The city of license is Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and it serves Mexico-U.S. border communities, including the El Paso metropolitan area. The station is ow ...

104.3 (concession held by

)

Los Mochis

* XHECU-FM 91.7 * XHCW-FM 96.5 * XHORF-FM 99.7 * XHPNK-FM 103.5

Other cities

XEAA-AM XEAA-AM was a radio station on 1340 AM in Mexicali, Baja California. It was owned by Grupo Radio Centro History XEAA received its first concession in 1934. It broadcast on 920 kHz and was owned by Carlos Blando. Blando promptly transferre ...

1340 Mexicali, B.C. (off air) * XHKF-FM 90.5 Iguala, Gro. *

XHKC-FM XHKC-FM 100.9 FM, 100.9/XEKC-AM 1460 AM, 1460 is a combo radio station in Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico. It is owned by Grupo Radio Centro and carries its La Z regional Mexican format. History XEKC received its first concession on April 8, 1981. ...

100.9 Oaxaca, Oax. * XHPSFC-FM 94.1 Campeche, Camp.

United States

97.5

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

(25% ownership, through owner 97.5 Licensee TX, LLC) *

AM 750 El Paso (25% ownership, through owner 97.5 Licensee TX, LLC) * KQBU AM 920 El Paso (25% ownership, through owner 97.5 Licensee TX, LLC)

Former stations

XEJP-AM XEJP-AM (1150 kHz) is a radio station in Mexico City. The station is owned by Grupo Radio Centro and operated by Grupo Acustik as Acustik Radio. History While the concession for XEJP was awarded in 1936 for a station on 1130 kHz, owned by S ...

1150

(1955-2020, sold to Grupo Acustik) * XENET-AM 1320 Mexico City (1942-2000, passed to Infored, went defunct in 2008) *

XEINFO-AM XHINFO-FM ( 105.3 FM) is a radio station in Mexico City. XHINFO-FM is owned by XEFAJ, S.A. de C.V., a company controlled by Eduardo Henkel Rojas, and presently is operated by Salvador Pérez Habib with a grupera format known as La Nueva Radio. E ...

1560 Mexico City (1979-2000; 2011-2017, passed to Infored, in turn sold to Eduardo Henkel; migrated to 105.3 FM) *

XEEST-AM XEEST-AM is a radio station on 1440 AM in Mexico City. The station airs Christian programming under the name "Ondas de Vida". History XELZ-AM received its first concession on December 1, 1942, to María Cardona de Zetina. For most of its history ...

1440 Mexico City (1961-2019, operated by Grupo Siete beginning in 1996, sold to Grupo Siete in 2019) *

XHFO-FM XHFO-FM is a radio station on 92.1 MHz in Mexico City. The station is owned by Grupo Siete and carries the Radio Disney pop format. History XHFO received its initial concession on November 26, 1964. It was owned by Raymundo Romero Damian. XHF ...

92.1 Mexico City (owned by Grupo Siete, operated by GRC from 1993 to 2019) *

XERC-FM XERC-FM is a radio station in Mexico City. Located on 97.7 MHz, XERC-FM is owned by MVS Radio and airs its grupera format "La Mejor FM". History Radio Hits and Stereo 97 7 XERC-FM signed on in 1974, more than a decade after receiving its c ...

97.7 Mexico City (1974-2020, sold to

MVS Radio {{primary sources, date=December 2011 MVS Radio are a group of four international Spanish-language radio networks owned by the mass media conglomerate MVS Comunicaciones. The group of radio networks consists of Exa FM, La Mejor, FM Globo and MVS No ...

) *

XEUNO-AM XEUNO-AM is a radio station on 1120 AM in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. It is owned by Grupo Radio Centro and operated by Grupo Acustik, broadcasting as Acustik Radio. History XEVMC-AM received its concession on February 11, 1963. It was owned ...

1120

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

(1992-2020, sold to Grupo Acustik) *

XHDK-FM XHDK-FM is a radio station on 94.7 FM in Guadalajara. The station is operated by Audiorama, a related company to Radiorama, and is known as KY (pronounced like "calle") with a pop music format. History XHDK received its first concession on May ...

94.7

(owned by

, operated by GRC from 2002 to 2020) * XHKB-FM 99.9

(sold to Multimedios Radio) *

XHVOZ-FM XHVOZ-FM is a radio station on 107.5 FM in Guadalajara, Jalisco. The station is operated by Grupo Audiorama and carries an electronic music format known as "Vibe FM". History XHVOZ received its first concession on October 2, 1979. It was owned by ...

107.5

(sold to Grupo Audiorama Comunicaciones) *

XEMN-AM XEMN-AM is a radio station on 600 AM in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. It is owned by Grupo Radio Centro and operated by Grupo Acustik as Acustik Radio. The frequency is currently silent. History XEMN received its concession on March 4, 1955. I ...

600

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

(1973-2020, sold to Grupo Acustik) *

XHSP-FM XHSP-FM is a radio station on 99.7 FM in Monterrey, Nuevo León. The station is owned by El Heraldo de México with its El Heraldo Radio news format. History XHSP was the first radio station owned by Grupo Radio México, a corporate cousin of GR ...

99.7

(1973-2021, sold to

El Heraldo de México ''El Heraldo de México'' is a Mexican national daily newspaper published in Mexico City. Initially founded in 1965, after a 14-year absence of the name, the newspaper was relaunched on May 2, 2017. History Original ''El Heraldo de México'' ...

) *

XHRPO-FM XHRPO-FM is a radio station on 97.7 FM in Santa Cruz Amilpas, Oaxaca, serving the capital city of Oaxaca de Juárez. It is owned and operated by ''El Heraldo de México'' and carries its El Heraldo Radio news format. History XHRPO received its ...

97.7

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

(sold to

) *

XHRRF-FM XHRRF-FM 88.5 is a radio station in Conkal, Yucatán. History On June 8, 1962, two years after it signed on, XERRF-AM 1150 was awarded to Rafael Rivas Franco, the founder of Grupo Rivas, which still owns many radio stations in Mérida and Yucat ...

88.5 Mérida (operated to Peninsula Studios) *

XHYK-FM XHYK-FM 101.5 is a radio station in Conkal, Yucatán, Mexico, primarily serving Mérida. It is known as Xé'ek. History XEYK-AM 710 received its concession on September 8, 1978. Like its sister XHRRF-FM, it was part of Grupo Rivas, initially o ...

101.5 Mérida (operated to Peninsula Studios) *

XEAZ-AM XEAZ-AM is a radio station in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, broadcasting on 1270 AM. It is known as Radio Zeta 13. History XEAZ received its concession in 1948. The station was originally owned by Fernando Sánchez Mayans, related to the fou ...

1270

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

(2008-2021, Sold to PSN) *

XHWN-FM XHWN-FM is a radio station on 93.9 FM in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico. The station is owned by Multimedios Radio with the latter's the Telediario Radio news format. The transmitter is located atop Cerro de las Noas. History XEWN-AM 1270 received ...

93.9

Torreón Torreón () is a city and seat of Torreón Municipality in the Mexican state of Coahuila. As of 2021, the city's population was 735,340. The metropolitan population as of 2015 was 1,497,734, making it the ninth-biggest metropolitan area in ...

(sold to Multimedios Radio) * XHETOR-FM 99.9 Torreón (sold to Multimedios Radio) *

XHRCA-FM XHRCA-FM is a radio station serving the Comarca Lagunera of Torreón, Coahuila and Gómez Palacio, Durango. Broadcasting on 102.7 FM, XHRCA is owned by Multimedios Radio and carries a Regional Mexican format known as La Ke Buena 102.7 FM. History ...

102.7 Torreón (sold to Multimedios Radio) * XHRPU-FM 102.9

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

(sold to Multimedios Radio) * KXOS-FM 93.9

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

(2009-2019, sold to

Meruelo Group Alex Meruelo (born March 27, 1964) is a Cuban-American billionaire who holds business interests in banking, real estate, media, restaurants, food, casinos, and professional sports. He is the owner of Meruelo Group, as well as Meruelo Media, whic ...

) * XHXV-FM 88.9 León (sold to

) *

XHEPR-FM XHEPR-FM (99.1 Hertz, MHz) is a Mexican radio station in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua, Mexico. It is owned by Grupo Radiorama. XHEPR-FM's transmitter is located south of Ciudad Juárez in the Sierra Presidio mountain range. Histo ...

99.1

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Ju� ...

(owned by

, operated by GRC from 2021 to 2022) * XHCCQ-FM 91.5

Cancún Cancún ( ), often Cancun in English (without the accent; or ) is a city in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat ...

(owned by

, operated by GRC from 2009 to 2022) *

XEFE-AM XEFE-AM (790 kHz) is a radio station in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. History XEFE is among the oldest radio stations in Nuevo Laredo. It came to air in the 1920s, and by 1932 it was owned by Rafael Tijerina Carranza, who would found XEFE ...

790

Nuevo Laredo Nuevo Laredo () is a city in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Rio Grande, across from Laredo, United States. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Lar ...

(1946-1998; 2009-2022, passed to Infored, sold to Hera de Zeus, S.A. de C.V.) * XHPBCQ-FM 94.9

(2019-2022, sold to Promo Éxitos)

Non-radio

Radio Centro owned

XHDF-TV XHDF-TDT, virtual channel 1 (UHF digital channel 25), is the flagship station of the Azteca Uno television network in Mexico City, Mexico. Azteca Uno can be seen in most major cities in Mexico through TV Azteca's owned-and-operated transmitter ne ...

channel 13 in Mexico City from its 1968 launch to 1972, when it was expropriated by state financier SOMEX.

References

External links

Official website
{{in lang, es Mass media companies of Mexico Mexican radio networks Mexican companies established in 1946 Mass media companies established in 1946