Frequency 92.1 MHz ERP 100 kW | First air date 1979 | |
Broadcast area Mexico City Metropolitan area - Regional FM Format News and talk; contemporary music in English Owner Grupo Siete Comunicación
(programmed by Grupo Radio Centro)
(Grupo Radial Siete, S.A. de C.V.) | ||
XHFO-FM is a radio station in Mexico City. The station broadcasts news and talk, along with music in English as Red FM. The station is operated by Grupo Radio Centro, under contract with Grupo Siete Comunicación, which owns the station's concession. Its broadcast frequency is 92.1 MHz.
Contents
History
XHFO received its initial concession on November 26, 1964. It was owned by Raymundo Romero Damian.
XHFO signed on in 1979 as "Radio Triunfadora", being renamed to "Crystal FM" in 1982, with a contemporary Spanish music format. In 1993, as grupera music began to gain success, the station was lent to Grupo Radio Centro in exchange for XEEST-AM in a relationship that has been extended for more than 20 years. GRC promptly changed the name and format of XHFO to "Sonido Z" with grupera and regional Mexican music. In 1996 it was renamed "La Z".
On December 7, 1998, a format swap occurred between XHFO and XEQR-FM, with XHFO adopting the English classic hits format "Universal Stereo" that had begun in 1974, whereas "La Z" moved to XEQR. The swap was due to both formats being in close proximity to competitor stations with almost the same formats (XEQ-FM and XHDFM-FM), as well as to keep XHFO's operation in GRC's hands, since Grupo Siete tried to reclaim it after "La Z" had become Mexico City's top-rated station.
On May 16, 2016, XHFO and XHRED 88.1 swapped formats. This time, the swap was due to technical considerations involving GRC's contract to operate XHFO, in order to preserve the continuity of the more profitable "Universal" format.
Format
Red FM's format consists of multiple longform newscasts throughout the day, featuring such hosts as Sergio Sarmiento, Juan Francisco Castañeda and Jesús Martín Mendoza. The newscasts are carried on AM and FM, but an afternoon sports program, a nightly business-oriented program called "Red Empresarial", a Saturday automobile program called "Autoexplora Radio" and blocks of contemporary music in English from the 1980s to the present, hosted by Isabel Angulo, are exclusive to FM. Every year since 2013, the station's musical blocks turn into an all-Christmas music format from late November until Christmas Day (for the 2015 and 2016 Christmas seasons, it even launched an online spin-off of 24/7 all-Christmas music). Red FM also airs Sunday night games during the NFL season.