WFLC

WFLC
City Miami, Florida
Broadcast area South Florida
Branding Hits 97-3
Slogan Miami's NEW #1 For ALL THE HITS!
Frequency 97.3 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date September 1, 1946 (as WIOD-FM)
Format Mainstream Top 40 (CHR)
HD2: 1980's Hits
ERP

98,000 watts

100,000 watts with beam tilt
HAAT 307 meters (1,007 ft)
Class C
Facility ID 72984
Transmitter coordinates 25°58′02″N 80°12′34″W / 25.96722°N 80.20944°W / 25.96722; -80.20944
Callsign meaning W FLorida's Coast (previous branding)
Former callsigns WIOD-FM (1946-1956)
WCKR-FM (1956-1962)
WIOD-FM (1962-1971)
WAIA (1971-1986)
WGTR (1986-1990)
Owner Cox Media Group
(Cox Radio, Inc.)
Sister stations WEDR, WFEZ, WHQT
Webcast Listen Live
Website Hits973.com

WFLC (97.3 MHz, "Hits 97.3") is a commercial FM radio station in Miami, Florida. The station is owned by the Cox Media Group of Atlanta and it airs a Mainstream Top 40 (CHR) radio format. Cuban-American rapper DJ Laz hosts the morning show.

WFLC's studios and offices are located on North 29th Avenue in Hollywood.[1] The transmitter site is off NW 210 Street in Miami Gardens.[2] WFLC is a Class C FM station with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 98,000 watts using a tower at 307 meters (1,007 ft) in height above average terrain (HAAT). With a good radio, its signal can be heard from West Palm Beach to Key Largo.

WFLC broadcasts in the HD Radio (hybrid) format.[3] The HD-2 channel carries all-1980's Hits.

History

WIOD-FM, WCKR-FM

On September 1, 1946, the station signed on as WIOD-FM.[4] It was the FM counterpart to AM 610 WIOD and mostly simulcast its programs. The owner was the Isle of Dreams Broadcasting Corporation, reflected in its call letters. The studios were located on Collins Island in Biscayne Bay, giving the company its "Isle of Dreams" name. WIOD-FM was one of two FM stations going on the air in 1946 in Miami. But the other, 94.9 WQAM-FM, signed off in the 1950s, making WFLC Miami's oldest, continuously operating FM station.

In 1956, the Biscayne Television Corporation, a partnership of Cox Publishing, owner of The Miami News, and Knight Publishing, owner of The Miami Herald, launched a TV station on Channel 7, WCKT-TV (now WSVN). The call letters represented Cox, Knight and Television. Biscayne Broadcasting also bought WIOD-AM-FM, changing their call signs to WCKR and WCKR-FM. Just as WIOD-AM-FM were network affiliates of NBC Radio, WCKT-TV was an NBC-TV affiliate.

In 1962, the Federal Communications Commission stripped the Cox-Knight partnership of its broadcast licenses due to violations of ethics and licensing rules when Cox-Knight sought to build the TV station. On January 1, 1963, the Miami Valley Broadcasting Corporation, which was a subsidiary of Cox, took over control of the two radio stations and returned the call letters to WIOD and WIOD-FM. An advertisement in Broadcasting Magazine said the stations provided "expertly programmed adult information and entertainment."[5] The stations aired a mix of middle of the road music, news and talk shows, along with news and features from NBC Radio.

WAIA

In 1966, the simulcast ended. WIOD-FM adopted a beautiful music format, playing instrumental versions of pop music and Broadway and Hollywood tunes. In 1971, the station switched its call letters to WAIA, representing the popular coastal highway known as Florida State Road A1A. The station moved from instrumental beautiful music to all vocals, mixing Middle of The Road music with Soft Adult Contemporary hits.

In the 1980s, the station began making the presentation more upbeat and it stepped up the tempo of the music, moving to an adult contemporary sound as "97 A1A."[6]

WGTR

In 1986, the station switched to album oriented rock (AOR) as WGTR. The previous year, 94.9 WINZ-FM (now WZTU) had changed from a rock format to Top 40, leaving Miami with no AOR station. So Cox decided to go after that unserved youthful audience. The station called itself "97 GTR" with the call letters standing for GuiTaR. But the rock format only lasted four years.

WFLC

In 1990, Cox decided there wasn't enough of an audience in Miami for AOR. So the station switched to hot adult contemporary music as WFLC. It wanted to position itself between Top 40 leader 100.7 WHYI and soft music outlet 101.5 WLYF. WFLC's Hot AC format stayed in place for nearly 14 years.

On January 17, 2014, at 10AM, WFLC transitioned from Adult Top 40 as 97.3 The Coast to Top 40/CHR as Hits 97.3, putting it in direct competition with WHYI. The final song on 97.3 The Coast was That's All by Genesis, while the first song on HITS 97.3 was Timber by Pitbull. [7] As of 2018, WFLC is currently the #1 ranked CHR/Top 40 in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market.

References

  1. ↑ Hits973.com/contact-us
  2. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/WFLC-FM
  3. ↑ http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=12 HD Radio Guide for Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood
  4. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 page 112
  5. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1964 page B-34
  6. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1985 page B-57
  7. ↑ "HITS 97.3 DEBUTS IN MIAMI" from Radio Insight (January 17, 2014)


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