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WMIA-FM

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Coordinates:25°58′05″N80°12′32″W/ 25.968°N 80.209°W/25.968; -80.209
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WMIA-FM
Broadcast areaSouth Florida
Frequency93.9MHz(HD Radio)
BrandingMagic 93.9
Programming
Language(s)SpanishandEnglish
FormatLatin popandadult contemporary music
SubchannelsHD2: Retro (80s/90s based-Classic hits)
HD3: 104.7 The Bull (Country)
AffiliationsMotor Racing Network(HD3)
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
December 1,1948[1](as WLRD)
Former call signs
WLRD (1948–1956)
WAHR-FM (1956–1958)
WMET-FM (1958–1962)
WMBM-FM (1962, 1963–1966)
WMVJ (1962–1963)
WGOS (1966–1968)
WBUS (1968–1976)
WWWL (1976–1983)
WWWL-FM (1983–1984)
WLVE (1984–2009)
Call signmeaning
Miami (IATA airport code forMiami International Airport)
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID51978
ClassC0
ERP98,000watts
100,000 watts withbeam tilt
HAAT307 meters (1,007 ft)
Translator(s)HD2:93.5W228BY (Miami)
HD3:104.7W284CS (Miami)
Links
Public license information
Webcast
Website

WMIA-FM(93.9MHz) is aLatin popandadult contemporaryradio stationthat is licensed toMiami Beach, Florida.The station is owned and operated byiHeartMedia.Its studios are located inPembroke Pines,and the transmitter site is inMiami Gardens.

History

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Early years

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93.9 FM signed on the air December 1, 1948, as WLRD, the first standalone FM station in Miami.[1]It was built by Alan Henry, Leo and Yvette Rosenson, doing business as the Mercantile Broadcasting Company; studios were in the Mercantile National Bank building at 420Lincoln Road.[3]The original 200-foot (61 m) mast at 812 First Street was damaged inHurricane Kingin 1950.[4]Early programming was background music.[5]

The station became WAHR-FM in 1956[3]after the establishment ofWAHR(1490 AM) two years prior.[6]From this point, the FM primarily simulcast the AM. Both stations were sold to Community Service Broadcasting ofCincinnatiin 1958, with the call letters changed to WMET-AM-FM,[7]Four years later, WMBM-FM struck out on its own with a jazz format[8]and changed its call sign to WMVJ ( "Miami's Voice of Jazz" ). The change was reverted the next year, but it split off again as WGOS in 1966. Initially airing a gospel format, this changed to country "Wild Goose Country". In 1968, WGOS became WBUS; by 1970, it had turned the letters into business, airing a business news format.[9]Three years later, WBUS flipped toprogressive rockas "The Magic Bus".[10]A jazz format returned in 1974, and the station hiredSymphony Sidout of retirement for its air staff.[11]

Love 94

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On October 29, 1976, after losing money with the jazz format, the station became WWWL "Love 94", changing to a "soft rock"adult contemporaryformat.[12][13]DJ Irene Richard (later Irene Richard Brandon) joined the station in 1976, becoming one of South Florida's earliest, pioneer female broadcasters. The WLVE call letters were adopted in 1984 after being surrendered bya stationinMadison, Wisconsin.[14]Later, the soft rock transitioned tosmooth jazzand was successful for many years. On Sunday mornings, Love 94 had a Sunday Jazz Brunch program hosted by Stu Grant and a Brazilian Jazz program called "Brazilian Love Jazz" hosted by Gina Martell every Sunday evening. It also had a satellite station, WWLV 94.3 in West Palm Beach from 1998 to 2003. In the later years, however, due to the increasing amount of R&B and Adult Contemporary music being added to the playlist by Broadcast Architecture (which WLVE adopted in 2007), the ratings started to decrease drastically.

After Love: WMIA-FM

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On December 25, 2008, WLVE flipped torhythmic ACas "93.9 MIA." The demise followed the lead of similarly formatted stations in other cities, such asDallas,Houston,New York CityandWashington, D.C.The first song wasWill Smith's "Miami",which is a reflection upon where the city it broadcasts from.[15]

In 2010, WMIA-FM began adding more pop titles from artists such asMaroon 5,Michael Bublé,Kelly Clarkson,andTaylor Swiftto its playlist, following a pattern used by sister stations such asWWVA-FMandWISXwhich eventually evolved out of, or switched from rhythmic AC, as the station became morehot adult contemporary.In November 2010, the station switched to all-Christmas music.While there were rumors that the station would flip toadult top 40after the holidays, the rhythmic AC format returned on Christmas Day 2010, at 11:58 AM, with "Material Girl"byMadonnabeing the first song to be played. By that time, although WMIA-FM had continued to be listed onMediabase's hot AC panel, its playlist had shifted back to a rhythmic direction with less hot AC material. By June 2012,BDShas moved the station to the Top 40 panel due to its increasing amount of rhythmic pop product, although this was done to complement sister stationWHYI-FM,who is the market's primary Top 40/CHR outlet, and to a lesser extent, to shift the older 1980s, 1990s and 2000s product to adult hits sisterWSHE.

Once again, in December 2012, WMIA-FM revamped their direction to adult top 40 with recurrents from the 1990s and 2000s, billing themselves as "90s and Now". The majority of rhythmic material that had not charted on that format was dropped, only to reinstate it by the spring of 2013, when it dropped most of the 1990s music and changed its slogan to "Today's Hits". It also adopted an adult top 40 presentation, using the same approach as sister stationWKTUin the New York City market,[16]and in early 2014, changed slogans to "Miami's Variety from the '90s to Now". In May 2014, WMIA-FM changed their slogan to "93.9 MIA Means Variety" and added 1980s hit songs to their playlist.

On August 8, 2014, WMIA-FM rebranded as "MY 93.9" with their slogan becoming "More Music, Better Variety”. This change came after WMIA-FM was the lowest rated music station in the Nielsen ratings for the Miami market, with a 2.3 share in the July 2014 ratings. "MY 93.9" dropped most of the 1980s material from their playlist and focused on hits from the 1990s and 2000s.[17]

Logo under the 2016–2020 incarnation of "93.9 MIA"

On March 18, 2016, WMIA-FM rebranded once again as "93.9 MIA", shifting back to rhythmic AC with the new slogan "Rhythm from the 80s to Now."[18]In March 2018, the station shifted to hot adult contemporary. This put WMIA-FM in a crowded field for adult music competing between WFEZ, WLYF, WFLC and WRMF.[19][20]

On July 9, 2020, at Noon, after playing "End of the Road"byBoyz II Men.WMIA-FM flipped to1990s hits,branded as "Totally 93.9". The first song was "Miami" by Will Smith, also the first song on "93.9 MIA" in December 2008.[21]

On February 9, 2022, at 6 a.m., after playing "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men, WMIA-FM flipped back to hot adult contemporary, also reviving the "93.9 MIA" branding. The first song after the relaunch was "Locked Out of Heaven"byBruno Mars.[22]

On November 24, 2023, at Noon, after playing "Bye, Bye, Bye"byNSYNC,WMIA-FM relaunched as "Magic 93.9", with their new format a mixture ofLatin popand English-language adult contemporary music, with all imaging and promotions done in Spanish. The first song under the format was "Conga"byGloria Estefanand the fittingly-namedMiami Sound Machine. The station launched with a full airstaff, with the most notable member beingHumberto "El Gato" Rodríguez,formerly ofWZTAandWRMA,in mornings. The move came as "MIA" failed once again in its third go-around, finishing 20th in the market in their last books, the October 2023 Nielsen Audio market ratings, with a mere 2.1 share.[23]

WMIA-FM HD2

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WMIA-FM signed onHD Radiooperations in 2006. The HD1 sub-channel airs the same format as the analog, while the HD2 sub-channel initially aired a traditional jazz format. When the analog/HD1 format flipped to Rhythmic AC in 2008, the smooth jazz format moved to the HD2 channel. On July 11, 2014, WMIA-FMHD2 flipped toCountry,branded as "93.5 The Bull", which was relayed on FM translator W228BV 93.5 in Fort Lauderdale.[24]On July 1, 2016, Zoo Communications acquired W228BV, and on November 17 of that year, W228BV and Zoo's W284CS (104.7 FM) swapped formats and ownership, with the Country format moving to 104.7 (with iHeart now owning that translator), while the Dance/EDM format ofW228BYbegan simulcasting on W228BV.[25][26]In addition, "104.7 the Bull" airs several NASCAR events from theMotor Racing Network.

References

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  1. ^ab"FM Station WLRD On Air Dec. 1".The Miami Herald.November 28, 1948. p. 9-F.RetrievedApril 26,2020.
  2. ^"Facility Technical Data for WMIA-FM".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^abFCC History Cards for WMIA-FM
  4. ^Oppitz, John (October 19, 1950)."Six Radios Lose Towers: Temporary Aerials Put Stations Back On Air".The Miami Herald.p. 1-A.
  5. ^"WLRD Warns Users Of 'Unplugged' Music".Miami Daily News.April 25, 1954. p. 15-A.
  6. ^"Radio Station WAHR On Air".Miami Daily News.October 31, 1954. p. 10-A.
  7. ^"Radio Notes And Comments".The Miami News.May 18, 1958. p. 14.
  8. ^Dunn, Kristine (April 9, 1962). "Jazz Buffs Get Own Station".The Miami News.p. 4B.
  9. ^"Radio to Do Local Fights".The Miami Herald.May 25, 1970. p. 9-D.
  10. ^Trotter, James (October 6, 1974)."Zoo World: Soft line on hard rock".pp. Tropic 16,18,20.
  11. ^"Symphony Sid Hired by WBUS, Ends Two Years of Retirement".The Miami Herald.October 19, 1974. p. 7-D.
  12. ^Anderson, Jack (September 24, 1976)."WBUS Drops Jazz Format".The Miami Herald.p. 4-D.
  13. ^Cosford, Bill (October 29, 1976)."The Good News: Billy Joel; The Bad: WBUS Is Dead".The Miami Herald.p. 2-C.
  14. ^"WNLT new call letters for WLVE/FM".The Capital Times.March 22, 1984. p. 47.
  15. ^WLVE Miami To Change Formats
  16. ^BDS monitored radio panel update
  17. ^WMIA Miami Revamps As My 93.9
  18. ^WMIA Miami Flips Back To Rhythmic AC
  19. ^"939 MIA - Variety from the 80s, 90s and Today!".Archived fromthe originalon 2018-09-01.Retrieved2018-09-16.
  20. ^"939 MIA Music - Recently Played Songs | 939 MIA".Archived fromthe originalon 2018-10-23.Retrieved2018-10-23.
  21. ^iHeartMedia Launches 1990s Hits "Totally 93.9" Miami
  22. ^"WMIA Drops All 90s; Launches New On-Air Lineup As DJ Laz Returns To Mornings With Kimmy B".RadioInsight.Retrieved2022-02-10.
  23. ^WMIA Flips to Bilingual AC as "Magic 93.9"
  24. ^Bull Launches in Ft. Lauderdale
  25. ^Revolution & Bull Swap Frequencies in Ft. Lauderdale
  26. ^"HD Radio Guide for Miami-Ft. Lauderdale".Archived fromthe originalon 2016-09-24.Retrieved2016-09-23.
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25°58′05″N80°12′32″W/ 25.968°N 80.209°W/25.968; -80.209

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