| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Orlando |
| Frequency | 1600kHz |
| Branding | Radio Tempo International |
| Programming | |
| Languages | Haitian Creole |
| Format | Haitian music, news, and culture |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WKIQ,WNTF,WOKB | |
| History | |
First air date | January 1, 1958; 67 years ago (1958-01-01) |
Former call signs |
|
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 55006 |
| Class | D |
| Power |
|
Transmitter coordinates | 28°34′08″N81°31′08″W / 28.56889°N 81.51889°W /28.56889; -81.51889 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | imediatempo |
WLAA (1600AM) is acommercial radio station broadcastingHaitian music, news, and culture.Licensed toWinter Garden, Florida, it serves theGreater Orlando area. The station is owned by Shanti Persaud, through licensee Unity Broadcasting LLC.
WLAA is aClass D station. By day, it is powered at 2,200 watts, and at night, to avoid interference to other stations on1600 AM, it reduces power to 35 watts.
The station was first authorized, as WGOA, on April 24, 1957,[2] anddebuted on January 1, 1958.[3] The station was adaytimer, licensed to E. V. Price, powered at 1,000 watts and required to go off the air at night.[4]
The call letters were changed to WOKB on May 25, 1959. It had anR&B format aimed at Orlando's African-American community. On April 4, 1988, it became WXXO. Then it switched to WXTO on January 22, 1990, and back to WOKB on January 31, 1994.
On March 17, 1997, theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that 88 stations had been given permission to move to the newly available "Expanded Band" transmitting frequencies, ranging from 1610 to 1700 kHz. WOKB was authorized to move from 1600 to 1680 kHz.[5]
Aconstruction permit for the expanded band station was assigned the call letters WTIR (nowWOKB) on April 12, 1999.[6] The FCC's initial policy was that both the original station and its expanded band counterpart could operate simultaneously for up to five years, after which owners would have to turn in one of the two licenses, depending on whether they preferred. That could be the new assignment or the station could remain on the original frequency.[5] However, this deadline has been extended multiple times, and both stations have remained authorized.
One restriction is that the FCC has generally required paired original and expanded band stations to remain under common ownership.[7][8]
On May 6, 2008, the two stations on 1600 and 1680 AM swapped call letters, with WOKB transferred to the expanded band station at 1680 AM, and WLAA moved to 1600 AM. 1600 AM's call letters later changed to WNTF on November 13, 2017, and back to WLAA on June 1, 2018.
As of 2018, theRegional Mexican "La Nueva Que Buena" format has moved toWKIQ1240 AM inEustis, Florida.[9] AM 1600 then took on aHaitian Creole-language format.