WURN (AM)

WURN (1040 kHz "Actualidad 1040") is a commercial AM radio station Miami, Florida. The station simulcasts a Spanish-language news/talk radio format along with AM 1040 WLVJ in Boynton Beach, Florida, which serves the West Palm Beach radio market. WURN and WLVJ are owned by Actualidad Media Group.[1]

See also: WURN (disambiguation)
WURN
CityMiami, Florida
Broadcast areaSouth Florida
Frequency1040 kHz
BrandingActualidad 1040 AM
Programming
FormatSpanish language news/talk
AffiliationsCNN en Español
Ownership
OwnerActualidad Media Group
(Actualidad 1040 AM Licensee, LLC)
WLVJ, WURN-FM, WMYM
History
First air date
1973
Former call signs
WKAO (1970s-1986)
WYFX (1986-1996)
WJNA (1996-1997)
WJNO (1997-2000)
WBZT (2000)
WJNA (2000-2003)
WLVJ (2003-2016)
Technical information
Facility ID4341
ClassB
Power50,000 watts day
5,000 watts night
ERP99 watts (W280FV)
HAAT239 meters (784 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
25°50′34″N 80°25′12″W
Translator(s)W280FV (103.9 MHz, Miami)
Links
Websiteactualidadradio.com/en-vivo/

The weekday schedule is made up of all news blocks along with talk programs in the daytime and sports shows in the evening. Some hours, the station carries the audio from CNN en Español.

WURN is powered at 50,000 watts by day, the maximum for commercial AM stations. But because AM 1040 is a clear channel frequency, reserved for Class A WHO Des Moines, WLVJ must reduce power at night to 5,000 watts, when AM radio waves travel further. The station uses a directional antenna in the daytime. The transmitter is off NW 74th Street in Miami.[2] Programming is also heard on 99 watt FM translator W280FV at 103.9 MHz in Miami.[3]

During the 2020 election, some programs on WURN promoted falsehoods and conspiracy theories.[4][5]

History

Boynton Beach's first AM radio station was WZZZ, which broadcast with a Top 40 format on 1510 kHz and signed on the air April 10, 1962.[6] WZZZ went dark in September 1965. It was eventually replaced by a newly licensed station on 1510 using the call sign WKAO. In the 1980s WKAO moved to 1040 kHz.[7] WKAO changed its call letters to WYFX on May 3, 1986. Subsequently the station changed its call sign to WJNA on November 1, 1996, to WJNO on September 22, 1997, to WBZT on March 6, 2000, back to WJNA on December 20, 2000, and to WLVJ on January 7, 2003.[8]

In June 1988, the station found its nighttime signal being subsumed by from 1040 AM "Radio Taino" in Cuba, which may have been increasing its signal strength to as much as 250,000 watts. WHBO 1040 in the Tampa radio market also experienced signal inference from Radio Taino.[9]

On January 24, 2012, the FCC approved the transfer of the station's broadcast license from James-Crystal Radio's subsidiary, JCE Licenses LLC, to a company known as Actualidad 1040AM Licensee, LLC.[10]

On April 26, 2016, WURN was granted a Federal Communications Commission construction permit to change its city of license from Boynton Beach to Miami, increase day power to 50,000 watts, increase night power to 5,000 watts and move the transmitter to the same site as WMYM.[11] WURN was issued a license for this change effective February 9, 2018.

In effect, on December 16, 2016, WURN and its co-owned station, WLVJ, flipped frequencies. WURN moved from AM 1020 to AM 1040. WLVJ did the reverse, moving from AM 1040 to AM 1020.

References
  1. "WLVJ Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. Radio-Locator.com/WURN
  3. Radio-Locator.com/W280FV
  4. Mazzei, Patricia; Medina, Jennifer (2020-10-21). "False Political News in Spanish Pits Latino Voters Against Black Lives Matter". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  5. Univision. ""The rhetoric is out of control, more than usual." The disinformation wars in Miami take an ugly turn". Univision (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  6. Palm Beach Post, April 11, 1962, page 15
  7. Palm Beach Post, March 19, 1966, page 33
  8. "WURN Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  9. http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1988-06-21/news/8802050924_1_cuban-broadcasts-station
  10. Application Search Details fcc.gov. Accessed February 27, 2015
  11. "Application for Construction Permit for Commercial Broadcast Station". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
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