WURN (AM)

WURN
Miami, Florida;
Broadcast area	South Florida
Frequency	1040 kHz
Branding	Actualidad 1040 AM / 103.9 FM
Programming
Format	Spanish news/talk
Affiliations	CNN en Español
Ownership
Owner	Actualidad Media Group; (Actualidad 1040 AM Licensee, LLC);
Sister stations	WLVJ, WURN-FM
History
First air date	1973; 51 years ago
Former call signs	WKAO (197?-1986); WYFX (1986–1996); WJNA (1996–1997); WJNO (1997–2000); WBZT (2000); WJNA (2000–2003); WLVJ (2003–2016);
Former frequencies	1510 kHz (197?–198?)
Call sign meaning	Union Radio Noticias
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	4341
Class	B
Power	50,000 watts (day; 5,000 watts (night);
Transmitter coordinates	25°50′34″N 80°25′12″W / 25.84278°N 80.42000°W
Translator(s)	103.9 W280FV (Miami)
Links
Public license information	Public file; LMS;
Webcast	Listen live
Website	actualidadradio.com

WURN (1040 kHz "Actualidad 1040 AM / 103.9 FM") is a commercial AM radio station Miami, Florida. The station airs a Spanish news/talk radio format. WURN is owned by Actualidad Media Group.^[2]

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 transmits with 50,000 watts by day, the maximum for commercial AM stations. Because AM 1040 is a clear channel frequency, reserved for Class A WHO Des Moines, WURN 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.^[3] Programming is also heard on 99-watt FM translator W280FV at 103.9 MHz in Miami.^[4]

During the 2020 election, some programs on WURN promoted falsehoods and conspiracy theories.^[5]^[6]

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.^[7] WZZZ went off the air 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.^[8] 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.^[9]

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.^[10]

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.^[11]

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.^[12] 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

^ "Facility Technical Data for WURN". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
^ "WURN Facility Record". fcc.gov.
^ Radio-Locator.com/WURN
^ Radio-Locator.com/W280FV
^ Mazzei, Patricia; Medina, Jennifer (October 21, 2020). "False Political News in Spanish Pits Latino Voters Against Black Lives Matter". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
^ Univision. ""The rhetoric is out of control, more than usual." The disinformation wars in Miami take an ugly turn". Univision (in Spanish). Retrieved October 21, 2020.
^ Palm Beach Post, April 11, 1962, page 15
^ Palm Beach Post, March 19, 1966, page 33
^ "WURN Call Sign History". fcc.gov.
^ "Cuban Broadcasts Overpower Radio Station - tribunedigital-sunsentinel". Archived from the original on December 10, 2017.
^ Application Search Details fcc.gov. Accessed February 27, 2015
^ "Application for Construction Permit for Commercial Broadcast Station". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.

External links

Facility details for Facility ID 4341 (WURN) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
WURN in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
FCC History Cards for WURN

[1] "Facility Technical Data for WURN". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.

[2] "WURN Facility Record". fcc.gov.

[3] Radio-Locator.com/WURN

[4] Radio-Locator.com/W280FV

[5] Mazzei, Patricia; Medina, Jennifer (October 21, 2020). "False Political News in Spanish Pits Latino Voters Against Black Lives Matter". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 21, 2020.

[6] Univision. ""The rhetoric is out of control, more than usual." The disinformation wars in Miami take an ugly turn". Univision (in Spanish). Retrieved October 21, 2020.

[7] Palm Beach Post, April 11, 1962, page 15

[8] Palm Beach Post, March 19, 1966, page 33

[9] "WURN Call Sign History". fcc.gov.

[10] "Cuban Broadcasts Overpower Radio Station - tribunedigital-sunsentinel". Archived from the original on December 10, 2017.

[11] Application Search Details fcc.gov. Accessed February 27, 2015

[12] "Application for Construction Permit for Commercial Broadcast Station". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.

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