WKAT (AM)

Last updated

WKAT
Broadcast area Miami area
Frequency 1450 kHz
BrandingVida 101.9 FM / 1450 AM
Programming
Format Spanish Christian radio
Ownership
Owner
  • Nelson Voltaire
  • (Radio Piment Bouk, Inc.)
WQVN
History
First air date
December 6, 1947(77 years ago) (1947-12-06)
Former call signs
WWPB (1947–1956) [1]
WSKP (1956–1966) [1]
WOCN (1966–2019) [1]
Technical information [2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID 43034
Class C
Power 1,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates
25°50′22″N80°11′23″W / 25.83944°N 80.18972°W / 25.83944; -80.18972
Translator W270CV (101.9 MHz, Miami)
Links
Public license information
Website RadioVidaMiami.com

WKAT (1450 AM, "Radio Vida") is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish-language Christian radio format, known as "Radio Vida." Licensed to Miami, Florida, the station is owned by Nelson Volatire, through licensee Radio Piment Book, Inc. [3]

Contents

WKAT broadcasts at 1,000 watts using a non-directional antenna. The transmitter is off NE 71st Street in Miami. [4] Programming is also heard on FM translator W270CV at 101.9 MHz, with its tower on SE 2nd Street at Biscayne Boulevard. [5]

History

In December 6, 1947, the station first signed on the air as the 8th radio station in Miami. [6] Its original call sign was WWPB and it was powered at only 250 watts. The call letters were chosen to represent its owner and general manager, Paul Brake. The following year, Brake put an FM station on the air, 101.5 WWPB-FM (today WLYF).

WOCN logo through June 2008 WOCN logo.png
WOCN logo through June 2008

Around 2000, the station, known as WOCN, switched to Spanish-language programming. It was branded as "WOCN Radio 1450," broadcasting a talk radio format. It was a brokered programming station which sold its time to hosts who then sold their own advertisements to support their shows. The station was known in the Cuban-American community for its leftist commentators. [7] It later switched to a sports radio format, using programming from the ESPN Deportes network.

Its call sign was changed to WKAT on September 16, 2019. [8] The WKAT call letters were popular in Miami for many years on 1360 AM, which was a long-time English-language talk station that had been an early stopping point for broadcaster Larry King and others. That station is now WQVN, broadcasting to the Haitian community.

WOCN logo until 2019 WOCN radiomiami1450 logo.png
WOCN logo until 2019

References

  1. 1 2 3 History Cards for WKAT, fcc.gov. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  2. "Facility Technical Data for WKAT". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. "WKAT Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  4. Radio-Locator.com/WKAT
  5. Radio-Locator.com/W270CV
  6. "8th Miami Radio Station To Open". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. December 5, 1947. p. 8-B. Retrieved October 5, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
  7. "WOCN-AM SOLD FOR $6 MILLION". Miami Herald. July 29, 2006.
  8. Call Sign History, fcc.gov. Retrieved November 23, 2019.