WLAT
WLAT (910 AM; "La Mega") is a radio station licensed to New Britain, Connecticut and serves the Hartford market. WLAT currently airs a Spanish pop music format. Owned by Gois Broadcasting, WLAT broadcasts from studios located on Burnside Avenue in East Hartford, while its transmitter array is located behind the Connecticut School of Broadcasting on Birdseye Road in Farmington (also known as "Radio Park"). The station also operates translator W269DE (101.7 FM) in New Britain.
City | New Britain, Connecticut |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Central Connecticut |
Frequency | 910 kHz |
Branding | La Mega 101.7 |
Slogan | "Tu Poder Latino" |
Programming | |
Format | Spanish Hits |
Ownership | |
Owner | Gois Broadcasting |
Sister stations | WORC, WNEZ, WAMG, WKND, WLLH |
History | |
First air date | May 20, 1949[1] |
Former call signs | WHAY (1949–1961) WRCH (1961–1974) WRCQ (1974–1990) WNEZ (1990–2001) |
Call sign meaning | LATino Radio |
Technical information | |
Class | B |
Power | 5,000 Watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°42′58″N 72°48′38″W |
Translator(s) | 101.7 W269DE (New Britain) |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen live |
Website | www |
History
This station originally came on the air in 1949 as WHAY with studios in New Britain, and the transmitter at the present location on Birdseye Road in Farmington. The call letters were changed in 1961 to WRCH, and a few years later, the station adopted a beautiful music format. In 1967, new studios were constructed at the tower site on Birdseye Road. They called the facility "Radio Park". The call letters were changed to WRCQ ("91 Q") in 1974. After American Radio purchased the station in the late-1980s, the format was changed to rebroadcasting CNN Headline News. On March 26, 1997, the station flipped to urban contemporary as "Jamz 910 AM."[2] In 2001, Spanish broadcaster Mega Broadcasting's Alfredo Alonso purchased the station for $750,000, and changed the format to Spanish as "Amor 910" and the call letters to WNEZ on May 5 of that year.[3] At that time, studios were off Route 6 in Farmington. Mega later moved the studios to 330 Main Street in Hartford. Later in 2001, Mega swapped the call letters with their other Hartford area station (1230 AM), with 910 becoming WLAT. The station was purchased by Freedom Communications in 2002. Gois purchased the station in 2008.
The WLAT call letters were originally assigned to Conway, South Carolina in the 1940s. The station was on the frequency of 1330 kHz operating at the power of 5 kW Day / .5 kW Night.
Translator
Call sign | Frequency (MHz) | City of license | Facility ID | ERP (W) | Class | Transmitter coordinates | FCC info |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W269DE | 101.7 | New Britain, Connecticut | 143539 | 27 | D | 41°42′58″N 72°48′37″W | FCC |
References
- Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999 (PDF). 1999. p. D-79. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1997/RR-1997-03-28.pdf
- http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1997/RR-1997-03-28.pdf
External links
- WLAT in the FCC's AM station database
- WLAT on Radio-Locator
- WLAT in Nielsen Audio's AM station database