WQVN

WQVN 1360 is an American AM radio station, licensed by the FCC to operate on the frequency of 1360 kHz, to serve the South Florida area of Miami and Fort Lauderdale. As of 2019, the station broadcasts its programming in the Haitian creole language.

WQVN
CityNorth Miami, Florida
Broadcast areaSouth Florida metropolitan area
Frequency1360 kHz
Slogan"Radio Piment Bouk"
Programming
Language(s)Haitian Creole
FormatHaitian
Ownership
OwnerNelson Voltaire
(Radio Piment Bouk)
History
Former call signs
WKAT (1937-2018)
Technical information
ClassB
Power9,300 watts (daytime)
400 watts (nighttime)
Translator(s)W272DS (102.3 MHz, Miami)
Links
Websiteradiopimentbouk.com

The station is authorized to operate at 9,300 watts during the day and 400 watts at night. The station's FM translator (W272DS) is authorized for 250 watts on the 102.3 FM frequency.[1]

History

WKAT was first licensed by the FCC on December 3, 1937 to operate on 1500 kHz, transmitting from North Bay Road in Miami Beach. The original licensee was Miami Beach mayor A. Frank Katzentine.[2] The frequency was moved to 1330 kHz in 1940, and the current 1360 kHz on the "Radio Moving Day" on March 29, 1941.[3]

In the 1940s, singer-songwriter Arthur Fields worked at the station while in semi-retirement[4] when the station had a popular music format.

WKAT spent the 1960s and 1970s as a Miami Beach-based local talk station.[5]

Prior to 2005, WKAT had been South Florida's last remaining classical music station.[5]

The conservative talk radio format began in 2005 with a lineup that resembled other outlets owned by Salem Communications: Michael Medved, Laura Ingraham, Hugh Hewitt, Michael Savage, and William Bennett among others. And like the other stations, its tagline was "Where Your Opinion Counts."

In 2005–06, WKAT was the radio station that carried games of the Florida Pit Bulls, a defunct franchise in the American Basketball Association, later joining the Continental Basketball Association, as the Miami Majesty.

WKAT next began airing Salem Communications' "Radio Luz" Spanish-language Christian format, which also airs on sister station WWDJ 1150 in Boston.

On December 11, 2017, Salem Media Group sold WKAT to Miami-Haitian broadcaster and activist Nelson Voltaire,[6] known under his on-air name “Piman Bouk.” The station switched to Haitian language programming under an LMA in January 2018.

Salem retained the Radio Luz format and iconic Miami “WKAT” callsign and moved them to sister station WHIM. The station on 1360 AM concurrently changed its call sign to the current WQVN.

Larry King

Larry King's early radio career was spent at WKAT, where he hosted a morning show at Pumpernik's restaurant on Miami Beach, interviewing entertainers working in Miami, including Jackie Gleason and Frank Sinatra.[7]

Neil Rogers

For two years, WKAT 1360 AM was the South Florida home for talk radio host Neil Rogers, who debuted on the station in March 1976 in the 3 to 6 PM afternoon drive shift and left in 1978.

References
  1. https://radioinsight.com/headlines/121593/station-sales-week-12-8/
  2. Defede, Jim (March 15, 2001). "Radio Days". Miami New Times.
  3. Sullivan, Elizabeth (March 28, 1941). "Tomorrow "Radio Moving Day" For Entire North American Continent". The Boston Globe. p. 26.
  4. Gracyk, Tim. "Arthur Fields". Tim's Phonographs and Old Records. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
  5. Citron, David H. (February 3, 2005). "WKAT is now Conservative Talk". South Florida Radio Pages. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
  6. Nelson Voltaire
  7. McCormick, Bernard (June 30, 1991). "The Man who can't stop talking..." South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

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