View source for WLRN-FM

{{short description|Public radio station in Miami}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox radio station dual
| name1            = WLRN-FM
| name2            = WKWM
| logo             = WLRN 2024.svg
| logo_upright     = .8
| format           = [[Public radio]]: [[talk radio|News/talk]], [[jazz]]
| subchannels      = HD2: [[Classical music]]
| class1           = C1
| class2           = C3 
| owner            = [[Miami-Dade County Public Schools]]
| operator         = Friends of WLRN
| city1           =  [[Miami, Florida]] | city2= [[Marathon, Florida]]
| country         = US
| area            =  [[South Florida metropolitan area|South Florida]] and the [[Florida Keys]]
| branding         = ''WLRN Radio''
| airdate1         = {{start date and age|1949}} | airdate2 = {{start date and age|2008|9}}
| frequency1       = {{frequency|91.3|[[MHz]]}} {{HD Radio}} |frequency2= 91.5 MHz {{HD Radio}}
| translators      = {{plainlist|
* 89.1 W206AS ([[Big Pine Key, Florida|Big Pine Key]])
* 93.3 W227AD ([[Key Colony Beach, Florida|Key Colony Beach]])
* 100.5 W263BO ([[Key West, Florida|Key West]])
* 101.9 W270AD ([[West Palm Beach]])
* 92.1 W221AY ([[Tavernier, Florida|Tavernier]])}}
| repeaters        = 105.5 [[WOLL|WOLL-HD2]] ([[Hobe Sound, Florida|Hobe Sound]])
| erp1             = 47,000 watts | erp2= 12,000 watts
| haat1            = {{convert|285|m|sp=us}} |haat2= {{convert|140.8|m|sp=us}}
| facility_id1     = 66339 | facility_id2= 122606
| callsign_meaning1 = Learn | callsign_meaning2= Key West Marathon
| affiliations     = {{hlist|[[National Public Radio]]|[[Public Radio Exchange]]|[[American Public Media]]|[[BBC World Service]]}}
| webcast          = {{listenlive|http://player.wlrn.org}}
| website          = {{URL|www.wlrn.org/radio}}
| licensing_authority= [[FCC]]
}}

'''WLRN-FM''' (91.3 [[MHz]]) and '''WKWM''' (91.5&nbsp;MHz) are [[non-commercial educational station|non-commercial]], listener-supported, [[public radio]] stations for [[South Florida metropolitan area|South Florida]] and the [[Florida Keys]].  WLRN-FM is licensed to [[Miami]] and WKWM is licensed to [[Marathon, Florida|Marathon]]. They are owned by [[Miami-Dade County Public Schools]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/219891/friends-of-wlrn-to-take-over-management-of-south-florida-public-news-talker/|title=Friends Of WLRN To Take Over Management Of South Florida Public News/Talker|first=Lance|last=Venta|work=RadioInsight|date=February 14, 2022|accessdate=February 14, 2022|archive-date=February 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214161145/https://radioinsight.com/headlines/219891/friends-of-wlrn-to-take-over-management-of-south-florida-public-news-talker/|url-status=live}}</ref> The offices and studios are on NE 15th Street in Miami.

WLRN-FM is a [[list of broadcast station classes|Class C1]] station and WKWM is Class C3.  WLRN-FM's [[transmitter]] is off SW 52nd Avenue in [[Pembroke Park]].<ref>[https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?sr=Y&s=C&call=Wlrn&nav=home Radio-Locator.com/WLRN]</ref>  WKWM's transmitter is off [[Route A1A]] in [[Ramrod Key]].<ref>[https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=wkwm&x=0&y=0&sr=Y&s=C Radio-Locator.com/WKWM]</ref>  Programming is also heard on four [[FM translator]]s in South Florida.

==Programming==
WLRN-FM and WKWM are the [[flagship (broadcasting)|flagship]] [[NPR]] [[Network affiliate|member station]]s in South Florida.  They air a news and information format during the day with [[jazz]] at night and the [[BBC World Service]] overnight.  Weekday information shows include ''[[Morning Edition]], [[All Things Considered]], [[Fresh Air]], [[1A (radio program)|1A]], [[Here and Now (Boston)|Here and Now]], [[The World (radio program)|The World]]'' and ''[[Marketplace (radio program)|Marketplace]]''.  There are two weekday evening music programs:   ''Radyo Lekol'', a [[Haitian Creole]] show and ''Weeknight Jazz'', which features traditional and contemporary [[jazz music]].

Weekend specialty shows include ''[[Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me]], [[The Moth Radio Hour]], [[TED Radio Hour|The TED Radio Hour]], [[The New Yorker Radio Hour]], [[Ezra Klein|The Ezra Klein Show]], [[Rick Steves|Travel with Rick Steves]], [[A Way with Words]], [[Freakonomics Radio]], [[Latino USA]], [[Science Friday]], [[Hidden Brain]], [[Radiolab]]'' and ''[[This American Life]]''.

==Translators and repeaters==
As of 2022, WLRN-FM has three repeaters in the [[Florida Keys]]: 93.3 W227AD in [[Key Colony Beach]], 89.1 W206AS in [[Big Pine Key]], and 100.5 W263BO in [[Key West]].<ref name="FCC data WLRN">{{cite web|url=https://fccdata.org/?lang=en&facid=66339|title=WLRN-FM|publisher=FCC Data|accessdate=September 28, 2022}}</ref>

In late September 2008, WLRN launched a full-powered, class C3, 12&nbsp;kW station, WKWM 91.5, in [[Marathon, Florida]], which simulcasts WLRN programming for the southern Keys. This station broadcasts in HD Radio. WKWM has one repeater, 92.1 W221AY in [[Tavernier, Florida|Tavernier]].<ref name="FCC data WKWM">{{cite web|url=https://fccdata.org/?facid=&call=WKWM|title=WKWM|publisher=FCC Data|accessdate=September 28, 2022}}</ref>

To serve the [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beaches]] of South Florida, WLRN-FM leases FM translator 101.9 W270AD in [[West Palm Beach]].  It has a power of 250 watts and is fed by an HD2 subchannel of 90.7 [[WFLV]].  The translator and HD2 subchannel are owned by the [[Educational Media Foundation]] based in [[Tennessee]].

==History==
===Early years===
WLRN-FM [[signed on]] the air in {{Start date and age|1949}}.  Its original [[call sign]] was WTHS-FM and it broadcast on 91.7&nbsp;MHz.  It was powered at 5,000 watts, a fraction of its current output.  It has always been owned by the Miami public school system, although in its early years, the holder of the license was The Board of Public Instruction of Dade County.<ref>[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1959/1959-BC-YB-All-Radio.pdf ''Broadcasting Yearbook 1959'' page B-131. Retrieved June 17, 2023.]</ref>  The studios and offices were at 1410 NE 2nd Avenue.

The school board acquired Channel 17 in 1959.  At first, WTHS-TV was mostly used for classroom instruction on school days.  But it later became Miami's secondary [[PBS]] station as [[WLRN-TV]].

In the 1960s, WTHS-FM moved to 91.3.<ref>[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1970/B%20Radio%20All%20BC%20YB%201970%20All-3.pdf ''Broadcasting Yearbook 1970'' page B-43. Retrieved June 17, 2024.]</ref>  The power increased slightly to 8,400 watts.  The station became a charter member of NPR in 1970 and is the longest running NPR [[network affiliate|affiliate]] in Florida.  WTHS-FM maintained a long-time [[radio reading service]] for the [[blindness|blind]] on an [[analog signal|analog]] [[subcarrier]].

In 1973, the stations changed their call letters to WLRN-FM-TV to represent the word "Learn."  Employees of WLRN-FM-TV are part of [[AFSCME]] union local 1187.<ref>[http://www2.dadeschools.net/employees/labor_union/afscme/pdf08/full_contract.pdf contract]</ref>

In the late 1970s, WLRN-FM was given permission by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] to boost its power to 92,000 watts on its 400 foot [[radio masts and towers|tower]].<ref>[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1977/C%20Section%20Radio%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201977%20P-6.pdf ''Broadcasting Yearbook 1977'' page C-44.  Retrieved June 17, 2024.]</ref>  However, it chose to go on a taller antenna and run 47,000 watts as a Class C1 station.

===HD Radio===
WLRN-FM and WKWM broadcast using [[HD Radio]] technology.  The HD2 [[digital subchannel]] was originally called "WLRN Xtra HD."  It was known as "South Florida’s Alternative News and Talk Station", featuring talk programming by day and [[BBC World Service]] at night.

Until December 2, 2007, HD2 carried "[[Classical 24]]", which offered [[classical music]] 24 hours per day.<sup>[https://store.friendsofwlrn.org/alleg/images/e-newsletter%20images/digitalradiofaq.htm]</sup> Classical 24 later moved to another public radio station, [[WMLV|WKCP]] 89.7 FM, after that station's acquisition by Classical 24's parent, [[American Public Media]].  But 89.7 was sold to the [[Educational Media Foundation]] (EMF) for its "[[K-LOVE]]" [[Christian Contemporary music]] network on July 17, 2015.  Classical music returned to WLRN's HD2 subchannel on August 10, 2015.  It once again uses the "Classical 24" network but is now referred to as "WLRN Classical HD2."

===The Palm Beaches===
On October 16, 2015, WLRN-FM announced it would lease the HD2 subchannel of [[WFLV]] in [[West Palm Beach]] and its [[FM translator]] 101.9 W270AD from the [[Educational Media Foundation]] (EMF).  The subchannel and translator would [[simulcast]] WLRN-FM in the region as "101.9, NPR For The Palm Beaches."  Until then, listeners in the Palm Beach area had to try pulling in 91.3 WLRN-FM from its main transmitter in [[Pembroke Pines]], quite distant for an FM signal to reach.

The translator on 101.9&nbsp;MHz began airing WLRN-FM programming in November 2015.<ref>[https://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/94933/wlrn-to-operate-npr-for-palm-beaches/ WLRN To Operate NPR For Palm Beaches - Radio Insight]</ref>  Other than W270AD, there was no NPR affiliate on the Florida Coast between Miami and [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]].  In 1982, a new NPR station signed on in [[Fort Pierce, Florida|Fort Pierce]], [[WQCS]] [[88.9 FM]], owned by [[Indian River State College]].  But its transmitter is distant from the Palm Beaches as well.

Although 101.9 W270AD's programming is produced by WLRN-FM, it airs a slightly different schedule from WLRN-FM's main signal.  On weekday evenings, it doesn't air ''Radyo Lekol'' (Creole-language program produced by MDCPS; weeknights from 9:00-9:30pm) or ''Evening Jazz'' (weeknights from 9:30pm–1:00am).  Programming from the BBC World Service airs instead.

===Controversy===
In June 2011, WLRN dropped ties with the Florida Public Radio Network.  That is a statewide network of public radio stations designed to provide coverage of the [[Florida Legislature]] and other Florida-relevant issues.  This was partly in response to its producer, [[WFSU-FM]] in [[Tallahassee, Florida|Tallahassee]], receiving $2.8 million in funding for various services related to Florida government, including $497,522 for "statewide government and cultural affairs programming", which includes the Florida Public Radio Network.

This is despite the $4.8 million of funding to other public radio and television stations (including WLRN radio and television) vetoed by Governor [[Rick Scott]] in May 2011. In its place, WLRN-FM signed on to a joint partnership between the ''[[Tampa Bay Times]]'' and ''[[The Miami Herald]]'' in coverage of state issues from the papers' Tallahassee bureau.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/legislature/gov-rick-scotts-veto-of-public-tv-and-radio-funds-spares-capitals-wfsu/1173819 |title=St. Petersburg Times: "Gov. Rick Scott's veto of public TV and radio funds spares capital's WFSU", June 6, 2011. |access-date=June 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609052219/http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/legislature/gov-rick-scotts-veto-of-public-tv-and-radio-funds-spares-capitals-wfsu/1173819 |archive-date=June 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{officialwebsite|http://www.wlrn.org/|WLRN radio}}
* {{FM station data|66339|WLRN-FM}}
* {{FM station data|122606|WKWM}}
* {{FCC-LMS-Facility|66353|W221AY}}
* {{FCC-LMS-Facility|66350|W227AD}}
* {{FCC-LMS-Facility|59323|W206AS}}
* {{FCC-LMS-Facility|59322|W263BO}}
* [[Night Train (radio show)|''Night Train'']]
* [[Ted Grossman]]

{{Miami Radio}} 
{{Florida Keys Radio}} 
{{NPR Florida}}
{{M-DCPS}}

{{coord|25.980|N|80.196|W|type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC|display=title}}

[[Category:NPR member stations]]
[[Category:Radio reading services of the United States]]
[[Category:Radio stations in Miami|LRN-FM]]
[[Category:Miami-Dade County Public Schools]]
[[Category:1948 establishments in Florida]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1948]]