WOIR (1430 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish-language Christian format licensed to Homestead, Florida, United States, and serving South Florida. The station is currently owned by ERJ Media, LLC, a subsidiary of the El Rey Jesús church in Miami, and programmed by the Iglesia Pentecostal Víspera del Fin.
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| Broadcast area | Miami area |
| Frequency | 1430 kHz |
| Programming | |
| Format | Spanish Contemporary Christian |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | ERJ Media, LLC |
| Operator | Iglesia Pentecostal Víspera del Fin (sale pending) |
| History | |
First air date | November 2, 1957 (1957-11-02)[1] |
Former call signs |
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| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 13776 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 5,000 watts day 500 watts night |
Transmitter coordinates | 25°27′09″N 80°30′59″W / 25.45250°N 80.51639°W / 25.45250; -80.51639 |
| Links | |
Public license information |
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| Website | lacadenadelafamilia |
On May 29, 1957—nearly two years after the filing was made—South Dade Broadcasting Co. was granted a construction permit to build a new radio station to serve Homestead on 1430 kHz, with 500 watts during daytime hours only.[2] The station went on the air November 2 of that year, becoming the first broadcasting outlet in southern Dade County.[1] In 1962, Seven League Productions purchased WSDB; the transaction closed in January 1963, and the call sign was changed to WIII that April.[2] Seven League, however, struggled financially. In 1964, two groups sought the license for themselves: one, another group known as South Dade Broadcasting Company, ended up purchasing Seven League in 1966, beating out Redlands Broadcasting, a group that included a former mayor of Homestead.[4]
In 1972, Clement Littauer purchased control of WIII. Littauer had owned two radio stations in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and had started the only English-language TV station there.[5] The call letters changed to WRSD on June 1 of that year,[2] changing to a middle-of-the-road format.[6] Two years later, WRSD became WQDI when Southland Radio, Inc., acquired it; Southland flipped WQDI to country, the only format it ran at its stations.[7] During Southland ownership, the daytime-only station was approved in 1978 to begin nighttime service, which was activated in 1980.[2]
Southland Radio sold WQDI to Miami physician Ramiro Marrero in 1984 for $1.265 million;[8] the station changed call signs to WRBA on September 15, 1985. However, WRBA's operational existence would prove short-lived. On the evening of August 15, 1986, the station informed its listeners it was going off air to perform construction work at its office; no such construction ever materialized, and the same day, the owners had filed for bankruptcy.[9]
WRBA was bought out of its silence by the Continental Broadcasting Corporation in 1987 and emerged as a Spanish-language station, WOIR "Radio Continental". The station's primary audience consisted of listeners of Mexican and Central and South American origin.[10] In 1991, Carlos and Angela López reached a deal to buy WOIR, making it the first Miami-area station to be owned by Colombian Americans.[10]
During Hurricane Andrew, Radio Continental was credited with saving the lives of hundreds of farmworkers in a labor camp. General manager Armando Gallegos remained on the air from the afternoon until midnight, pleading for listeners to evacuate; there were no deaths or injuries. The hurricane toppled both of the station's towers; after the storm, the engineer improvised a new antenna using a tree, and with aid from the city of Homestead and the Department of Defense, the station was back on air.[11]
In 1995, Continental Broadcasting sold WOIR to Corpo-Mex, Inc.[12] The format continued, but the presence of religious programming on the frequency, branded as Radio Amanecer, increased, dominating by 1999.[13] In 2001, Amanecer Christian Network, Inc., purchased WOIR from Corpo-Mex for $2.58 million.[14]
Amanecer Christian Network went into receivership in 2008, and a new investment company replaced it as the licensee; one of the two major debtors was Corpo-Mex, which had sold the station to Amanecer Christian Network in 2001.[15]
ERJ Media filed to sell the station for $900,000 to Iglesia Pentecostal Víspera del Fin of Seattle, which airs Spanish-language Christian programming under the name Tu Familia Radio on stations on the West Coast, in December 2022. The church then assumed programming responsibilities for WOIR on December 16, 2022.[16]