WLRN-FM
Encyclopedia
WLRN-FM is a class C1 FM station on 91.3 and is the main public radio station
for South Florida
and the Keys
based in Miami. The station is owned-and-operated
by the Miami-Dade County Public Schools
and is the area's NPR
member station
.
WLRN first signed on in 1948.
Its HD2 service is WLRN Xtra HD, "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.https://store.friendsofwlrn.org/alleg/images/e-newsletter%20images/digitalradiofaq.htm Classical 24 has since moved to another public radio station, WKCP
89.7 FM, after that station's acquisition by Classical 24's parent, American Public Media
.
The station also maintains its long-time radio reading service
for the blind
on an analog
subcarrier
.
The school board also owns WLRN-TV
, a PBS
member television station.
. Listed from northeast to southwest, they are:
These stations do not yet appear to carry HD Radio.
In late September 2008, WLRN launched a full-powered, class C3, 12kW station, WKWM 91.5 in Marathon, Florida
, which simulcasts WLRN programming for the southern Keys.
and other Florida-relevant issues, partly in response to its producer, WFSU-FM
in 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 will join the joint partnership between the St. Petersburg Times
and The Miami Herald
in coverage of state issues from the papers' Tallahassee bureau.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
for South Florida
South Florida metropolitan area
The South Florida metropolitan area, also known as the Miami metropolitan area, and designated the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area by the U.S...
and the Keys
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral archipelago in southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry...
based in Miami. The station is owned-and-operated
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
by the Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Miami-Dade County Public Schools is a public school district serving Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1885, it is the largest school district in Florida and the Southeastern United States, and the fourth largest in the United States, with a student enrollment of 380,006 as of July 5, 2010...
and is the area's NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
member station
Affiliate
An affiliate is a commercial entity with a relationship with a peer or a larger entity.- Corporate structure :A corporation may be referred to as an affiliate of another when it is related to it but not strictly controlled by it, as with a subsidiary relationship, or when it is desired to avoid...
.
WLRN first signed on in 1948.
Its HD2 service is WLRN Xtra HD, "South Florida’s Alternative News and Talk Station", featuring talk programming by day and BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
at night. Until December 2, 2007, HD2 carried "Classical 24
Classical 24
Classical 24 is a syndicated, satellite-delivered public radio service providing classical music to its carrying stations. It generally airs overnights on many non-commercial and a handful of commercial classical music stations. However, the service is operated 24 hours a day and is used by some...
", which offered classical music 24 hours per day.https://store.friendsofwlrn.org/alleg/images/e-newsletter%20images/digitalradiofaq.htm Classical 24 has since moved to another public radio station, WKCP
WKCP
WKCP , Classical South Florida, is a classical music-formatted radio station in Miami, Florida. This listener supported, nonprofit public radio station is owned by American Public Media Group, the parent nonprofit support organization of Minnesota Public Radio...
89.7 FM, after that station's acquisition by Classical 24's parent, American Public Media
American Public Media
American Public Media is the second largest producer of public radio programs in the United States of America after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and operates radio stations in Minnesota, California, and Florida. Its station brands are Minnesota Public Radio,...
.
The station also maintains its long-time radio reading service
Radio reading service
A radio reading service or reading service for the blind is a service of many universities, community groups and public radio stations, where a narrator reads books, newspapers and magazines aloud for the benefit of the blind and vision-impaired. It is most often carried on a subcarrier, with...
for the blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
on an analog
Analog signal
An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to another time varying signal. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are...
subcarrier
Subcarrier
A subcarrier is a separate analog or digital signal carried on a main radio transmission, which carries extra information such as voice or data. More technically, it is an already-modulated signal, which is then modulated into another signal of higher frequency and bandwidth...
.
The school board also owns WLRN-TV
WLRN-TV
WLRN-TV is a Public Broadcasting Service member public television station broadcasting on channel 17 in Miami, Florida.WLRN-TV signed on the air as WSEC-TV in 1962 as a second educational non-profit television station, licensed to the Dade County School Board, and affiliated with National...
, a PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
member television station.
Translators
Since the mid-1990s, the station has had five broadcast translator stations, evenly-spaced down the Florida KeysFlorida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral archipelago in southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry...
. Listed from northeast to southwest, they are:
- W228AY 93.5 in Key Largo, FloridaKey Largo, FloridaKey Largo is a census-designated place in Monroe County, Florida, United States, located on the island of Key Largo in the upper Florida Keys. The population was 11,886 at the 2000 census. The name comes from the Spanish Cayo Largo, or "long key"...
- W221AY 92.1 in Islamorada, FloridaIslamorada, FloridaIslamorada, a "Village of Islands," is an incorporated village in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It is located on the islands of Tea Table Key, Lower Matecumbe Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, Windley Key and Plantation Key in the Florida Keys....
- W227AD 93.3 in Key Colony Beach, FloridaKey Colony Beach, FloridaKey Colony Beach is a city in the middle Florida Keys, Monroe County, Florida, United States. The population was 788 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 852.-Geography:...
- W206AS 89.1 on Big Pine Key, FloridaBig Pine Key, FloridaBig Pine Key is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Monroe County, Florida, on an island of the same name in the Florida Keys. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 5,032.-Geography:...
- W263BO 100.5 in Key West, FloridaKey West, FloridaKey West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...
These stations do not yet appear to carry HD Radio.
In late September 2008, WLRN launched a full-powered, class C3, 12kW station, WKWM 91.5 in Marathon, Florida
Marathon, Florida
Marathon is a city on Knight's Key, Boot Key, Key Vaca, Fat Deer Key, Long Point Key, Crawl Key and Grassy Key islands in the middle Florida Keys, in Monroe County, Florida, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 10,255. As of 2005, the population estimated...
, which simulcasts WLRN programming for the southern Keys.
Controversy
In June 2011, WLRN dropped ties with the Florida Public Radio Network, a statewide network of public radio stations designed to provide coverage of the Florida LegislatureFlorida Legislature
The Florida State Legislature is the term often used to refer to the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Florida Constitution states that "The legislative power of the state shall be vested in a legislature of the State of Florida," composed of a Senate...
and other Florida-relevant issues, partly in response to its producer, WFSU-FM
WFSU-FM
WFSU is the callsign for public radio stations operated by Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.WFSU also operates 3 radio stations that serve northern Florida:...
in Tallahassee
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...
, 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 will join the joint partnership between the St. Petersburg Times
St. Petersburg Times
The St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
and The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company headquartered on Biscayne Bay in the Omni district of Downtown Miami, Florida, United States...
in coverage of state issues from the papers' Tallahassee bureau.