WYFR
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2011) |
Broadcast area | Worldwide |
---|---|
Branding | Family Radio |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Format | Defunct (was Gospel) |
Ownership | |
Owner |
|
History | |
First air date | October 15, 1927 |
Former call signs | W2XAL (October 15, 1927-1929) W1XAL (1929-September 5, 1939) WRUL (September 5, 1939-June 1, 1966) WNYW (June 1, 1966-October 20, 1973)[1] |
Call sign meaning | We're Your Family Radio |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 20793 |
Transmitter coordinates | 27º27'30"N, 80º56'W |
Links | |
Website | familyradio.com |
WYFR was a shortwave radio station located in Okeechobee, Florida, United States. The station was owned by Family Stations, Inc., as part of the Family Radio network, and used to broadcast traditional Christian radio programming to international audiences. WYFR ceased all shortwave transmissions July 1, 2013. In December 2013, another shortwave broadcaster, WRMI of Miami, purchased the WYFR transmission complex.
History
WYFR was descended from W1XAL, an experimental shortwave station in that was granted its license in 1927 and broadcast from Boston until 1936 when the station moved to Scituate, Massachusetts. In 1939 the call letters were changed to WRUL and initially served as an educational station broadcasting university lectures. During World War II it became a propaganda station and was leased by the US government from 1942 until the end of the war. The station became WNYW in 1966.
In 1973, it was purchased by Family Stations, Inc, and began broadcasting as WYFR on October 20, 1973. The call sign stands for We're Your Family Radio.[citation needed] The station built new transmitters in Okeechobee, Florida in 1977,[citation needed] and closed the Scituate site in 1979.[citation needed] In mid-2013 Family Radio announced it would be permanently closing WYFR on June 30, 2013.[2] The station did in fact close but was purchased by WRMI and brought back to the air in December 2013.
The interval signal of WYFR was a brass quintet playing the first eight bars of "To God Be the Glory".[citation needed]
Radio Taiwan International
At night after 5 p.m./6 p.m. until sometime the next morning Eastern Time Zone (depending on daylight saving time), WYFR broadcast Radio Taiwan International in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, and Spanish. As Radio Taiwan International leased broadcast time on WYFR from Family Radio, these broadcasts also ended on July 1, 2013.[3] Family Radio, however, continued to host RTI's audio service to the Chinese community in the New York City area on a digital subchannel of Family Radio's television station, WNYJ-TV, until that station ceased operations on October 25, 2017.
References
- ^ Station history
- ^ http://mt-shortwave.blogspot.com/2013/06/wyfr-to-close-all-shortwave-services.html
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2013-06-26.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
External links
- Family Radio stations
- Radio stations in Florida
- Radio stations established in 1973
- Radio stations disestablished in 2013
- Defunct radio stations in the United States
- Cantonese-language radio stations
- Chinese-language radio stations in the United States
- Christian radio stations in Florida
- Non-English-language radio stations in Florida
- Hakka Chinese
- Mandarin-language radio stations
- Shortwave radio stations in the United States
- 1973 establishments in Florida
- 2013 disestablishments in Florida
- Defunct religious radio stations in the United States
- Defunct mass media in Florida