HOMESTEAD, FLA. — A Class C1 100kw FM radio station offering a mix of Christian Talk and Teaching and “the best music this side of heaven” will soon be making a bit of a programming change.
Instead of offering “Life”-affirming offerings in English, it will provide listeners in Miami-Dade and northern Monroe Counties estudias de la Vida, in Spanish.
WLFE-FM 90.9, licensed to Cutler Bay and covering the southern portion of greater Miami and the communities surrounding Key Largo, is being sold by Calvary Chapel of Kendall to Hope Media Group.
That’s the Texas non-profit broadcast ministry created through the merger of the parent of KSBJ in Houston with Way Media. The deal, announced in January, was completed in May 2022.
Now, Hope Media Group is poised to pay Calvary Chapel a sum of $1.1 million for WLFE, which will be used to serve Dios as the South Florida home for the Spanish-language Talk and Teaching “Vida Unida” network.
Programming will be fed from KHVU-FM 91.7 on Houston.
A $50,000 cash deposit has been made by Hope Media Group to Calvary Chapel. Serving as escrow agent is Jorgenson Broadcast Brokerage.
HMG’s legal counsel in this transaction is Davina Sashkin of BakerHostetler. The seller used the services of Washington, D.C., based Anthony T. Lepore.
The change in programming for WLFE brings the facility back to its roots, as the station was formerly WGES-FM “La Nueva 90.9,” a Spanish Christian operation.
“With over 1.5 million Spanish-speakers in the Houston region, we’ve had a heart to engage this group with a music format,” says Hope Media Group President/CEO Joe Paulo. “But, we always believed Houston would serve as a launchpad to reach other cities in the same way. Miami represents an exceptional opportunity for us to encourage this community to love Jesus, serve others and spread hope.”
One big magnet to South Florida’s Spanish-speaking evangelical community is a former WLTV-23 news anchor who spent many years in the Univision family — Myrka Dellanos. She co-hosts the morning show for Vida Unida and says “it’s an honor to bring a message of hope and restoration to our Latino audience in so many new cities. With Spanish-speakers making up more than half of the population in the Miami area, the addition of a Miami station will significantly increase Vida Unida’s impact.”
Vida Unida already airs on HD2 signals in the markets of Portland, Ore.; Dallas; and Nashville. It also airs on FM translators in Evansville, Ind., and in Birmingham.
As such, WLFE will mark the second full-power FM that will be home to Vida Unida.
