Family Radio’s Shortwave Map (photo: J. Waits)
Family Radio-owned shortwave radio station WYFR is slated to resume broadcasts on December 1, following the sale of the station facility to Radio Miami International (WRMI). As we reported earlier this year, WYFR ceased broadcasts on June 30, 2013. Many in the shortwave community were saddened by the loss of this historic station, as it was the descendent of a station that dated back to 1927.
Owned by Family Radio since 1973, WYFR’s shutdown and subsequent sale is the latest in a number of cost-cutting moves, including station sales, by the Christian radio network during the past year. Founded by Harold Camping, Family Radio gained mainstream attention with its media blitz following Camping’s predictions about Judgment Day and the end of the world in 2011.
Programming from the Christian radio network will once again broadcast internationally over shortwave as part of Family Radio’s deal with Radio Miami International. According to a statement posted on Shortwave Central,
“Family Radio programming for the Caribbean and South America will return to shortwave via the Okeechobee site, and Radio Miami’s programming currently aired on WRMI in Miami will switch over to the Okeechobee facility. The station will also carry programs for other international broadcasters, including Pan American Broadcasting’s Radio Africa network. A target date of December 1, 2013 has been set for the resumption of broadcasts. The current WRMI transmission site in Miami will be closed, and the WRMI call letters will be transferred to Okeechobee.”
According to a piece in Radio World, shortwave practitioners are heartened by the news that shortwave is once again expanding its presence out of the Florida facility.
