WAXY

WAXY (790 kHz) is an AM radio station licensed to South Miami, Florida, with a Spanish language classic hits format. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. Its studios are located in Audacy's Miami office on Northwest Second Avenue, and its transmitter is in Everglades National Park. The callsign was formerly used on FM at 105.9, until Jefferson-Pilot acquired the callsign. That station, now WBGG-FM and owned by iHeartMedia with a classic rock format, is not affiliated with the current WAXY. History This station was once WFUN, a legendary Top 40 station that competed with WQAM. Originally, the station was located at 800 on the AM dial, and was a daytime-only operation. While on 800, it was licensed to Miami Beach and was the first station in the area to hold the WMBM callsign, which is now on 1490 kHz. In the early 1960s, the station migrated down to 790, and went full-time as WFUN. The 790 frequency was a moderately directional signal, as there was already a 790 in Havana, Cuba, and another in central Florida (Leesburg-Eustis). Despite coverage limitations, especially to the southwest (in the Florida Keys, toward Havana), WFUN competed vigorously with WQAM throughout the 1960s, and even won some of the ratings sweeps. During the early 1970s, pop music showed up first on FM at WMYQ, and then on WHYI-FM, and the field of top 40 stations (including WQAM and even WINZ for a brief time) became crowded; ultimately many listeners moved to FM for music, and on January 7, 1976, WFUN abandoned its top 40 format for an Adult Standards/MOR format. WFUN was used by one of its disc jockeys to create the Boss Radio broadcasting sound of Swinging Radio England from the coast of southern England during 1966. For a short time in 1965 Morton 'Doc' Downey was a DJ on this Miami station. WFUN was the home of several DJs who became famous on both sides of the Atlantic in 1966. They included Ron O'Quinn and Larry Dean. The format of WFUN in Miami was used in part by Ron O'Quinn as the foundation for the hybrid mix of sounds that were heard over the 50,000 watts offshore pirate radio station Swinging Radio England between May and November 1966. Morning man Bruce Bartley later moved to Atlanta at WSB as the voice of the news and later Program Director of WCNN.