WFTD (1080

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

) is a commercial AM

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

licensed to

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

, United States and serving the

Atlanta metropolitan area Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the sixt ...

. The station is owned by Prieto Broadcasting, Inc. and airs a

Regional Mexican Regional Mexican music refers collectively to the regional subgenres of the country music of Mexico and its derivatives from the Southwestern United States. Each subgenre is representative of a certain region and its popularity also varies by ...

format. Programming is also heard on FM

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

W243DQ at 96.5

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

. By day, WFTD operates at the maximum power permitted for AM radio stations, 50,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s. During

critical hours Critical hours for radio stations is the time from sunrise to two hours after sunrise, and from two hours before sunset until sunset, local time. During this time, certain American radio stations may be operating with reduced power as a result of Se ...

it runs 30,000 watts, in both cases using a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

system. WFTD is classified as a Class D station according to the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

, so it must

sign-off A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonwealth countries exce ...

during nighttime hours to avoid interference to clear channel stations WTIC in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, and KRLD in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, also on AM 1080.

History

On November 14, 1955, WBIE

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

as a full-service

daytimer A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...

facility owned by James M. Wilder. Wilder later started a

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

on WBIE-FM 101.5 MHz (now

WKHX-FM WKHX-FM (101.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Marietta, Georgia, featuring a country music format known as "New Country 101.5". Owned by Cumulus Media, the station serves the Atlanta metropolitan area. WKHX-FM's studios are loca ...

). WBIE's original operating frequency was 1050 kHz, powered at 500 watts, using a

non-directional antenna In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle to the axis (elevation angle), declining t ...

. In 1965, WBIE moved to 1080

with 10,000

s directional, still daytime only. That enabled WBIE to pick up the CBS Radio

Network affiliation In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or al ...

for the Metro Atlanta area, which it held onto well into the 1970s. Several noted newscasters worked at WBIE early in their careers, including Steve Walsh (later at KGO/

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

), and Chris Little ( KFI News Director). Over the years, the station switched

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

s, to WCOB in 1978, WEKS in 1985, and WJYA in 1986. WFTD's current call sign has remained with the station since 1988; during this period station transmitter power was increased to 50,000 watts, though still a directional daytime-only operation. From the 1980s through the 1990s, WFTD was the official radio home of Roswell Street Baptist Church and broadcast the weekly sermon of longtime pastor Dr. Nelson L. Price as well as additional RSBC programming. Roswell Street renamed the station as WFTD, which stands for "Waiting For The Day" that Jesus Christ returns. Through the early 2000s, WFTD aired programming for the

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

community. In July 2007 WFTD switched formats to carry a

Korean language Korean is the first language, native language for about 81 million people, mostly of Koreans, Korean descent. It is the national language of both South Korea and North Korea. In the south, the language is known as () and in the north, it is kn ...

radio format, branded as "Atlanta Radio Korea", as a result of a

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one corporation, company agrees to operate a radio station, radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it ...

(LMA). On June 9, 2008, WFTD was a victim of a

molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see '') is a hand-thrown incendiary weapon consisting of a frangible container filled with flammable substances and equipped with a Fuse (explosives), fuse (typically a glass bottle filled wit ...

bomb when a former employee who had been fired two months earlier walked into the station's Norcross studios and left a bomb there. As a result of the bomb, a small fire was sparked, but was quickly extinguished and the man who threw the cocktail suffered severe burns. By mid-2009, "Atlanta Radio Korea" was simulcasting its programming with 1040 WPBS. A short time later, "Atlanta Radio Korea" was heard exclusively on WPBS and dropped from WFTD. WFTD then started carrying Mexican-American music and talk programming under the "Radio La Ley 1080 AM" branding. From 2015, this station has been broadcasting Vietnamese programming. In December 2016, Atlanta Radio Korea purchased WQXI (simulcasting WSTR) and flipped it Korean programming. In turn, Viet Song Media bought WPBS and switched it to Vietnamese programming on New Year's Day 2017. WFTD then flipped to oldies, specializing in tunes from the 1950s and early 1960s, without any DJs and repeating their identification after every song. Effective July 1, 2017, WFTD dropped the temporary "oldies" format, and returned to Spanish language programming under the name "La Mega Mundial" (The latter format first appeared on WTBS-LP analog channel 6, until 2016). On January 2, 2018, its Spanish CHR format was relaunched.

References

External links

FCC History Cards for WFTD

Website
{{Daytime-only radio stations in Georgia FTD Radio stations established in 1955 1955 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) FTD