WQAM

South Florida sports radio flagship for multiple teams.

WQAM (560 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Miami, Florida, featuring a sports format in simulcast with WQAM-FM. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it serves the Miami metropolitan area and much of South Florida as the flagship of the Miami Heat, the Florida Panthers, Miami Hurricanes football and basketball. The station is also the area affiliate of Westwood One Sports and the BetMGM Network, and the radio home for Joe Rose.

Quick Facts

City: Miami, Florida
Area: South Florida
Branding: 104.3 WQAM
Air date: 23 January 1923
Frequency: 560, kHz
Repeater: 104.3, WQAM-FM, Miramar
Format: Sports radio
Language: English

Facts from the source article.

History

WQAM is among Florida's oldest radio stations. According to Federal Communications Commission records, the station received its first license on January 23, 1923, which is the first date associated with the WQAM call letters. However, several other dates have been proposed for its founding, based on the idea that WQAM's history should actually begin with an earlier Miami station, WFAW. Government records show WFAW was licensed to The Miami Daily Metropolis from June 16, 1922, until it was deleted on June 11, 1923. Later, Fred W. Borton claimed that WFAW had originally been licensed to him, though no records confirm WFAW existed before the Metropolis grant. Beyond its possible connection to WQAM, WFAW's own start date has been reported as anywhere from 1920 to 1922. One account says WFAW began broadcasting with a 50-watt transmitter in 1920. Another states that Borton built that transmitter from spare parts in 1920, and it was licensed the following year, with the call letters changing from WFAW to WQAM a year after that. A third source claims Borton started Florida's first radio station, WFAW, in 1920, and the call letters became WQAM in 1922. A fourth reports that a license was issued to Borton in February 1921 with the call letters WFAW, which were dropped in 1922 for WQAM. The 1972 Broadcasting Yearbook lists May 1921 as WQAM's start date, while the 1953 edition lists 1920. Another source says the station was founded in 1922 as Florida's pioneer broadcaster.