WLAT
WLAT is a commercial AM radio station licensed to New Britain, Connecticut, and serving the Greater Hartford market. WLAT airs a tropical music radio format. Owned by Gois Broadcasting, WLAT broadcasts from studios located on Burnside Avenue in East Hartford, while its transmitter array is located behind the Connecticut School of Broadcasting on Birdseye Road in Farmington. The station also operates translator W269DE in New Britain.
WLAT is powered by 5,000 watts, but at night to protect other stations on 910 AM to avoid interference, it reduces down to 2,800 watts. Programming can be heard on 215-watt FM translator W269DE-FM 101.7 MHz in New Britain.
History
This station originally came on the air May 20, 1949, as WHAY. Its original studios were in New Britain; the transmitter was located at the present location on Birdseye Road in Farmington. The call sign were changed in February 1965, to WRCH, and a few years later, the station adopted a beautiful music format. In 1967, new studios were constructed at the tower site on Birdseye Road. They called the facility "Radio Park". The call sign were changed to WRCQ on October 23, 1974.After American Radio Systems purchased the station in the late-1980s, the format was changed to rebroadcasting CNN Headline News; the station became WNEZ on January 5, 1990. On March 26, 1997, the station flipped to urban contemporary as "Jamz 910 AM".
In 2001, Spanish broadcaster Mega Broadcasting's Alfredo Alonso purchased the station for $750,000, and changed the format to Spanish as "Amor 910" on May 5 of that year. At that time, studios were off Route 6 in Farmington. Mega later moved the studios to 330 Main Street in Hartford. On May 25, 2001, Mega swapped the call letters with their other Hartford area station, with 910 becoming WLAT. The station was purchased by Freedom Communications in 2002. Gois purchased the station in 2008.