WIOA (99.9
FM), branded on-air as Fresh 99.9 FM, is a
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radio ...
broadcasting a bilingual
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
/
CHR format. Licensed to
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...
, it serves the Puerto Rico area. The station is currently owned by International Broadcasting Corporation.
WIOA is simulcast on
WIOC 105.1 FM in southern Puerto Rico, including
Ponce, and
106.9 FM for western Puerto Rico.
On October 14, 2014, Estereotempo moved frequencies from 99.9 FM to 96.5 FM, while Fresh 99.9 FM began broadcasting on October 15, 2014, with better coverage in the metropolitan area. Fresh offers a wide variety of American CHR Music. Fresh is broadcasting on 99.9 FM Metro,
105.1 FM South &
106.9 FM West covering the entire market.
History
WIOA signed on March 1, 1961 as WFQM. It was originally owned by the Supreme Broadcasting Company of Puerto Rico, controlled by Alfredo Ramírez de Arellano y Bártoli, and it was the FM counterpart to
WKYN (630 AM), known as "La Gran Cadena FM" with a beautiful music format. In 1968, the call letters were changed to WKYN-FM, with the WQBS-FM designation adopted in 1970.
By that time the three radio stations that formed the network were WQBS-AM-FM 630 & 99.9 San Juan,
WORA-AM-FM 760 and 97.5 Mayagüez, and
WPRP
WPRP (910 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a News radio format. Licensed to Ponce, Puerto Rico, the station serves the Puerto Rico area. The station is currently owned by Arso Radio Corporation. The station is shared with translator station ...
-AM-FM 910 and 105.1 Ponce. The FM stations were intended to change their call signs on September 1, 1977, to WIOA,
WIOB
WIOB (97.5 FM) is a radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio wave ...
and WIOC, respectively, but confusion with
WHOA (870 AM) in San Juan required the first two stations to change. After WHOA was sold to Pedro Román Collazo and became the current
WQBS, WIOA and WIOB exchanged call letters in 1985.
In 1976, the station relaunched as Estereotempo, eventually segueing into a romantic/ballad format in the late 1980s.
Estereotempo moved to
WRXD
WRXD (96.5 FM) is a radio station broadcasting an Adult Contemporary format. Licensed to Fajardo, Puerto Rico, it serves the Puerto Rico area. The station is currently owned by WRXD Licensing, Inc. History
In 1969, the station was known as Radi ...
96.5 FM in San Juan on October 14, 2014, making way for Fresh, a
hot adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...
format; the Estereotempo format was dismantled in 2018, and WIOB is no longer co-owned.
WIOC
WIOC (105.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a bilingual Top 40/ CHR format. Licensed to Ponce, Puerto Rico, the station serves the Puerto Rico area. WIOC was founded in 1965. The station is currently owned by International Broadcasting Corp ...
continues to rebroadcast WIOA. However, the Estereotempo name returned in 2023.
Originally the antenna and transmitters were located on the roof of Ponce De León 23 story building, 1st Federal Savings. Now they are located on one of the highest peaks next to El Yunque providing much better coverage.
References
External links
*
IOA
{{PuertoRico-radio-station-stub