101.5 LITE FM has a long and distinguished history in South Florida radio, originally signing on the air in 1948 as WWPB-FM. For more than 20 years the station was owned and operated by Paul Brake, who served as the station's manager and program director.
In 1969, an agreement was made to transfer the station to Sudbrink Broadcasting. Sudbrink increased the station's tower height and changed the call letters to WLYF.
The studios and transmitter were moved to what some early station staffers describe as little more than a 'quonset hut' on the Dade-Broward county line. (The building's tin roof made it nearly impossible for announcers to open their microphones during a heavy rain; the noise was just too noticeable!)
WLYF was incredibly successful; becoming the nation's first FM radio station to achieve a number-one audience rating, and routinely led the Miami market in popularity. Sudbrink owned the station until 1977 when it was sold to Storer Broadcasting, which operated it (and sister AM station WGBS) from studios in downtown Miami until 1979.
Jefferson-Pilot Communications purchased both WLYF and WGBS in 1979, and in 1983 moved the facilities to their current home on Northwest Second Avenue in North Dade. In 1985, WGBS was sold (it's now Radio Mambi) in order to purchase WNWS-AM; today, WNWS is 790 The Ticket.
WLYF achieved phenomenal success as one of the country's most admired 'easy-listening' radio stations, and continued its popularity in the 1990's with a brighter, more contemporary musical sound as '101.5 LITE FM'.
In early 2006, with the merger of Jefferson Pilot Financial and Lincoln Financial Group, Jefferson-Pilot Communications became Lincoln Financial Media.
In July 2015, Lincoln Financial Media stations were acquired by Entercom Communications Corp. (NYSE: ETM), one of the largest radio broadcasting companies in the United States, with a portfolio of 235 highly-rated radio stations covering 90% of the top 50 markets across the country including South Florida's 102.7 the Beach, 104.3 the Shark and 790 The Ticket.
In June 2019, Entercom opened its new offices in The Citadel located in Miami’s Little River (El Portal) neighborhood. Just north of Miami Design District and just south of Fort Lauderdale, The Citadel offers South Floridians a stylish food court, pop-up shops, yoga classes and live concerts in the new performance space.
Known for developing unique and highly successful locally programmed stations, Entercom’s brands reach and engage close to 40 million people each week, delivering a curated mix of outstanding local personalities and a broad range of compelling music, news, talk and sports content.
Founded in 1968, Philadelphia-based Entercom also operates hundreds of events each year attracting millions of attendees, and provides customers with a broad range of marketing solutions through its digital services.
