WMIE (Miami, Florida)
Florida's Favorite for Sports (...and Country & Western)
WMIE radio went on the air in 1948 in Miami. One of the station's earliest on-air personalities was Barry Gray, who came from New York City to Miami that year and became known as the inventor of talk radio. He broadcast three different shows from Miami night clubs. Other DJs and annnouncer included Art Green and James Olmes. In late in 1953 when the station added a television outlet to its roster. It was managed by Kurt A. Meer at that time and WMIE-TV was granted a licence in November or December that year but the station broadcast only for a few months. In late 1954, the TV station was purchased by George B. Storer and re-emerged as WGBS-TV in early 1955.
The station became part of Sun Coast Broadcasting in 1951, which in turn was headed by former Georgia Governor E.D. Rivers, Sr., who owned the station for more than a decade. It was the city's premier country & western station during the late 1940s and 1950s, although other station were airing country music programs as well. On air personalities in the C&W field included Cracker Jim Brooker, probably the station's most popular and longest C&W DJ, Happy Harold Thaxton, Dale Wasson, and Buddy Starcher, among others. In the 1950s WMIE produced and broadcast several big country programs in the Miami area. From 1956 until 1957, the station had its Gold Coast Jamboree live stage show.
1950s WMIE match box cover
Following the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and Fidel Castro's rise to power, many Cubans sought refuge in Miami, which led to the development of a big Cuban/Latin American community in the Miami-Dade metropolitan area. Radio was affected by this development, too, and stations began including Spanish-language programming. By 1960, WMIE had introduced two daily programs aimed at a Cuban audience, including Martha Flores' half-hour talk show. Flores had immigrated from Cuba the previous year and was not only the first Cuban to host a radio show in Miami but also the first female host on WMIE. The station was mentioned in several secret governmental reports, which evaluated the possibility of broadcasting propaganda programs to Cuba in order to harm the Castro regime.
WMIE began a full time Latin-aimed programming around 1964. Mainstays like Happy Harold and Cracker Jim switched to other stations in the area and in 1968, WMIE evolved into WQBA, which features a Latin talk/sports programming nowadays. The call letters WMIE went to Christian talk/music station in Cocoa, Florida, which began broadcasting in 1984.
If someone has memories or information on WMIE, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me via email trough the formula at top right.
See also
• Cracker Jim Brooker - A Miami Country Music Veteran
• Dale Wasson
Recommended reading
Sources
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