WLTV

About WLTV

WLTV is a television station in Miami, Florida, broadcasting on channel 23 and serving as a flagship station of the Univision network, the leading Spanish-language broadcaster in the United States. Owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside UniMás station WAMI-DT, WLTV has served South Florida's Hispanic community for more than five decades. The current incarnation of channel 23 first signed on November 14, 1967, as independent station WAJA, and was acquired by Spanish International Communications Corporation in 1971, becoming one of Univision's founding owned-and-operated stations. The station shares the NewsPort studio complex in Doral with TelevisaUnivision's global headquarters, with its transmitter on NW 210th Street near Andover, Florida.

The Storer years and early failures

Channel 23 in the Miami market traces to May 5, 1953, when WFTL-TV began broadcasting from Fort Lauderdale as an NBC and DuMont affiliate owned by Storer Broadcasting. Storer changed the call letters to WGBS-TV, but in the early days of television very few sets had UHF receivers, requiring expensive converters, and the station shut down on April 13, 1957. The channel 23 license remained active for many years, used intermittently for FCC-sponsored tests, because the commission was then reluctant to delete the licenses of silent stations.

The current incarnation of channel 23 first signed on November 14, 1967, as WAJA, operating as an independent station. Storer had sold the station to Al Lapin, Jr., who made pioneering contributions to Latin-American television in Miami.

Lapin and bilingual programming

Under Al Lapin, Jr., WAJA produced distinctive local programs, including Bozo the Clown, an afternoon show broadcast live in English on weekdays and pre-recorded in Spanish on Saturday mornings, featuring Bozo and his Latin helper Petunia, played by Ileana Garcia. The station also aired popular Spanish-language programs such as Solo Para Bailadores, a Spanish equivalent of Soul Train featuring live performances by local bands, hosted by Omar Marchant.

WAJA originally operated from studios on Northwest 2nd Avenue and 199th Street in Miami Gardens, serving a growing Latin American audience in South Florida with a bilingual mix of English and Spanish programming.

Becoming WLTV

In January 1971, Lapin sold the station to Spanish International Communications Corporation, the forerunner of Univision Communications, making it the company's fourth station. The call letters were changed to WLTV, standing for Latin American Television, and the station concentrated on Spanish-language programming sourced from the Spanish International Network, later renamed Univision. By the mid-1970s, WLTV had phased out its remaining English-language programming.

The acquisition was part of Spanish International's national expansion, with stations in Miami, Fresno, Albuquerque, Chicago, and Houston joining the network over the following years. In 1976, the company became the first to connect its affiliated stations via satellite, enabling simultaneous broadcasts.

Flagship of Univision

WLTV is one of two flagship stations of the Univision network, the other being WXTV-DT in the New York City market. The station carries Univision's full lineup of telenovelas, news, sports, and entertainment programming, serving one of the largest and most influential Hispanic audiences in the United States.

The station also serves as the de facto Univision outlet for the West Palm Beach market, which does not have a Univision station of its own, extending its reach across South Florida.

Noticias 23

WLTV produces extensive local news programming as Noticias Univision 23, covering the issues that matter to South Florida's Hispanic community, from immigration and local politics to hurricanes and community events. The station's news operation benefits from its location at NewsPort in Doral, the 150,000-square-foot converted studio facility that also houses TelevisaUnivision's global headquarters.

As the network's Miami flagship, WLTV's newsroom plays an outsized role in Univision's national news coverage, contributing reporting and resources to the network's news division.

Ownership

WLTV is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision, the media company formed from the combination of Univision Communications and Grupo Televisa's media assets. The station is licensed to WLTV License Partnership, G.P., and operates alongside sister stations including UniMás outlet WAMI-DT, radio stations WAMR-FM and WRTO-FM.

The TelevisaUnivision combination brought together the largest Spanish-language media companies in the United States and Mexico, with Miami serving as the company's global headquarters city.

The NewsPort complex

WLTV shares the NewsPort studio complex on Northwest 30th Terrace in Doral with WAMI-DT, TelevisaUnivision's global headquarters, and the network's national news operations. The 150,000-square-foot facility consolidated the company's South Florida operations in one of the largest broadcast production centers in the country.

The complex houses studios, newsrooms, and production facilities serving both the local stations and the national network, making Doral the center of Spanish-language television production in the United States.

Technical operations

WLTV broadcasts on digital UHF channel 23, displayed as virtual channel 23, with an effective radiated power of 1,000 kW from its transmitter on NW 210th Street near Andover, Florida. The station's subchannels carry additional TelevisaUnivision programming services.

The station completed the digital television transition in 2009, shutting down its analog UHF channel 23 signal and continuing exclusively in digital.

Digital presence

WLTV's digital home is univision.com/local/miami-wltv, offering live streaming, on-demand video, and comprehensive coverage of South Florida news in Spanish. The station maintains mobile apps and active social media accounts under the Univision 23 brand.

As part of TelevisaUnivision, the station's digital operations are integrated with the company's streaming service ViX and its broader digital media strategy for Hispanic audiences. Its official website is https://www.univision.com/local/miami-wltv.

Al Lapin's WAJA

The channel 23 license dated to May 5, 1953, when WFTL-TV signed on from Fort Lauderdale as an affiliate of NBC and DuMont. Owner Storer Broadcasting changed the call letters to WGBS-TV, but in the early days of television very few sets had UHF receivers, requiring expensive converters, and the station went off the air in 1957. The license remained active, and the current incarnation first signed on November 14, 1967, as WAJA, an independent station. Storer sold it to Al Lapin, Jr., who made the first great contribution to Latin-American television in Miami. Under Lapin, the station produced Bozo the Clown, broadcast live in English on weekdays and pre-recorded in Spanish on Saturday mornings, with Bozo and his Latin helper "Petunia," played by Ileana Garcia, along with Solo Para Bailadores, a Spanish equivalent of Soul Train featuring live performances by local bands, hosted by Omar Marchant, which drew local residents to dance and appear on television. The station operated from Northwest 2nd Avenue and 199th Street in Miami Gardens.

Joining Spanish International

In January 1971, Lapin sold the station to the Spanish International Communications Corporation, forerunner of today's Univision Communications, and the call letters were changed to WLTV, standing for Latin American Television, as the station concentrated on Spanish-language programming sourced from the Spanish International Network, later renamed Univision in 1987. By the mid-1970s, the station had phased out its remaining English-language programming. The sale made WLTV the network's fourth station, part of the five-station group incorporated as SICC that year under president Rene Anselmo, alongside Emilio Azcarraga's Mexican media empire. The WLTV call letters had previously been used by WXIA-TV in Atlanta from 1951 to 1953 and by WBKO-TV in Bowling Green, Kentucky, from 1962 to 1971. Today WLTV is one of two flagship stations of the Spanish-language network, the other being WXTV-DT in New York, owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside UniMas station WAMI-DT. The two stations share the 150,000-square-foot "NewsPort" facility on Northwest 30th Terrace in Doral, which also houses the global TelevisaUnivision headquarters, with the transmitter on NW 210th Street near Andover. The station also serves as the de facto Univision outlet for West Palm Beach.