| WLMV | |
| City: | Madison, Wisconsin |
| Branding: | La Movida 94.5 & 1480 ("The Move") |
| Frequency: | 1480 kHz |
| Translator: | 94.5 W233CN (Madison) |
| Airdate: | (as WISC) |
| Format: | Spanish music and talk |
| Power: | 5,000 watts |
| Class: | B |
| Facility Id: | 41901 |
| Coordinates: | 43.025°N -89.3967°W |
| Callsign Meaning: | "La Movida" |
| Former Callsigns: | WVOW (1947) WISC (1947–1959) WISM (1959–1984) WTDY (1984–1998) WTDA (1998–2002) |
| Owner: | Mid-West Family Broadcasting |
| Licensee: | Mid-West Management, Inc |
| Sister Stations: | WHIT, WJJO, WJQM, WMGN, WOZN, WRIS-FM, WWQM-FM, WNTA |
| Webcast: | Listen Live |
| Website: | lamovidaradio.com |
| Licensing Authority: | FCC |
WLMV (1480 AM), branded as "La Movida 94.5 & 1480", is a radio station serving the Madison, Wisconsin area. Owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting, the station airs local Spanish language music and talk programming, along with national news breaks from CNN en Español Radio.
WLMV originated from a 1944 application by Radio Wisconsin, Inc. to build a new station in Madison on 1480 kHz. The station's construction permit was briefly assigned the call letters WVOW, which were changed on August 20, 1947, to WISC. In 1959 the call sign became WISM, and the station was known for its long-time Top 40 and later automated oldies formats. For years, WISM was the popular Top 40 radio station in Madison and was the first station in Wisconsin to broadcast in AM stereo in the early 1980s: ("Both Sides Now" by Judy Collins was the first song WISM played in AM stereo). In 1984 the call sign was changed to WTDY, which originally stood for "Today Radio," a format that featured a mix of music, news, sports and weather, with the station eventually moving to a full news/talk format.
On March 17, 1997, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that 88 stations had been given permission to move to newly available "Expanded Band" transmitting frequencies, ranging from 1610 to 1700 kHz, with WTDY authorized to move from 1480 to 1670 kHz.[1]
A construction permit for the expanded band station was assigned the callsign WAWY on January 9, 1998.[2] The FCC's initial policy was that both the original station and its expanded band counterpart could operate simultaneously for up to five years, after which owners would have to turn in one of the two licenses, depending on whether they preferred the new assignment or elected to remain on the original frequency.[1] However, this deadline has been extended multiple times, and both stations have remained authorized. One restriction is that the FCC has generally required paired original and expanded band stations to remain under common ownership.[3] [4]
On June 12, 1998, the callsign WTDY was transferred from 1480 AM to the new expanded band station at 1670 AM, while 1480 AM became WTDA. Initially programming was simulcast by both stations. When WTDY's move to 1670 AM became permanent in 2002, Mid-West Family Broadcasting rechristened 1480 AM as WLMV, attracting a rapidly growing Latino audience in Madison as the market's first full-time Spanish-language station (and one of only two such stations in the market, with WTTN joining ESPN Deportes in 2009 until 2017).
WLMV began an FM simulcast on W233CN in October 2017.[5]