Early history and attempted digital conversion
This station signed on as a low-power station on channel 47 on November 30, 1989,[1] using the sequentially assigned W47BE call sign. Moving to channel 65 (which had been previously reserved for commercial UHF broadcasts in the early 1950s which were never built[2][3]) on April 15, 1998,[4] the calls were changed to W65DL, then adopted the WXOX-LP calls on January 12, 2000. In the final years as WXOX, the station was affiliated with the Home Shopping Network (HSN).
WXOX-LP filed paperwork requesting the station move to channel 44 and increase power to 120 kW,[5] but amended the request for digital conversion.[6] Federal Communications Commission (FCC) findings stated channel 44 would cause interference with adjacent WNEO,[7] prompting WXOX-LP to request broadcasting over a subchannel of WCDN-LP.[8] WXOX-LP was then forced off the air on October 27, 2009, when wireless carrier Verizon purchased the part of the wireless spectrum where the station had been broadcasting.[9] An attempt was made to convert WXOX to a low-power digital station on channel 31,[10] which WJW broadcast from prior to the June 12, 2009, analog shutoff date. Due to potential co-channel interference issues with CITY-DT-2 in Woodstock, Ontario, which also broadcast on RF channel 31, the application was abandoned.
As a "Franken-FM" radio station
87.7 Cleveland's Sound
In May 2011, the station's then-owner, Venture Technologies Group, filed a new FCC request to move the station to channel 6 analog,[11] leading to speculation that it could carry the audio feed of an FM radio station due to analog transmissions on that frequency also being audible over .[12] After entering into an operating agreement with Murray Hill Broadcasting—headed by former WWWE,[13] WRMR and WDOK co-owner Tom Wilson and aligned with Venture executive Paul Koplin—Wilson announced the launch of a personality-driven alternative rock/talk format,[14] using the WLFM-LP call sign which Venture transferred from their low-power channel 6 station in Chicago.[15]
87.7 Cleveland's Sound
In May 2011, the station's then-owner, Venture Technologies Group, filed a new FCC request to move the station to channel 6 analog,[11] leading to speculation that it could carry the audio feed of an FM radio station due to analog transmissions on that frequency also being audible over .[12] After entering into an operating agreement with Murray Hill Broadcasting—headed by former WWWE,[13] WRMR and WDOK co-owner Tom Wilson and aligned with Venture executive Paul Koplin—Wilson announced the launch of a personality-driven alternative rock/talk format,[14] using the WLFM-LP call sign which Venture transferred from their low-power channel 6 station in Chicago.[15]
With studios located within the Cleveland Agora, what became known as "87.7 Cleveland's Sound" was originally scheduled to launch in July 2012, but did not debut until September 9, 2012.
La Mega 87.7
Murray Hill Broadcasting announced a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Cincinnati-based TSJ Media on December 11, 2013, effectively changing WLFM-LP to a Spanish language radio format, de facto becoming the first full-time Hispanic radio station in Cleveland proper. Tom Wilson viewed Murray Hill's LMA with TSJ Media as "a significant upgrade of an opportunity... sometimes you just don't realize what opportunity is there until somebody presents it to you. It's really the way to go".[22] When the LMA took effect on January 1, 2014,[23] WLFM-LP was renamed "La Mega 87.7: Latino and Proud", boasting an airstaff that included several area disc jockeys.[24] TSJ Media would later be acquired by Columbus-based La Mega Media, Inc., on April 16, 2019.[25]
Beginning with the 2014–15 NBA season, WLFM-LP carried Spanish-language broadcasts of the Cleveland Cavaliers, then added Spanish-language broadcasts of the Cleveland Browns in 2018; Rafael Hernandez Brito served as play-by-play announcer
Conversion to digital
WLFM-LP suspended operations on February 26, 2019, when WOUC-TV in Cambridge, Ohio, moved to RF channel 6 during the repacking of broadcast spectrum initiated by the FCC's 2016 auction;[28] WLFM-LP returned to the air several days later with a power reduction to 3 watts.[29] While low-power television stations operating as "Franken-FMs", including WLFM-LP, had deadlines for digital conversion extended multiple times by the FCC,[30] the spectrum repack forced the station to convert to digital broadcasting on RF channel 20. Thus, WLFM-LP discontinued analog broadcasting on June 30, 2020, with the "La Mega 87.7" format moved to an internet-only platform.[31]
On July 29, 2020, the renamed WLFM-LD launched, carrying Jewelry Television as a temporary affiliation.[32]
Sale to Gray and Telemundo affiliation
Murray Hill Broadcasting sold WLFM-LD to WOIO and WUAB owner Gray Television on July 29, 2021, for $1.65 million, which the FCC approved on September 13.[33] Shortly thereafter, Gray announced WLFM-LD would adopt the WTCL call sign and join Telemundo on January 1, 2022; prior to this, Cleveland was the largest market in the United States not to have a dedicated Telemundo affiliate. The new station would also have evening newscasts in Spanish produced by WOIO, the first such newscasts to be broadcast in the Cleveland market, as Univision-owned WQHS-DT only carries remotely-produced news briefs.[34][35] WOIO previously produced a daily Spanish-language newscast, Al Día, for their website, social media and OTT services, but was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic; WOIO retained both Al Día reporters and planned to hire two additional bilingual reporters.
