WFLZ-FM

WFLZ-FM (93.3 MHz, "93-3 FLZ") is a commercial FM radio station in the Tampa, Florida. It airs a contemporary hit radio (CHR/Top 40) radio format and is owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station's studios and offices are located on Gandy Boulevard in South Tampa. Local DJs are heard on weekdays, with syndicated shows heard on weekends, such as American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest, the iHeartRadio Countdown, the Remix Top 30 with Hollywood Hamilton and On The Move with Enrique Santos.

WFLZ-FM
CityTampa, Florida
Broadcast areaTampa Bay area, Florida Suncoast, Nature Coast
Frequency93.3 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding93-3 FLZ
SloganTampa Bay's #1 Hit Music Channel
Programming
FormatTop 40 (CHR)
HD2: Pride Radio
HD3: Evolution
Ownership
OwneriHeartMedia, Inc.
(Citicasters Licenses, Inc.)
Sister stationsWBTP, WDAE, WFLA, WFUS, WHNZ, WMTX, WXTB
History
First air date1948 (as WFLA-FM)
Former call signsWFLA-FM (1948-1981 and 1984-1985)
WOJC (1981-1984)
WPDS (1985-1987)
Call sign meaningW FLorida Z
Technical information
Facility ID29732
ClassC
ERP100,000 watts (analog)
3,860 watts (digital)
HAAT472 meters (1,549 ft)
Links
WebcastListen Live
Website933flz.iheart.com

WFLZ has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts, the maximum for non-grandfathered FM stations. The transmitter is off Rhodine Road in Riverview, Florida, amid other towers for Tampa-area TV and FM stations. WFLZ-FM broadcasts in the HD radio format. The HD-2 subchannel carries Pride Radio, an iHeart service for LGBTQ listeners. The HD-3 subchannel carries Evolution, iHeartMedia's dance music - EDM service.

History

Early Years

In 1948, the station signed on as WFLA-FM, one of Tampa Bay's and Florida's earliest FM stations.[1] (An early FM station at 105.9 in Tampa that is today 100.7 WMTX went on the air in 1947.) WFLA-FM mostly simulcast the programming from sister station 970 WFLA. WFLA-AM-FM were affiliates of the NBC Red Network, carrying its dramas, comedies, news and sports. The stations were owned by the Tribune Company, which also owned the daily newspaper, The Tampa Tribune. In 1955, a TV station was added, WFLA-TV Channel 8. It carried NBC television programming, since the radio stations were NBC affiliates.

In the 1960s, WFLA-FM ended the simulcast, switching to beautiful music. It played quarter hour sweeps of instrumental cover versions of popular songs, Broadway and Hollywood show tunes. In 1966, the Tribune and its three stations were sold to Richmond Newspapers, which became Media General in 1969.

Country, AC and Oldies

In 1981, it changed to a country music format, as WOJC, "Orange Country 93". However, it was unable to compete against country powerhouses at the time, 620 WSUN and 99.5 WQYK-FM.

In 1984, it changed again to adult contemporary music, bringing back the WFLA-FM call sign and using the name "93 FLA". While it was a little more successful, it still faced competition from 95.7 WNLT and 100.7 WIQI. It was then reformatted into WPDS ("Paradise 93") in 1986, playing soft adult contemporary music. But this format only lasted a couple of years.

WFLA-AM-FM were purchased by Jacor Broadcasting in 1988.[2] The FM station changed its call letters to WFLZ and soon flipped to 1960s and 70s oldies, as "Z93". The oldies sound lasted only a year. The Tampa Bay radio landscape change was influenced by a St. Petersburg Times "Favorite DJ" contest. A disc jockey on a small AM station, 1040 WHBO, won. Most radio insiders thought one of the DJs from the popular Top 40 station 104.7 WRBQ would gather the most votes. The executives at Jacor saw that Top 40 leader WRBQ might be vulnerable from another full-power FM station playing contemporary hits.

The Power Pig

WFLZ gave up its oldies format and began stunting in September 1989. While playing an hour of an urban contemporary music, Z93 DJs demanded that WRBQ-FM (known as "Q105") pay them up to $4 million if they wanted to remain the only Top 40 station in the Tampa Bay market. Q105 ignored the demands of Z93, as well as daily newspaper and TV news coverage that the ransom request was receiving.

At 8:15 a.m. on September 25, Z93 DJs Jack Harris and Dr. Don Carpenter called Q105's owner, Gary Edens, at a private hotel room on the West Coast (5:15 a.m. Gary's time), waking him up to offer him one last chance to pay the $4 million ransom to keep Z93 from switching to Top 40. Live on 93.3 then, Gary responded: "Come on guys! Looking forward to it. Let's go! Have a happy day!"

At that point, the "Power 93, The Power Pig" format was launched. The first song under the new format was "Cold Hearted" by Paula Abdul.[3] The station aggressively targeted Q105 with promotions such as handing out "Screw The Q" T-shirts at various on the street events. Within 71 days of the format flip, The Power Pig had taken over first place in the Tampa market from Q105.

93-3 FLZ

In March 1995, The Power Pig dropped its aggressive image and re-branded as "93-3 FLZ", using the slogan "The New Music Revolution". WFLZ disc jockey Bubba the Love Sponge had his show also airing for a couple of hours a day on a station in Jacksonville. For a few months, WFLZ was simulcast on co-owned KHTS-FM in San Diego while a new CHR format was created for that market.

In 1998, Jacor Broadcasting was acquired by Clear Channel Communications. That put WFLZ under the same roof as its former competitor, WRBQ, until 105.1 was sold off to Infinity Broadcasting. This created an awkward situation, as the staff of WRBQ, who were subject to personal attacks from WFLZ, had moved to higher positions in Clear Channel that oversaw their old rivals at WFLZ.

In 2000, the station underwent a slight re-imaging, adopting a new logo and the slogan "The #1 Hit Music Channel." Long time morning man and operations manager BJ Harris left WFLZ for a station in Cincinnati to do afternoons and PD work. WFLZ was the flagship station for the MJ Morning Show hosted by Todd Schnitt, which was also played on other Clear Channel FM stations in Florida and Missouri.

In 2004, it earned the "CHR Station of the Year" and "CHR Personality of the Year" (for Kane) awards in the Radio Music Awards. In 2011, it was named FMQB "CHR Station of the Year".

On January 19, 2012, Clear Channel announced that after 18 years, the MJ Morning Show would be discontinued. The final broadcast was on February 17, 2012. Clear Channel announced that the Kane Show would take over the morning spot.[4]

On April 4, 2014, radio DJs Jeff Daly and Josh Foreman, also known as Ratboy and Staypuff, announced they would be moving to Philadelphia to host an afternoon-drive slot from 3 to 7 pm at co-owned Top 40 station 102.1 WIOQ. They thanked fans for listening for many years. Radio DJ Nathan "Brody" Halegua took over the slot from 7 pm to midnight on April 7.

On October 30, 2015, at 3:00 PM Eastern Time, WFLZ temporarily changed its name to "Taylor 93.3" to honor Taylor Swift. The last concert on her 1989 World Tour in the U.S. was in Tampa at Raymond James Stadium.[5]

In April 2020, the Kane Show ended. After over a month of running with no morning DJ, iHeart announced that THEjoeSHOW hosted by Joe Carballo, Ashley Nics and Producer Jed from sister WKQI in Detroit would host morning drive time, beginning June 1.[6]

The current on-air lineup as of July 2020 is:

  • Mornings - THEjoeSHOW (Joe Carballo, Ashley Nics and Producer Jed)
  • Middays - Katie Sommers
  • Afternoons - Nick Wize
  • Nights - E.J.
  • Overnights - Brian Fink

WFLZ-FM HD2

WFLZ-FM's HD2 subchannel, which signed on in 2006, programmed a dance music sound. At the start, it was launched as an extension of WFLZ's popular weekend mix show The House Party. In 2015 the subchannel switched to the "Evolution" EDM brand, but customized for Tampa-area listeners, billed as "Evolution 93.3 Tampa Bay." The subchannel also served as a reporter to Billboard's Dance/Mix Show Airplay Chart, in part due to having more of a local content apart from the national "Evolution" network.

On June 26, 2019, WFLZ-FM-HD2 flipped to iHeart's "Pride Radio" format targeting the LGBTQ community while Evolution moved to a newly created HD3 subchannel.[7]

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References
  1. Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 page 116
  2. Broadcasting Yearbook 1989 page B-70
  3. WFLZ Becomes The Power Pig from Format Change Archive September 25, 2014
  4. "MJ Calls It A Day At WFLZ" from All Access (January 19, 2012).
  5. http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/soundcheck/10-days-of-taylor-tampa-radio-station-rebranding-itself-taylor-933-in/2251824
  6. https://radioinsight.com/headlines/186822/wkqis-the-joe-show-heading-to-mornings-at-wflz-tampa/
  7. iHeartMedia Expands Pride Radio to 12 Additional Markets

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