WBZS-AM 1270 Orlando

WBZS History

''When you're in business, you always develop an alternative plan,'' said Willie Martin, General Manager and co-owner of WBZS. ''So when our market share numbers eroded because of Jamz (WJHM-FM 101.9), we went to another format.'' Martin said, a business-information format was his ''Plan B'' in the event the black-music format did not muster the ratings and revenue needed. Martin had managed WORL for five years and was a partner in the group that bought the station from Metroplex Communications Inc. in 1987. For an AM station, WORL was considered a success, averaging a 4.5 share in the Arbitron Ratings Co. survey of local stations. ''It will take about three months for the station to develop its own personality,'' Martin said. The old WORL staff of 14, including all the disc jockeys except Charles "Mad Hatter" Merritt, now work behind the scenes or provide commercial voice-overs.

WBZS Says Buenos Dias To New Format
August 20, 1991 By Susan G. Strother of The Sentinel Staff

WBZS-AM (1270), the Orlando-area radio station that aired urban music and then business news, is now broadcasting with a distinctive Latin beat. Tony Renay, a consultant to the financially troubled station, confirmed Monday that WBZS signed a contract with Vision Broadcasting Inc. under which the station will air Spanish-language music, news and talk shows. The monthly agreement, which took effect late Sunday, does not mean that WBZS has been sold. Rather, Vision Broadcasting has purchased blocks of time from WBZS, much as an advertiser would. Such a contract, known as ''brokering,'' is not unusual among radio stations, particularly among struggling stations on the AM dial. Generally, however, shorter blocks of time are brokered; under Vision's agreement, the Spanish shows will air 24 hours a day. There are two other Spanish-language AM radio stations in Orlando. WBZS, which is licensed in Eatonville, dropped its business news programming in late May after a 2 1/2-year struggle to make the station successful. The station never had much advertising, and earlier this year was unable to meet its payroll. Before the switch to Spanish shows, the station aired reggae and then black-urban music. Andres Montes, Vision Broadcasting's general manager, said his company would like to buy WBZS. ''We stumbled into WBZS,'' Montes said. ''We talked to them and got a certain agreement for programming. . . . Ideally, we'd like to buy the station.'' Vision Broadcasting is based in Orlando. Montes would not say what the principals did prior to the agreement with WBZS. Neither Renay nor Montes would disclose the financial arrangement between WBZS and Vision Broadcasting.

Names In WBZS History

Willie Martin-1988-General Manager/co-owner-WORL Radio Inc.

William Newhouse-1988-1989-Acount Executive-WORL Radio, Inc.

Shannon Conn-General Manager

Network Affiliation(s):	Business Radio Network
	Financial Broadcasting Network
	Vision Broadcasting
	NBA Radio Network

Owner(s):	1957-Orlando Radio & Television Broadcasting Corp.
	1969-Orlando Radio & Television Corp.
	1978-Sudbrink Broadcasting
	1986-Metcom Associates Limited Partnership
	1987-Metropolex Communications of Orlando Inc.
	1987-WORL Radio Inc ($1.65 million)
	1992-Rumbault & Associates (Receiver for S.E. Broadcasting, Inc.)
	1994-Ibero-American Broadcasting
	1996-Radio Luz ($378,500)

History Of Call Letters and Formats:	WHIY-1957-Country Western "Radio Hi Fi" "Personality Radio"
	WHIY-1962-Country
	WORJ-1968-Easy Listening "Big Orange Radio"
	WORL-1971-Top 40
	WORL-1987-R & B
	WBZS-1988-Business News
	WHBS-1991-News/Talk/Spanish Music
	WHBS-1995-Silent/Licensed
	WRLZ-1996-Silent/Licensed
	WRLZ-1996-Spanish "Radio Luz Tu La Conoces"
	WRLZ-1999-Christian/Spanish
	WRLZ-2010-Spanish Contemporary
	WRLZ-2012-Spanish Language News "Noticias 1270"
	WRLZ-2014-Spanish Language News/Talk "La Estacion Del Pueblo"

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