City | Tampa, Florida |
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Broadcast area | Tampa Bay area, Florida Suncoast, Nature Coast, Central Florida |
Branding | 93.3 FLZ |
Slogan | Tampa Bay's #1 Hit Music Channel |
Frequency | 93.3 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
First air date | 1948 (as WFLA-FM) |
Format |
Top 40 (CHR) HD2: Dance, "Evolution 93.3 Tampa Bay" |
ERP | 100,000 watt |
HAAT | 987 meters |
Class | C |
Facility ID | 29732 |
Callsign meaning | disambiguation of WFLA calls (for FLorida), using opposite-end Z for last call letter |
Former callsigns | WFLA-FM (1948-1981) WOJC (1981-1984) WFLA-FM (1984-1985) WPDS (1985-1987) |
Owner |
iHeartMedia (Citicasters Licenses, Inc.) |
Sister stations | WBTP, WDAE, WFLA, WFUS, WHNZ, WMTX, WXTB |
Webcast |
Listen Live Listen Live (HD2) |
Website |
93.3 FLZ Evolution Tampa Bay (HD2) |
WFLZ-FM (93.3 FM, "93-3 FLZ") is a Top 40 (CHR) station broadcasting in the Tampa Bay area, Florida, United States. Owned and operated by iHeartMedia, the station has a class C signal operating at 100,000 watts effective radiated power, and is one of the most powerful FM radio stations in Florida, covering four of the state's radio markets. The station's studios are located in South Tampa and the transmitter site is in Riverview.
WFLZ currently broadcasts in HD format. 93.3 HD-1 simulcasts the analog WFLZ-FM 93.3 MHz ("93-3 FLZ HD-1 Hit music"), whereas 93.3 HD-2 exclusively broadcasts dance music ("Evolution 93.3 Tampa Bay").
The station began in 1948 as WFLA-FM, one of Tampa Bay's, and Florida's, first FM stations. For most of its early life, WFLA-FM carried a light, "beautiful music" format. The station was owned by The Tampa Tribune, which also owned WFLA and WFLA-TV in Tampa. In 1966, the Tribune and its three stations were sold to Richmond Newspapers, which became Media General in 1969.
In 1981, after spending most of its early life as a beautiful music station, it changed to a country format, as WOJC, "Orange Country 93". However, it was unable to compete against country powerhouses at the time, WSUN and WQYK-FM.
In the mid-1980s, it changed again to a more-conventional adult contemporary format, bringing back the WFLA-FM calls and using the name "93 FLA". While it was a little more successful, it still faced competition from WNLT and WIQI.
It was then reformatted into WPDS ("Paradise 93"), a soft adult contemporary formatted station, but this too was unsuccessful.