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WBZT

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For the radio station in Mauldin, South Carolina, that held the call sign WBZT-FM at 96.7 FM from 2002 to 2009, see WROO.

WBZT
Broadcast areaPalm Beach County
Frequency1230 kHz
Branding1230 The Gambler
Programming
FormatSports gambling
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
July 31, 1936; 89 years ago (1936-07-31) (as WJNO)
Former call signs
  • WJNO (1936–1997)
  • WJNA (1997–2000)
Call sign meaning
Carried over from the former WBZT (1290 AM); now WJNO
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID20439
ClassC
Power
  • 1,000 watts unlimited (Pompano Beach and Boynton Beach)
  • 800 watts unlimited (West Palm Beach)
Transmitter coordinates
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live (via iHeartRadio)
Website1230thegambler.iheart.com

WBZT (1230 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a sports gambling format. Licensed to West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, the station serves the West Palm Beach area. With a synchronous amplifier in Pompano Beach, it also covers Fort Lauderdale. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.[2]

History

[edit]
WJNO, between 1936-1945

The station went on the air as WJNO at 1 p.m. on July 31, 1936. According to the Palm Beach Post, WJNO was originally a CBS affiliate, and it aired everything from classical music to Steve Allen.[3]

In September 1943, pollsters found that 94 percent of all radios in use in Palm Beach, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth were tuned to WJNO (1230 AM). At the time, the 7-year-old station was the only signal between Orlando and Miami.[4]

On August 13, 1979, WJNO's program director, John Picano, moved the station to a full-time news station. WJNO switched from national syndicated talk shows during the daytime to local hosts in 1984. Afternoon host Mike ("Captain Radio") Levine left for Tampa and Jack Cole from Boston, at that time 45 years old, took the slot. Cole referred to himself as the "Inquisitor General" and described his program as coming from "World Headquarters".

In September 1984, Barry Young is hired as midday talk host. According to the Palm Beach Post, Young was a conservative "who believes in nuclear energy, the death penalty and, more often than not, Ronald Reagan. Abortion is repugnant, he says, and a vice-presidential candidate that goes by Ferraro-Zaccaro would be better off as a foreign sports-car." Young was first heard on WJNO from early 1980 to 1982 when he was hosting overnights from WRNG in Atlanta. The program was broadcast on a small number of stations via GN (The Georgia Network) and FN (The Florida Network). Young came to WJNO from WGBS in Miami, where he angered management by leaving. "Barry Young has a valid contract with this radio station," Lee Fowler, WGBS operations manager, said.

By 1986, according to the Miami Herald, WJNO was running constant local and state news, punctuated by national feeds, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. six days a week. Local talk hosts worked weekdays from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m., when a national talk show network took over.[4]

Barry Young left WJNO in April 1987 to join the staff of new talk station KFYI in Phoenix, Arizona.[5][6] John Broward and John Levitt did the program until late summer.[7] This time there is no question that Young's contract allowed for his move. In Phoenix, Young would later become a founding partner in WestStar TalkRadio Network, a broadcast syndication company. WJNO carries programming, such as The Kim Komando Show originated bt WestStar. Also in 1987, Mike Miller from WIOD in Miami joined the station.[7]

In May 1988, Jack Cole moves to KFYI. Cole was hired by former WJNO midday host and then KFYI program sirector, Barry Young.[8] Lee Fowler, formerly of WNWS in Miami, moves into the slot.[9] Geoff Charles and Dick Farrel host the program in his absence.[10]

In January 1989, Miller shifted to 9 a.m. to noon, Fowler moved to noon to 3 p.m., and Geoff Charles moves to the afternoon slot. The syndicated Rush Limbaugh Show was on the station briefly.[11] That March, Jack Cole returned to WJNO from Phoenix.[10]

In April 1993, Miller was fired and replaced with the syndicated G. Gordon Liddy show. Miller returned the following year hosting afternoon drive at WBZT (1290 AM), then moved to Jacksonville and eventually left radio.[12][13]

In September 1994, Randi Rhodes, then 36, is brought in from WIOD, where she was the evening talk show host. General manager George Mills said Rhodes would bring a "younger, more aggressive approach" to the station's lineup. "She's very talented. I think she'll be a positive addition," Mills said.[14]

In March 1997, Fairbanks Communications purchased a station at 1040 AM and moved WJNO to that spot on the dial, after more than six decades at 1230, to take advantage of its strong signal strength in southern Palm Beach and Broward counties.[3]

Logo as a talk station

In January 2000, WJNO and WBZT swapped frequencies. WJNO moved to 1290 AM and WBZT moved to 1230 AM. The switch was designed to boost WJNO's signal in all of Palm Beach County but weaken it in Broward and Miami-Dade, where it competed with other Clear Channel properties.[3][15] On December 20, 2000, the 1230 facility changed its call sign from WJNA to WBZT.[16]

On July 31, 2017, WBZT changed its format from news/talk to sports, branded as "1230 The Zone", with programming from CBS Sports Radio.[17] On June 9, 2022, WBZT relaunched the sports format with an emphasis on sports gambling, branded as "1230 The Gambler" and carrying programming from VSiN.[18]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WBZT". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "WBZT Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. ^ a b c Eliot Kleinberg (March 29, 2000). "WJNO, Launched in 1936, County's First Radio Station". Palm Beach Post.
  4. ^ a b Jeffrey Weiss (July 24, 1986). "Good News: WJNO Still Talking It Up". Miami Herald.
  5. ^ "News Talk 550 KFYI - the Valley's Talk Station".
  6. ^ Dave Hogerty (April 23, 1987). "So Long, Barry!". Miami Herald.
  7. ^ a b Glenn Singer (August 15, 1987). "Blue Bloods Divorcing In Palm Beach". Miami Herald.
  8. ^ Joseph Schwerdt (May 11, 1988). "Radio Talk Host Moving To Phoenix". Palm Beach Post.
  9. ^ "Ex-Radio Host Joins WJNO". Sun-Sentinel. May 17, 1988.
  10. ^ a b Tom Jicha (March 22, 1989). "WJNO Shuffling Evening Lineup To Bring Back Talk Host Cole". Sun-Sentinel.
  11. ^ Tom Jicha (January 6, 1989). "Local Radio Talk Shows Shuffling Their Lineups". Sun-Sentinel.
  12. ^ Elizabeth Akoi (April 15, 1993). "WJNO, Citing 'Political Balance,' Fires Liberal Talk Host Miller". Palm Beach Post.
  13. ^ Scott Benarde (September 27, 1993). "The Radio Talk Show Wars". Palm Beach Post.
  14. ^ Bill Gato (June 29, 1994). "Day Job In View For Randi Rhodes". Miami Herald.
  15. ^ George Bennett (January 15, 2000). "WJNO Fires Talk Host Cole Half-Hour Before Show". Palm Beach Post.
  16. ^ "WBZT Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  17. ^ WBZT Flips to Sports Radioinsight - July 31, 2017
  18. ^ WBZT Rolls the Dice and Bevcomes the Gambler Radioinsight - June 9, 2022
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