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WPOZ

Z88.3 FM WPOZ Coverage Map
Orlando, Florida
Broadcast area	Central Florida
Frequency	88.3 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	Z88.3
Programming
Format	Christian Adult Contemporary
Subchannels	HD2: La Z (Spanish Music) HD3: Hot 95.9 (Christian Hip Hop)
Ownership
Owner	(Central Florida Educational Foundation, Inc.)
Operator	Z Ministries, Inc.
Sister stations	WDOZ WHYZ WMYZ WCYZ WHGV
History
First air date	August 9, 1995; 29 years ago (1995-08-09)
Former call signs	WEAZ (sign on -1998)
Call sign meaning	WPOZ POsitive Hits Z88.3
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	9876
Class	C
ERP	100,000 watts
HAAT	452 meters (1,483 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	28°36′08″N 81°05′36″W / 28.60234°N 81.09330°W / 28.60234; -81.09330
Translator(s)	See § Frequencies
Repeater(s)	See § Frequencies
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	zradio.com

WPOZ (88.3 MHz) is a non-commercial, listener-supported FM radio station licensed to Orlando, and serving all of Central Florida. It is owned by Central Florida Educational Foundation, Inc., and operated by Z Ministries, inc. It broadcasts a Christian Adult Contemporary radio format. The radio studios are in Altamonte Springs.

WPOZ has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts. The transmitter is in east Orange County, Florida. WPOZ is simulcast on several other owned stations in Central Florida. The station broadcasts using HD Radio technology. There are other Christian music formats on WPOZ's three digital subchannels, which feed several FM translators in Orlando and other cities in Central Florida.

History

On August 9, 1995 (1995-08-09), the station signed on. diplexed into then-WCPX(TV) channel 6 in Orlando (now WKMG-TV) and the power limited to 2,500 watts to eliminate viewer interference from a closely spaced FM station. The call sign at the beginning was WEAZ and the city of license was Union Park, Florida. The owner is Central Florida Educational Foundation. The studios at sign on was on Lake Brantley Road in Altamonte Springs, just north of Orlando.

In 1998, the call letters switched to WPOZ, to stand for "Positive Hits Z88.3," in contrast to the secular Top 40 charts. The city of license changed to Orlando with the increase in power to 100,000 watts.

Frequencies

In addition to 88.3 MHz, this station also broadcasts on other frequencies in different areas of Central Florida:

WPOZ, WMYZ, WHYZ and WHGV broadcast in HD Radio.

In late 2008, WPOZ was granted authorization by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to increase its signal strength to 100,000 watts; this was accomplished when WKMG-TV acquired channel 26 from Entravision Communications as part of the Digital television transition in the United States. This meant that TV channel 6 would go vacant and therefore interference was no longer possible to viewers of WKMG-TV from the present or enhanced operation of WPOZ.

Central Florida Educational Foundation acquired a station in Lecanto, Florida, WLMS, from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Petersburg. As that station also broadcast on 88.3 FM, Central Florida Educational Foundation closed down WLMS, enabling WPOZ to increase its signal strength without that station interfering. After the upgrade, WPOZ's main signal would sufficiently cover areas already served by some of its translators, making them redundant. Those were moved into Orlando to rebroadcast the HD offerings.

WPOZ had a repeater in Daytona Beach, WEAZ 88.1 MHz, licensed to Holly Hill; this station was permitted in 1995 as WANX, signed on as a simulcast of WPOZ as WEAZ in 1998. The operation of WEAZ (like WLMS in Lacanto) would also interfere with the WPOZ power increase, as it operated on the first adjacent 88.1 FM channel of WPOZ. Therefore, it signed off permanently in December 2008, and its license was soon cancelled to make room for WPOZ's power increase application for 100,000 watts.

On its website, it was announced that the FCC had approved a move of WMYZ 88.7 from Clermont to The Villages, with listeners in the Clermont area redirected to the now-more-powerful 88.3 signal.

WPOZ HD3 & WHYZ HD2

WPOZ-HD3, WHYZ-HD2, and WHGV broadcast a Christian rhythmic contemporary format as Hot 95.9; for those without HD radio receivers, it is heard on the following station and translators:

WMYZ HD2

WMYZ-HD2 broadcasts a Christian oldies format as "ZRewind.com." It is also heard on the following translator:

WJHM-HD3

WJHM-HD3 broadcasts an urban gospel format as GPraise; this station also relays to the following translators:

WPOZ-HD2

WPOZ-HD4 used to broadcast a Christian rock format as 103.7 The Rock and had a low-powered repeater in Clermont, W279CT. That facility was traded to RDA Broadcast Holdings, LLC for stations WCYZ 99.7 Ocala and WHGV 99.5 Gainesville, Florida.

W240BV, W273CA and W292DZ used to be low-powered repeaters that rebroadcast WPOZ in the Lake County area but were moved to Orlando.

Central Florida Educational Foundation resumed control of W273CA following the expiration of the lease with iHeartMedia in September 2018. It now broadcasts a Spanish Christian contemporary format, "La Z" (Pronounced "La Zeta") via WPOZ-HD2 at 102.5 FM in Orlando and 104.7 FM in Kissimmee

References

1. "Facility Technical Data for WPOZ". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
2. Information from Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1993 page D-104
3. "About Z88.3".
4. Central Florida Radio -- WEAZ
5. "88.7 in the Villages, Ocala and Leesburg".
6. https://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=39 HD Radio Guide for Orlando, Florida

External links

• Hot 95.9 FM
• G Praise
• Z Rewind
• La Z 102.5
• The Rock HD
• Facility details for Facility ID 778861 (WPOZ) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WPOZ in Nielsen Audio's FM station database

 ——— 

• Facility details for Facility ID 176311 (WDOZ) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WDOZ in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
• Facility details for Facility ID 92508 (WHYZ) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WHYZ in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
• Facility details for Facility ID 27291 (WMYZ) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WMYZ in Nielsen Audio's FM station database

• HD Radio stations
• Radio stations in Orlando, Florida
• Contemporary Christian radio stations in the United States
• Radio stations established in 1995
• 1995 establishments in Florida
• Christian radio stations in Florida