| Simulcast ofWLMZ-FM,Pittston | |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton |
| Frequency | 1300kHz |
| Branding | La Mega 102.3 |
| Programming | |
| Language | Spanish |
| Format | Tropical music |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | 1982 (1982)[1] |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | "La Mega" |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 22667 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 5,000 watts day 500 watts night |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°56′24″N76°00′05″W / 40.939928°N 76.001447°W /40.939928; -76.001447 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
| Website | www |
WLMZ (1300kHz) is acommercialAM broadcastingradio stationlicensed toWest Hazleton, Pennsylvania. It is owned byAudacy, Inc. and airs aSpanish tropicalformat in asimulcast withWLMZ-FM (102.3 FM) fromPittston. WLMZ has a power of 5,000watts daytime with a directionalantenna signal pattern focused towards the north, then switches to a power of 500 watts at night with another directional signal pattern focused towards the northeast. WLMZ is considered aClass B station according to theFederal Communications Commission.
Until October 13, 2023, the then-WODS was one of four simulcast radio stations inNortheastern Pennsylvania that called themselvesWILK Newsradio, along with 103.1WILK-FM inAvoca, 980WILK inWilkes-Barre and 910WAAF inScranton.Studios and offices are on Route 315 inPittston.
The first station at 1300kHz in theHazleton area operated from October 26, 1961, to January 14, 1965, asWTHT, which became WHZN in 1964. Broadcasting from studios and a transmitter southeast of Hazleton, the station experienced a turbulent final year which included a license renewal designated for hearing, financial problems, and a union strike which prompted the station to go off air for good. An attempt to reactivate the frequency in the late 1960s and early 1970s failed due to its specification of West Hazleton as the city of license despite not covering it completely.
The current station on 1300 kHz signed on in 1982 with thecall sign WWKC, branded as "KC Country", with acountry music format. At the time, it only broadcast with 500 watts of power and was adaytimer station, required tosign-off at sunset each day. It was only the second AM station to serve the Hazleton area. The country music format did not do very well in the market, so in 1983, the station changed to anadult standards format with the addition of some local news and talk. It switched call signs to WXPX, increasing its daytime power to its present 5,000 watts. The WXPX call sign lasted until 1996, when the station was sold and the format and call sign were changed to WILP, and joined theWILK News Radio network.
Another ownership change happened in 2001 when the station changed call signs to WOGY.[3] The station was sold to its present owners,Entercom Communications.
The station's call sign was changed to WKZN in 2005,[4] and to WODS in 2020.[5] The WODS call sign was transferred from 103.3 FM inBoston, which had held the call sign since 1987. When Entercom changed that station's call sign toWBGB, it "parked" the WODS call sign on this station, so they could not be used by a rival Boston station.
WODS left the news/talk simulcast withWILK-FM (103.1) on October 13, 2023, when it shifted to a simulcast of the newly-launched "La Mega 102.3"Spanish tropical format ofWMQX. "La Mega" had previously aired onthe second HD Radio channel ofWGGY and on twoFM translators.[6] WODS changed its call sign to WLMZ on October 19, 2023, with WMQX changing its call sign to WLMZ-FM on October 25.