WBZY

For station located in Peachtree City, Georgia formerly known as WBZY, see WWLG. For station located in New Castle, Pennsylvania formerly known as WBZY, see WJST.

WBZY

City of license	Bowdon, Georgia
Broadcast area	Atlanta metropolitan area Midwest Georgia
Branding	105.3 El Patrón
Frequency	105.3 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date	May 1994
Format	Regional Mexican/AC; Tejano
ERP	61,000 watts
HAAT	367 meters
Class	C1
Facility ID	63406
Callsign meaning	Buzz (Y is a reference to the old Y 105.5 format)[citation needed]
Former callsigns	WLCL, WWVA, WMAX, WYAI
Owner	Clear Channel Communications
Sister stations	WGST, WKLS, WWLG, WUBL, WWVA
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	www.1053elpatron.com

WBZY FM 105.3, ("105-3 El Patrón") is a radio station that plays regional Mexican music. The station's transmitter is located in Newnan, Georgia and targets metro Atlanta, also covering its city of license of Bowdon, Georgia. It is broadcast from radio studios at the Clear Channel Communications station group in Atlanta.

History

The station began in May 1994 as country-music "Y 105.5" WYAI FM, a class-A serving Carrollton to the west-southwest of metro Atlanta. Having co-channel RF interference with station WCHK-FM 105.5 in Canton, Georgia (north-northwest of Atlanta), both stations changed radio frequencies (the other station now being WWVA-FM 105.7) and moved closer to Atlanta. In late February 2002, the station upgraded to a class C1 as an Atlanta move-in. To create hype, the station stunted with classical music and comedy bits. 105.3 officially debuted as WMAX-FM "105.3 Max FM", playing all 80s music, on February 18, 2002, with "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles being the first song played. On January 30, 2004, after playing "It's The End of the World" by R.E.M., it became a hot talk station known as "Real Radio 105.3" that aired talk on weekdays and '80s music on weekends. The WMAX-FM callsign now resides on another Clear Channel station in Holland, Michigan, which is currently branded as 9-6-1 ESPN.

In September 2004, the station changed to Spanish top 40 WWVA-FM "Viva 105.3", as part of efforts by owner Clear Channel Communications to expand into Hispanic radio markets. During the last quarter of 2004, it was the second-top-rated radio station in Atlanta. In early May 2005, that station and callsign switched to 105.7, the previous WLCL-FM "Cool 105.7".

Meanwhile, Clear Channel started "96.7 the Buzz" on the 96.7 frequency. On May 5, 2005, WVWA and WBZY switched frequencies, turning WBZY into "105.3 the Buzz". For two weeks, the calls of 105.3 were changed to WLCL, so the local media wouldn't be able to predict the move. After the switch, the calls were changed to WBZY.

On November 17, 2006, at 9 AM, The Buzz ceased operations. Some of the on-air staff were fired, and others moved down the dial to sister station WKLS FM 96.1, which was changed from "96 Rock" to "Project 9-6-1". For several days, WBZY-FM simulcasted the new station until it began a loop telling listeners to tune into the new station, as well as advertising the new format of the station. The 105.3 frequency debuted a new regional Mexican format under the name El Patrón on November 26, at 9 AM.

On October 19, 2009, sister station WWVA-FM (then known as Viva 105.7), who had been broadcasting a Spanish AC format, flipped to Rhythmic AC as "Groove 105.7", thus leaving WBZY as Atlanta's only FM Spanish station. This move prompted Clear Channel to merge 105.7's Spanish adult contemporary format with 105.3's regional Mexican format. The "Viva" format has moved to El Patron's HD-2 channel.

WBZY-HD

• WBZY-HD "EL PATRON 105.3" (Regional Mexican/Tejano)
• WBZY-HD2 "VIVA ATLANTA" (Spanish Top-40)

See also

• list of radio stations in Georgia (U.S. state)
• Georgia (U.S. state)
• lists of radio stations in North and Central America

External links

• 105.3 El Patron
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WBZY
• Radio-Locator information on WBZY
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WBZY