WDYZ

Infobox Radio station
name = WDYZ


city = Orlando, Florida
area = Greater Orlando/Daytona Beach
branding = "Radio Disney AM 990"
slogan =
airdate =
frequency = 990 kHz HD Radio
format = Childrens
power = 50,000 W daytime
14,000 W nighttime
erp =
class = B
callsign_meaning = DYZ (DISney)
former_callsigns =
owner = Disney/ABC Radio
licensee = Radio Disney Group, LLC
webcast =
website = [http://radio.disney.go.com/mystation/Orlando/ Official website]
affiliations = Radio Disney

WDYZ is a Radio Disney station serving the Orlando, Florida market. WDYZ broadcasts on 990 kHz. WDYZ also broadcasts in HD Radio.

Because of its signal strength, WDYZ can be heard throughout central Florida, from coast to coast, and from Sebring to Palatka, using a directional antenna to protect WMYM in Miami (also a Radio Disney station) and WGML in Hinesville, Georgia. At night, its signal is more directional towards the east, to protect clear channel station CBW in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Ironically, during the nighttime transmission pattern, WDYZ does not have very strong coverage in the Walt Disney World area (Bay Lake, Florida, and Lake Buena Vista, Florida), however it is slightly stronger in Lake Buena Vista than in Bay Lake, based on the groundwave coverage.

For many years, what now is WDYZ bore the calls WHOO. WHOO began in 1947 as the ABC radio network affiliate for Orlando. In the late 1950s, WHOO shifted to a Top 40 music format and was a top-rated station in the market until slipping behind upstart AM 950 WLOF "Channel 95" in the mid-1960s. WHOO then switched to country music in 1968 and continued with this format until 1987, when the station switched its calls to WMMA "Magic 99", airing a satellite-fed adult contemporary format from Satellite Music Network which later changed to oldies.

A succession of formats followed over the next several years: the station was briefly WHTQ-AM in 1988, simulcasting the rock format of WHTQ-FM, and then returned to the WHOO calls with a Music of Your Life format later that same year, only to change to classic country in 1989 and then return to simulcasting WHTQ (although still as WHOO) from 1990 to 1993. In 1993, WHOO-AM adopted the syndicated "Stardust" adult standards music format from ABC Radio, which continued until 2001, when the station became WDYZ and a Radio Disney affiliate. The standards format and WHOO calls were shifted off onto AM 1080 in Kissimmee, which continues as WHOO AM with a sports talk format from ESPN Radio, which also happens to be owned by the Walt Disney Company.

External links

* [http://www.radiodisney.com Radio Disney's website]
* [http://radio.disney.go.com/mystation/Orlando/ Official website]
*AMQ|WDYZ
*AML|WDYZ
*AMARB|WDYZ