WOLZ

WOLZ (95.3 FM, "The Beach") is a commercial radio station licensed to Fort Myers, Florida, and serving Southwest Florida. It airs a classic hits radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It carries two nationally syndicated shows on weekdays: Valentine in the Morning from KBIG Los Angeles is heard in AM drive time and The Martha Quinn Show airs in middays.

WOLZ is a Class C1 FM station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 79,000 watts. WOLZ broadcasts using HD Radio technology.^[2] Its digital subchannel carries Christian Contemporary music from WAYJ n Naples, known as "Way FM." That feeds FM translator W263BI at 100.5 MHz in Fort Myers.

The station signed on the air in September 30, 1969; 55 years ago (1969-09-30).^[3] Its original call sign was WFJY. For its early years, it was powered at only 1,500 watts, a fraction of its current output. It later was WSOR, a non-commercial station owned by the Riverside Baptist Church of Fort Myers. It aired a Christian radio format, mostly religious music with some preaching shows.

In the 1980s, it was acquired by the Heritage Broadcasting Company. It became a commercial station with an oldies format. The call letters WOLZ were chosen to represent the word oldies. Heritage applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to boost the power to 100,000 watts.^[4] That would allow WOLZ to be heard around much of Southwest Florida, including Fort Myers and Marco Island. In the 2000s, as the station shifted from oldies to classic hits, the branding avoided the word "oldies." The moniker was "95.3 OLZ." The playlist deleted early 1960s music, concentrating on the 70s and early 80s.

On May 28, 2021, WOLZ rebranded from "95.3 OLZ" to "95.3 The Beach." The playlist shifted to more 80s music with some 70s and 90s titles.^[5]

• Facility details for Facility ID 13898 (WOLZ) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WOLZ in Nielsen Audio's FM station database