WJZA

WJZA (1310 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting an eclectic mix of smooth jazz, soft rock, light pop and R&B classics in the Atlanta radio market. The station is currently owned by Davis Broadcasting Inc. Its city of license is Decatur, Georgia, with its studios and offices in Suwanee along with its two sister stations, 102.3 WLKQ-FM ("La Raza") and 96.5 W243CE ("La Mega").
WJZA is also heard on an FM translator station, 101.1 W266BW but is currently silent due to being taken off-the-air by the FCC due to interference complaints from WLJA-FM in Ellijay, Georgia. Programming is also simulcast on 100.1 WNSY in Talking Rock, Georgia, covering the northwest suburbs of Atlanta.
Programming.
WJZA's smooth jazz format was soft-launched in October 2017 to fill in the void of a dedicated smooth jazz outlet that has been missing from the Atlanta market since 2012. The station features the voices of prominent radio broadcasters: Sandy Kovach, Miranda Wilson, Allen Kepler, and Maria Lopez. Programming is also lived-streamed on its website, SmoothJazzATL.
History.
In mid-December, 2012, the then-WPBC came back on the air broadcasting under an agreement with The Talk Radio, LLC, headed by longtime Latino community figure Teodoro Maus. During full-power (2,500 watts) daytime operation, the station aired a Spanish language talk radio format. At night it featured Reggie Gay's Urban Gospel Music service.
In July 2011, Hanmi Broadcasting, Inc. requested the Federal Communications Commission grant a special temporary authority (STA) for WPBC to go silent after a local marketing agreement (LMA) ended abruptly.
In April 2011, the station entered into a Local Marketing Agreement with WZBN's Reggie Gay and adopted WZBN's format of Contemporary Gospel/Holy Hip Hop music.
WJZA transmitting tower is located in the middle of a MARTA employee parking lot at the Avondale train station. In 2002, MARTA conducted a study to renovate the entire College Station area known as: Decatur - "Avondale MARTA Station Study Livable Centers Initiative", including the station's parking lot. In 2007, another study was conducted, but there have been no further announcements found online to date. Since 2007, no renovation of the area has begun, and no new announcements have been made by either MARTA or Dekalb county regarding this initiative. Should this plan come to fruition, at some point, this may affect the tower/transmitter site which would then have to seek permission to be relocated in accordance with FCC rules and regulations.
WPBC's programming consisted of a progressive talk format during the week and mostly jazz on the weekends as of August 6, 2010. The progressive talk format moved to Green 1640 AM in Decatur, Georgia in April 2011 upon WPBC's LMA with Reggie Gay's WZBN that brought about the format change to urban gospel.
Prior to August 6, 2010, WPBC broadcast a Korean music and talk format with the "Atlanta Radio Korea" branding. Radio Korea is now broadcasting on WPBS AM 1040.
Prior to broadcasting Korean language programming, WPBC broadcast a Latin music/talk radio format with the "Planeta X 1310" branding.
Prior to April 2011, weekend programming on WPBC was derived from Broadcast Architecture's Smooth Jazz Network.
Prior to October 2017, W266BW was a translator for WSTR 94.1 FM.
On February 1, 2019, WJZA's simulcast translator, W266BW on 101.1 FM was taken off-the-air by the FCC due to interference complaints from WLJA-FM which is also on 101.1 FM to the north of Atlanta. This is similar to translator W250BC on 98.9, taken off-the-air by the FCC due to interference complaints from WWGA also on 98.9 FM to the west of Atlanta. There is no word yet on when the FCC will allow WJZA to turn W266BW back on.