KWIZ (96.7 FM) is a commercial

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed to

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

, and broadcasting to the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

area. KWIZ airs a Spanish Christian

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

branded as "Vision Latina 96.7 FM". It is currently owned by Estrella Media, but operated by the Universal Church with studios and offices are on West 5th Street in Santa Ana. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

is off East Glen Albyn Lane in

Orange, California Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before ...

. KWIZ is not licensed by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

to broadcast in the

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

hybrid format, yet the HD Radio Guide indicates that KWIZ broadcasts on one HD channel.

History

96.7 FM signed on as KVOE-FM in 1947,

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

with KVOE (1480 AM, now

KVNR KVNR (1480 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Santa Ana, California, and serving Orange and Los Angeles counties. It is owned by Estrella Media, and broadcasts a Vietnamese language format known as "Little Saigon Radio". Program ...

). The two stations were owned by Voice of the Orange Empire, Inc., Ltd. They were

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

and Don Lee

Network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

s. The studios were on East 5th Street in Santa Ana. On July 1, 1954, KVOE-AM-FM changed their

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

s to KWIZ and KWIZ-FM, but still under the same ownership. Ernest and Franc Spencer sold Voice of the Orange Empire in 1965 to the Davis Broadcasting Company. By 1970, KWIZ-FM had separate programming. The AM station aired a

full service Full service or Full Service may refer to: * Full-service radio, a wide range of programming * Full Service Network, a communications company Entertainment * "Full Service", a song by the New Kids on the Block from their album ''The Block'' * F ...

middle of the road format of popular music, news and information. The FM had an automated

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

format, which would change to soft adult contemporary music in the mid-1980s. Liberman acquired KWIZ-AM-FM in 1987. In 1990, KWIZ-FM began carrying

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

games in Korean, and on March 10, 1991, it flipped to a full-time Korean format, brokered from Radio Korea. In 1993, after another brokering deal, KWIZ-FM flipped to Vietnamese as "Little Saigon Radio." Other brokered programming deals soon followed. In addition to religious and ethnic talk shows, KWIZ-FM also was home to several niche format music programs, including

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

and surf rock. At night, the station's time was leased to "Renegade Radio," a

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

/ techno music format hosted by DJ Racer and former MARS-FM DJ Mike "Fright" Ivankay. Renegade Radio also broadcast MARS-FM music director Swedish Egil's syndicated ''Groove Radio'' program, which later became a full-time local electronica format at KACD/KBCD. In January 1997, Liberman switched the AM and FM services, making the FM a Spanish-language station and the AM aimed at Vietnamese-Americans. While Liberman has three FM stations in the Los Angeles market playing contemporary

Regional Mexican Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mexico ...

music, KWIZ specializes in classic Mexican hits from past decades. On New Years Day January 1, 2023 the station dropped its Spanish ranchera oldies format as new owners flipped the station to Spanish Christian programming known as "Vision Latina 96.7".

References

External links

FCC History Cards for KWIZ
{{Liberman Broadcasting WIZ Radio stations established in 1947 WIZ 1947 establishments in California