WKEZ-FM (96.9 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 ...

broadcasting a conservative talk

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, ...

, known as "Keys Talk 96.9/102.5." Licensed to

Tavernier, Florida Tavernier is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Monroe County, Florida, United States on Key Largo, the largest island in the upper Florida Keys. Tavernier's population was 2,530 at the 2020 census. Geography Taverni ...

, the station serves the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...

. The station is owned by Magnum Broadcasting, which also owns 105.7 WGAY in

Sugarloaf Key Sugarloaf Key is a single island in the lower Florida Keys that forms a loop on the Atlantic Ocean side giving the illusion of separate islands. Although frequently referred to simply and with technical accuracy as "Sugarloaf Key", this island c ...

. The station airs a local news block in morning drive time, followed by nationally syndicated shows from

Glenn Beck Glenn Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative political commentator, radio host, entrepreneur, and television producer. He is the CEO, founder, and owner of Mercury Radio Arts, the parent company of his television and rad ...

, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin,

Buck Sexton Buck Sexton is an American radio host and television talk show host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the co-host with Clay Travis of ''The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show'', a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and ...

, Coast to Coast AM with George Noory and This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal. WKEZ-FM has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

(ERP) of 25,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s. 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 on Wellington Drive in Tavernier, off U.S. Route 1. Programming is also heard on 102.5 MHz.

History

The station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

the air as WIFL on November 21, 1997. On May 6, 1999, the station changed its

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 ...

to the current WKEZ-FM. The EZ in the call letters referred to the station's

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 and the K stood for Keys. On June 8, WKEZ-FM changed its format from easy listening to

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

, branded as "True Oldies". On April 1, 2017, WKEZ-FM changed its format from oldies to

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

, branded as "Mix 96.9". (info taken from stationintel.com) The station was most recently owned by Jonathan Smith's Choice Radio Keys Corporation. Due to an inability to pay outstanding debts, the company assigned the licenses of WGMX and sister stations WFFG,

WGMX WGMX (94.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station licensed to Marathon, Florida, United States. History The station originally went on the air in 1976 as WMUM, Stereo Island, and was owned by John and June Thacker. It was a Class A FM station on ...

, and

WKEY-FM WKEY-FM (93.7 Hertz, MHz) is a radio station located in Key West, Florida, United States. It is owned by Radio One Key West, LLC, and broadcasts a yacht rock format known as Key 93. History The station went on the air as WKRY on 93.5 MHz on Nove ...

to a trustee on June 4, 2018, to be sold for the benefit of creditors. Effective July 27, 2020, WKEZ-FM was sold to Magnum Broadcasting, Inc. for $100,000. On September 29, 2020, WKEZ-FM dropped its simulcast with WGMX and changed its format to conservative talk, branded as "Keys Talk 96.9/102.5" in a simulcast with WPIK.Magnum Debuts Keys Talk 96.9/102.5
Radioinsight - September 29, 2020

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References

External links

* KEZ-FM Radio stations established in 1997 1997 establishments in Florida Talk radio stations in the United States {{Florida-radio-station-stub