WZBA
 |
|
| City of license | Westminster, Maryland |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Baltimore/Westminster, Maryland |
| Branding | 100.7 The Bay |
| Slogan | Baltimore's Classic Rock Station |
| Frequency | 100.7 (MHz) |
| Translator(s) | 100.1 W261CD (downtown Baltimore) |
| Format | Classic rock |
| ERP | 25,000 watts |
| HAAT | 210 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 59985 |
| Callsign meaning | W Z BAy |
| Former callsigns | WTTR-FM (?-1984) WGRX (1984-1999) |
| Owner | Times-Shamrock Communications |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | thebayonline.com |
WZBA ("100.7 The Bay") is a radio station serving Baltimore, Maryland. The station broadcasts on 100.7 MHz and translator W261CD 100.1 MHz in downtown Baltimore, and markets itself as the only station in the Baltimore market dedicated to the classic rock format. The station's city of license is Westminster, Maryland. Its studios are in Hunt Valley and the transmitter is in Owings Mills.
History
Originally known as WTTR-FM, after its move to Baltimore and the World Trade Center at the Inner Harbor, the station operated under the call letters WGRX (initially branded as "100.7 WGRX" and then "100 GRX" after the switch to classic rock in 1986). WGRX began in 1984 with a mellow variant of Album Oriented Rock known as "Eclectic Oriented Rock" (created by John Sebastian Inc. and also referred to as "New AC") until early 1986, and after this it featured such diverse formats as classic rock, modern rock, and even country at various times in its history.
After broadcasting in a classic rock format for many years, the station moved over to a modern rock format for a time in the mid-1990s. While in its modern rock format, it was known as "the X", and featured the popular "M&M" morning show.
Suddenly one day in 1996, the station started broadcasting its modern rock format DJ-free in a repetitive 10-song loop for a few days, which led into an unannounced weekend-long stunt of disco music as "Polyester 101", before eventually switching to a country music format dubbed "Froggy 100.7", and later, "New Country 100.7".
On December 1, 1999, with "Froggy 100.7" having proven a failure, the station switched its call letters to WZBA and became known as "The Bay", advertising its format as "Rock Without the Hard Edge". The station played mostly classic rock at this time, but only songs without heavy guitar, making the station a "Rock AC", similar to WMMO in Orlando. Occasional forays into mixing more modern "rock without the hard edge" in with the classic rock of that variety were attempted, but abandoned quickly, as they did not seem to have support from the station's listeners.
Just hours after the Baltimore market's classic rock station WOCT switched to a smooth jazz format on September 3, 2003, WZBA abandoned its theme and switched to its current straightforward classic rock format. The station hired Mike Brillhart from WOCT for the 7-midnight shift and the popular Sunday morning "Acoustic Cafe".
The current On Air Announcer schedule on WZBA is:
- 6AM-10AM - Klug
- 10AM-3PM - Colleen Carew
- 3PM-7PM - Craig Chambers
- 7PM-Midnight - Mike Brillhart
External links
- WZBA Website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WZBA
- Radio-Locator information on WZBA
- Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WZBA
- Query the FCC's FM station database for W261CD
- Radio-Locator information on W261CD
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
