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WZNG - A History
WZNG-AM 1360 Winter Haven – Vantage Broadcasting (Dave and Diane Buerger) bought Winter Haven one kilowatt daytimer WINT-AM in 1972 from WINT Radio, Inc. (Norman O. Protsman, president) and flipped the calls to WZNG (Zing Radio) and to an oldies format.
The Buergers built a new office and studio building at the transmitter site on Dundee Road in 1975 and, two years later, were able to increase power to 5,000 watts days and 2,500 watts nights after moving the city of license from Winter Haven to Cypress Gardens.
In 1981, WZNG’s music format became a mix of adult contemporary and country crossovers that management branded The Natural Sound. After Altair Communications acquired the outlet in 1983, its calls became WYXY (Wixie in Dixie).
Other names in WZNG history include Don Husted (sales-1974), Bob Ryan (PD-1974; music director 1982), John Zeart (chief engineer-1974), Bruce Parker (sales manager-1975), Skip Jason (music director-1975), Charlie Rock (music director-1976), Paul Garber (chief engineer-1976), Chuck Walker (music director-1977), Ann Fields (news director-1977), Scott Michaels (1977), Steve Nichols (news director-1978), Gerald Brush (chief engineer-1978), Eric Boulanger (news director-1979), Terry Carson (1980), John Williams (sports director-1980), Rodger Roth (chief engineer-1980), Roy Riley (news director-1981), Paula Deignan (1982), Bob Segler (news director-1982), Bob Thomas (chief engineer-1982), Diane Weese (news director-1982), Phil Weese (sales manager-1983), Dean Edwards (news director-1983), Nancy (Lauderdale) Cattarius (sales), Dan Hogan, Rosie Harker, Lori Edwards, George Prescott (Auburndale High School sports play-by-play), and Lawrence Behr (consulting engineer).
Station History
1972 - 1983 Other Polk County Stations (History)
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