The return of channel 23
In May 1967, Storer reached a deal to sell the WGBS-TV construction permit and lease the tower site to Coastal Broadcasting System, owned by Al Lapin, Jr., one of the founders of IHOP,[10] and Abe Finkel, who was a franchisee of 15 IHOP restaurants.[11] The station returned to the air after more than a decade of inactivity on November 14, 1967, as WAJA-TV.[12] The call sign came from Finkel's AJA Corporation.[13]
WAJA-TV presented daily stock market reporting during the business day using The Stock Market Observer format pioneered by WCIU-TV in Chicago. Children's and sports programs were also heavily featured on the new station. Use of the transmitter site studio in Hallandale was approved in February 1968, over the protest of dozens of area homeowners.[14] Something else was also creeping onto WAJA-TV's schedule within months of the station's return: weekend double features of Spanish-language movies.[15]
On the morning of March 23, 1968, a trash pile near the building caught fire, evidently from children playing with matches;[16] the blaze spread through the air conditioning system to soundproof installation and destroyed all five of the station's cameras and other equipment, a loss of more than $500,000;[17] quick thinking by staff was cited for lessening the cost. The station was on the air the next afternoon; the stock market show went on air that Monday using equipment leased from WCKT (channel 7); and Scantlin Electronics, supplier of the equipment used for the stock market program which was valued at $150,000, rerouted a demonstration unit intended for display at that year's National Association of Broadcasters convention to Miami.[18]
In late 1968, channel 23 tried its hand at local talk, with a four-night-a-week talk show called ''Talk! Back 23, with each night having a different host.[19] Early 1969 also saw the debut of a local version of Bozo the Clown'' under the banner "Bozo's Big Top".[20]
A seminal turn in station history took place in the first half of 1969. The stock market program ended on February 14, 1969, due to the lack of sponsor support, and channel 23 began to sign on at 4 p.m.[21] On March 30, the station began leasing 43 hours a week of airtime, mostly during the day, to a group of seven investors known as Tele-Cuba, Inc. Under the leadership of Cuban exiles José Alfredo López and Aramis del Real, Tele-Cuba presented Spanish-language programming from its own studios in Miami.[22] del Real had previously helped organize two telethons aimed at Spanish-speaking viewers on the station.[23]
While Tele-Cuba soon collapsed due to lack of financial support, WAJA-TV opted to take the road they had charted and follow it itself, airing some Spanish shows during daytime hours.[24] That July, channel 23 went all-Spanish on weekends, with Norman Díaz, a popular exile and radio commentator, brought on board to present newscasts;[25] Díaz stated at that time that the goal was an all-Spanish format.[26] The station continued its English-language programming; for the fall 1969 television season, it picked up four network programs that the Miami ABC and NBC affiliates passed on[27] and a package of 10 Floridians basketball games.[28]
