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WFLA (AM)
Encyclopedia
WFLA is an AM radio station in Tampa, Florida
, serving the Arbitron
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (Tampa Bay Area
) market (19th largest, population 2,387,300) with additional listenership to the east in the adjacent Lakeland-Winter Haven market (94th largest, population 501,400) and to the south in the adjacent Sarasota-Bradenton market (74th largest, population 626,700). The station is branded as "Newsradio 970 WFLA" (or sometimes "Fox Newsradio 970 WFLA" to reflect its network affiliation, or simply "970 WFLA") and is owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications
Inc., the largest U.S. radio station owner.
The station's local morning show, "AM Tampa Bay," is hosted by veteran broadcasters Jack Harris
and Tedd Webb. The station is also the home and flagship for nationally syndicated afternoon host Todd Schnitt
("The Schnitt Show"). The balance of the station's weekday lineup includes nationally syndicated programs hosted by Glenn Beck
, Rush Limbaugh
, Sean Hannity
and Mark Levin
as well as Coast to Coast AM
. Saturday programming includes "Reel Animals," an outdoors sports show hosted by Mike Anderson; a home improvement show hosted by David Bell with local experts; Dave Zeplowitz's nationally syndicated "Cigar Dave
Show," which originates from WFLA's studios; and Tony "Fatso" Siciliano's "On The Grill," a cooking show that also originates from WFLA studios and can be heard on XM Satellite Radio
. The Sunday lineup features "The Florida Gardening Show," hosted by Mark Govan, followed by "Ask An Attorney" with Joe Pippen, and the "Duncan Duo Real Estate Show" hosted by Andrew Duncan.
970 WFLA is perhaps best known nationally as the station that gave national hosts Glenn Beck
and Lionel
their starts in talk radio. Other prominent alumni, from the days when the station concentrated on local programming, include Bob Lassiter
(d. 2006), Jay Marvin
, Dick Norman (d. 1989), Chuck Harder
, Jack Ellery and Freddy Mertz. Other former hosts include Al Gardner, Mark Larsen, Daniel Ruth, Mark Beiro, Paul Gonzalez and Mel Berman (d. 2010). Tony Zappone
was the first drive-time traffic reporter, beginning in 1974 when the station was an NBC affiliate, and was followed three years later by Gary McHenry, who has remained in that position since.
National news is provided by Fox News Radio
. At one time, WFLA boasted having live, local newscasts around the clock; in recent years, local newscasts have been limited to 5 a.m.-7 p.m. weekdays, and 6 a.m.-1 p.m. weekends. As of September 2010, the weekday on-air news staff includes anchors Martin Giles (morning drive), Steve Hall (middays), Matt McClain (afternoon drive), Dennis Pavluk (early evenings) and Bill Cole (morning drive updates), with Hal Lamb as the weekend anchor. Sharon Parker, Kay Long, Steve Carney, Gordon Byrd, and Ryan Lang report for the station. Dozens of newscasters have been behind the microphone over the years; most prominent are Giles, Hall and Parker, each having been with the station for more than 20 years, as was former news director Don Richards (d. 2008). Another prominent long-time personality is traffic reporter Gary McHenry, who has been a part of the station since the 1970s and provides updates during morning and afternoon drive.
The station is the home of University of South Florida
Bulls
football games. Jim Louk is the play-by-play announcer, and Mark Robinson
serves as color analyst. Jim Lighthall and Justin Pawlowski serve as pregame, halftime and postgame hosts. It also carries other sports programming on a case-by-case basis when there are scheduling conflicts with sports events on its sister stations, WDAE (620 AM) and WHNZ
(1250 AM), which hold the rights to Tampa Bay Buccaneers
, Tampa Bay Lightning
, Tampa Bay Rays
, Tampa Bay Storm
and University of Florida
broadcasts.
According to RadioYears.com, WFLA began in 1925 as Clearwater radio station WGHB (1130 AM). By 1927, its call letters switched to WFLA and it moved to 590 AM on the dial. It shared the frequency with WSUN before they both moved together to 620 AM in 1929. In January 1941, WFLA separated to 940 AM, then to its present 970 AM that March. WFLA carried most of the popular network shows during the golden days of radio. It had various music formats over the subsequent years (Top 40, middle-of-the-road, adult contemporary) before switching to news/talk in 1986. It has been the market leader in this format ever since, and usually is among the top five stations in the market, according to Arbitron ratings.
At one time, WFLA and its FM radio sister (93.3 FM, now WFLZ-FM
) were owned by Media General
, the parent company of The Tampa Tribune
and WFLA-TV
. In the 1980s, federal regulations forced Media General
to divest the radio stations because of its other local media holdings. The radio stations were sold to Blair Broadcasting in late 1982. Sconnix Communications of Charleston, S.C., bought WFLA and what was then WPDS from Blair Broadcasting (who was divesting all of its English-language broadcasting properties in order to concentrate on what became today's Telemundo
) in 1987, and Jacor Communications purchased WFLA from Sconnix in 1988. (Clear Channel Communications purchased Jacor in 1999 and thus acquired WFLA and WFLZ.)
Though they share call letters, WFLA radio and WFLA television are not affiliated; the TV station provided weather information for the radio station's newscasts for nearly 20 years until the local Fox television affiliate, WTVT
-TV, became the radio station's weather partner in June 2009. WTVT also sometimes provides "actualities" (sound bites) for the radio station's newscasts. In 1990, the station moved from downtown Tampa to its present location at 4002 W. Gandy Blvd., in south Tampa.
WFLA provides news coverage for other Clear Channel stations in the Tampa Bay market, and its anchors and reporters often are heard elsewhere in the state, providing reports and sometimes complete newscasts for those markets. WFLA also serves as a hub for the Florida News Network. Clear Channel's corporate director of news/talk programming, Senior Vice President Gabe Hobbs, was based at WFLA's studios until January 2009, when he and nearly 2,000 other Clear Channel employees nationwide were laid off in a cost-cutting measure. Hobbs had been with the company for more than 25 years; his position was eliminated.
Since December 2008, WFLA has been simulcast on the FM radio band, via the HD-2 (digital radio
) subchannel of sister station WXTB
(97.9 FM).
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, serving the Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (Tampa Bay Area
Tampa Bay Area
The Tampa Bay Area is the region of west central Florida adjacent to Tampa Bay. Definitions of the region vary. It is often considered equivalent to the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area defined by the United States Census Bureau. The Census Bureau currently...
) market (19th largest, population 2,387,300) with additional listenership to the east in the adjacent Lakeland-Winter Haven market (94th largest, population 501,400) and to the south in the adjacent Sarasota-Bradenton market (74th largest, population 626,700). The station is branded as "Newsradio 970 WFLA" (or sometimes "Fox Newsradio 970 WFLA" to reflect its network affiliation, or simply "970 WFLA") and is owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
Inc., the largest U.S. radio station owner.
The station's local morning show, "AM Tampa Bay," is hosted by veteran broadcasters Jack Harris
Jack Harris (broadcaster)
Jack Harris is an American radio and television personality based in Tampa, Florida who co-hosts the morning drive time program on 970 WFLA and is a broadcaster with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Tampa Bay Storm and the Outback Bowl...
and Tedd Webb. The station is also the home and flagship for nationally syndicated afternoon host Todd Schnitt
Todd Schnitt
Todd Andrew Schnitt is an American radio personality. Schnitt hosts two different shows daily from the Clear Channel Broadcast complex in Tampa, Florida...
("The Schnitt Show"). The balance of the station's weekday lineup includes nationally syndicated programs hosted by Glenn Beck
Glenn Beck
Glenn Edward Lee Beck is an American conservative radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host. He hosts the Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks...
, Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
, Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity is an American radio and television host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. Hannity also hosts a cable news show, Hannity,...
and Mark Levin
Mark Levin
Mark Reed Levin is a lawyer, author and the host of American syndicated radio show The Mark Levin Show. Levin served in the cabinet of President Ronald Reagan and was a chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese...
as well as Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM is a North American late-night syndicated radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics, but most frequently ones that relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was created by Art Bell and is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. The program currently...
. Saturday programming includes "Reel Animals," an outdoors sports show hosted by Mike Anderson; a home improvement show hosted by David Bell with local experts; Dave Zeplowitz's nationally syndicated "Cigar Dave
Cigar Dave
David Zeplowitz , is the creator and host of Smoke This!-- a nationally syndicated radio program devoted entirely to cigar smoking and its accompanying lifestyle.-Biography:...
Show," which originates from WFLA's studios; and Tony "Fatso" Siciliano's "On The Grill," a cooking show that also originates from WFLA studios and can be heard on XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
. The Sunday lineup features "The Florida Gardening Show," hosted by Mark Govan, followed by "Ask An Attorney" with Joe Pippen, and the "Duncan Duo Real Estate Show" hosted by Andrew Duncan.
Glenn Beck
Glenn Edward Lee Beck is an American conservative radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host. He hosts the Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks...
and Lionel
Lionel (radio)
Michael William Lebron , popularly known as Lionel, is an American nationally syndicated radio talk show host. Beginning May 2007, he hosted a daily three-hour radio talk show on Air America Radio. Lionel was a consistent performer for Air America and drew weekly audiences of around 1.5 million...
their starts in talk radio. Other prominent alumni, from the days when the station concentrated on local programming, include Bob Lassiter
Bob Lassiter
Bob Lassiter, also known as "Mad Dog", was a controversial and highly influential American radio talk show host in the 1980s and '90s...
(d. 2006), Jay Marvin
Jay Marvin
Jay Marvin is an American liberal radio talk show host and writer.Marvin began his radio career in 1971 as a country music DJ at KWMC in Del Rio, Texas. After that he worked at various stations including WWOD Lynchburg, Virginia, K102 FM El Paso, Texas, WJEZ and WJJD Chicago, Illinois, and KKAT...
, Dick Norman (d. 1989), Chuck Harder
Chuck Harder
Chuck Harder was a former radio disk jockey turned talk show host in White Springs, Florida, USA. He is originally from Elgin, Illinois. He is no longer on the air.-Early radio career:...
, Jack Ellery and Freddy Mertz. Other former hosts include Al Gardner, Mark Larsen, Daniel Ruth, Mark Beiro, Paul Gonzalez and Mel Berman (d. 2010). Tony Zappone
Tony Zappone
Tony Zappone , became at age 16 the youngest credentialed journalist to lend press coverage to a major national political convention. He was also the youngest contributor of evidence during the Warren Commission hearings into the slaying of President John F. Kennedy...
was the first drive-time traffic reporter, beginning in 1974 when the station was an NBC affiliate, and was followed three years later by Gary McHenry, who has remained in that position since.
National news is provided by Fox News Radio
Fox News Radio
Fox News Radio is an American radio network programmed by Fox News Channel.- History :In 2003, Fox News began syndicating one minute radio updates to radio stations via syndication service Westwood One. On June 1, 2005, Fox News Radio employed 60 people and provided five minute newscasts at the top...
. At one time, WFLA boasted having live, local newscasts around the clock; in recent years, local newscasts have been limited to 5 a.m.-7 p.m. weekdays, and 6 a.m.-1 p.m. weekends. As of September 2010, the weekday on-air news staff includes anchors Martin Giles (morning drive), Steve Hall (middays), Matt McClain (afternoon drive), Dennis Pavluk (early evenings) and Bill Cole (morning drive updates), with Hal Lamb as the weekend anchor. Sharon Parker, Kay Long, Steve Carney, Gordon Byrd, and Ryan Lang report for the station. Dozens of newscasters have been behind the microphone over the years; most prominent are Giles, Hall and Parker, each having been with the station for more than 20 years, as was former news director Don Richards (d. 2008). Another prominent long-time personality is traffic reporter Gary McHenry, who has been a part of the station since the 1970s and provides updates during morning and afternoon drive.
The station is the home of University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...
Bulls
South Florida Bulls football
The South Florida Bulls are a Division I FBS college football program that plays its home games in Tampa, Florida. The team began playing in 1997, holding its first team meeting under a shade tree as the school had no proper football facilities on campus...
football games. Jim Louk is the play-by-play announcer, and Mark Robinson
Mark Robinson (American football)
Mark Robinson is a former professional American football player. He was a 1982 Consensus All-American safety at Penn State University. He played 9 seasons as a safety in the National Football League....
serves as color analyst. Jim Lighthall and Justin Pawlowski serve as pregame, halftime and postgame hosts. It also carries other sports programming on a case-by-case basis when there are scheduling conflicts with sports events on its sister stations, WDAE (620 AM) and WHNZ
WHNZ
WHNZ is an American radio station licensed to serve Tampa, Florida, USA. The station's broadcast license is held by Citicasters Licenses, Inc...
(1250 AM), which hold the rights to Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
, Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They have one Stanley Cup championship in their history, in 2003–04. They are often referred to as the...
, Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of MLB's American League. Since their inception in , the club has played at Tropicana Field...
, Tampa Bay Storm
Tampa Bay Storm
The Tampa Bay Storm are an Arena Football League team based in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. They play their home games in the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa....
and University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
broadcasts.
According to RadioYears.com, WFLA began in 1925 as Clearwater radio station WGHB (1130 AM). By 1927, its call letters switched to WFLA and it moved to 590 AM on the dial. It shared the frequency with WSUN before they both moved together to 620 AM in 1929. In January 1941, WFLA separated to 940 AM, then to its present 970 AM that March. WFLA carried most of the popular network shows during the golden days of radio. It had various music formats over the subsequent years (Top 40, middle-of-the-road, adult contemporary) before switching to news/talk in 1986. It has been the market leader in this format ever since, and usually is among the top five stations in the market, according to Arbitron ratings.
At one time, WFLA and its FM radio sister (93.3 FM, now WFLZ-FM
WFLZ-FM
WFLZ-FM is a CHR/Pop station broadcasting in the Tampa Bay area, Florida, USA. Before the 1990s, the station played the oldies format before switching to Top 40 to compete against local CHR Q105. The station became 93.3 , and later was re-imaged to 93.3 FLZ...
) were owned by Media General
Media General
Media General, Inc. is a media company based in the Southeastern United States. Its major properties include newspapers such as The Tampa Tribune, the Winston-Salem Journal, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, as well as numerous television stations, such as flagship station WFLA-TV.The company was...
, the parent company of The Tampa Tribune
The Tampa Tribune
The Tampa Tribune, published in Tampa, Florida, is one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area, second in circulation and readership to the St. Petersburg Times. The paper's tagline is "Life...
and WFLA-TV
WFLA-TV
WFLA-TV, virtual channel 8, is the NBC-affiliated television station in Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida. The station is the flagship station of its owner and operator, Media General. Its transmitter is located in Riverview, Hillsborough County, Florida. WFLA is the only station in the market to be...
. In the 1980s, federal regulations forced Media General
Media General
Media General, Inc. is a media company based in the Southeastern United States. Its major properties include newspapers such as The Tampa Tribune, the Winston-Salem Journal, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, as well as numerous television stations, such as flagship station WFLA-TV.The company was...
to divest the radio stations because of its other local media holdings. The radio stations were sold to Blair Broadcasting in late 1982. Sconnix Communications of Charleston, S.C., bought WFLA and what was then WPDS from Blair Broadcasting (who was divesting all of its English-language broadcasting properties in order to concentrate on what became today's Telemundo
Telemundo
Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
) in 1987, and Jacor Communications purchased WFLA from Sconnix in 1988. (Clear Channel Communications purchased Jacor in 1999 and thus acquired WFLA and WFLZ.)
Though they share call letters, WFLA radio and WFLA television are not affiliated; the TV station provided weather information for the radio station's newscasts for nearly 20 years until the local Fox television affiliate, WTVT
WTVT
WTVT, channel 13, is a television station in Tampa, Florida. It is an owned and operated station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the News Corporation...
-TV, became the radio station's weather partner in June 2009. WTVT also sometimes provides "actualities" (sound bites) for the radio station's newscasts. In 1990, the station moved from downtown Tampa to its present location at 4002 W. Gandy Blvd., in south Tampa.
WFLA provides news coverage for other Clear Channel stations in the Tampa Bay market, and its anchors and reporters often are heard elsewhere in the state, providing reports and sometimes complete newscasts for those markets. WFLA also serves as a hub for the Florida News Network. Clear Channel's corporate director of news/talk programming, Senior Vice President Gabe Hobbs, was based at WFLA's studios until January 2009, when he and nearly 2,000 other Clear Channel employees nationwide were laid off in a cost-cutting measure. Hobbs had been with the company for more than 25 years; his position was eliminated.
Since December 2008, WFLA has been simulcast on the FM radio band, via the HD-2 (digital radio
Digital radio
Digital radio has several meanings:1. Today the most common meaning is digital radio broadcasting technologies, such as the digital audio broadcasting system, also known as Eureka 147. In these systems, the analog audio signal is digitized into zeros and ones, compressed using formats such as...
) subchannel of sister station WXTB
WXTB
WXTB — branded 98 Rock — is a commercial radio station in the Tampa, Florida area. However the station can be heard as far north as Ocala and Williston due to its strong signal...
(97.9 FM).