WWMI
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| City of license | St. Petersburg, Florida |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Tampa Bay Area |
| Branding | 1380 The Biz |
| Frequency | 1380 kHz |
| First air date | 1939 (as WTSP) |
| Format | Business Talk |
| Power | 9,800 watts day 6,500 watts night |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 11954 |
| Transmitter coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Callsign meaning | We Want MIckey (Radio Disney era) |
| Former callsigns | WTSP (1939-1959) WLCY (1959-1981) WNSI (1981-1982) WRBQ (1982-1999) |
| Affiliations | Wall Street Business Network |
| Owner | Salem Media Group (South Texas Broadcasting, Inc.) |
| Sister stations | WLCC, WGUL, WTBN, WTWD |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www |
WWMI (AM 1380) is a radio station broadcasting a Business Talk format. Licensed to St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, the station serves the Tampa Bay Area. The station is owned by Salem Media Group.
History
Brothers Joe, Sam, and Farris Rahall bought the city's Mutual Broadcasting System affiliate, WTSP-AM 1380 and its FM, 102.5, from the St. Petersburg Times in 1956. Not interested in pursuing FM, they shut it down a year later. On July 15, 1959, the AM's call letters and format switched to WLCY ("Radio Elsie") and Top 40.
For many years, WLCY-AM was the Tampa Bay area’s premiere rock and roll station, with offices, studios, and transmitter in the previous WTSP facility on Gandy Boulevard near 4th Street North.
The disc jockeys during the era were known as "The Swingin' Gentlemen" and included "Stanley Steamer" Jim Stanley (mornings), Johnny Dart (Stan Grams), Rick Morgan, Mark Wheeler, "Shy Guy" Roy Nilson (also the Program Director), Al Dunaway, "Swingin' Sweeney," Johnny Rebel (Herb Hunt), George Nix, Jack E. Rabbitt, Dick Stambaugh (later Dick Starr in Miami), Tedd Webb, Bob Tracey, "Big Daddy" Don Owens, Pepper Lipsinx (James Wayman), Frank Lynn, Kenny Parks, Bob Collins, Bob Cannon, (Clande Miranda), Jeff Laurence, Johnny Stevens, Dave Archard, Bob Carr, D.J. O'Day, Rock Robbins (Bob Bernstein), Murph McHenry, Al Summers, Jack Kane, Bobby Lyons, Dean Drapin, Ron Parker, Dutch Walker, Wade West, Jim Clark, Johnny Byrd (Dennis Waters), Daylon Rushing, Mike Scott (Jim Shirah) and Lolita (Dottie Groven).
Clair Linn provided news and the "WLCY Weather Chick" was Charlene Mathias. Newsman Marshall Cleaver hosted a late-night call-in show, Open Mike, and was succeeded by Harvey Sheldon. Jingles were tagged with, "WLCY, One-thirty-eight!"
The station later shared space with Rahall’s WLCY-TV and the new WLCY-FM at the "Rahall Color Communications Center", just east of the original Gandy site. The name of the licensee changed to WLCY, Inc., on June 20, 1963 and then to the Rahall Communications Corporation on October 3, 1969. WLCY-AM began to identify dual city of license as "St. Petersburg-Tampa" in 1976.
Rahall began to divest itself of its Tampa Bay properties, and in September 1978, Florida Radio, Inc. became the station's new owner. WLCY moved out of the TV building and back into the old WTSP studios.
In 1981, the station was sold to Harte-Hanks and was changed to WNSI-AM (News, Sports and Information). In 1983, after Edens Broadcasting bought the station, it became WRBQ-AM, and flipped to a simulcast of Q105. This simulcast would last until April 1993, when, after the stations were sold to Clear Channel Communications, WRBQ-AM flipped to the satellite-fed Urban AC format known as "The Touch"[citation needed] and picked up Tom Joyner.[1] In 1999, ABC Radio bought the station and it became WWMI.
On August 13, 2014, Disney put WWMI and twenty-two other Radio Disney stations up for sale, in order to focus more on digital distribution of the Radio Disney network.[2][3]
On September 15, 2015, it was announced that Salem Media Group acquired the last five Radio Disney owned-and-operated stations for sale (including WWMI) for $2.225 million.[4] WWMI was acquired through South Texas Broadcasting, Inc., for $750.000.[5] The sale of WWMI was completed on December 11, 2015.[6]
On December 14, 2015, the station became Salem's Wall Street Business Network affiliate in Tampa Bay.[7] WWMI is now one of two stations in the market airing a business news/talk format, the other being WHFS.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Salem Acquires Radio Disney’s Final Five - Radio Insight
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Consummation Notice - Federal Communications Commission
- ↑ Salem Launches 1380 The Biz Tampa - Radio Insight
