30-432: WFLA may refer to: WFLA (AM) , a radio station (970 AM) licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States WFLA-FM , a radio station (100.7 FM) licensed to Midway, Florida, United States WFLA-TV , a television station (channel 9, virtual 8) licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States WFLA (Boca Raton, Florida) , a 1927 station set up by town planner Addison Mizner WFLF (AM) ,
60-511: A Czech-American friendly society Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title WFLA . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WFLA&oldid=1140816721 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Broadcast call sign disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
90-595: A December 2021 interview with Tucker Carlson , he criticized President Biden’s Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Christopher W. Grady further stating that "We don't need a military that's woman-friendly , that's gay-friendly " we need men "who want to sit on a throne of Chinese skulls ." Senator James Lankford (R-OK), who negotiated a bipartisan border bill on behalf of the Republican caucus over 4 months from November 2023 to February 2024 said on
120-526: A newspaper, TV station, AM station and FM station. However, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) were discouraging one owner from controlling so much media in one market. In the 1980s, federal regulations forced Media General to divest the radio stations because of its other holdings. The radio stations were sold to Blair Broadcasting in late 1982. Sconnix Communications of Charleston, South Carolina , bought WFLA and what
150-457: A radio station (540 AM) licensed to Pine Hills, Florida, United States, which uses the branding am540 WFLA WFLF-FM , a radio station (94.5 FM) licensed to Parker, Florida, United States, which uses the branding Fox Newsradio 94.5 WFLA WFLZ-FM , a radio station (93.3 FM) licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, which held the call sign WFLA-FM from 1948 to 1981, and from March 1984 to September 1985 Western Fraternal Life Association ,
180-695: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages WFLA (AM) WFLA (970 kHz ) is a commercial AM radio station in Tampa, Florida , and serving the Tampa Bay media market . The station airs a news/talk format and is owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station's studios and offices are located on Gandy Boulevard in South Tampa. WFLA broadcasts by day at 25,000 watts, reducing power to 11,000 watts at night. (For most of its history, from
210-599: Is provided by Fox News Radio and NBC News Radio . WFLA provides news coverage for other iHeartMedia stations in the Tampa Bay market, and is a hub for the Florida News Network. WFLA occasionally serves as an overflow outlet for sports programming from co-owned sports radio station 620 WDAE . Another Clear Channel radio station in Tallahassee took the call sign WFLA-FM . Its sister station in
240-538: The NBC Red Network , carrying dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the " Golden Age of Radio ". In 1937, the joint ownership of WFLA-WSUN was severed, with the two stations continuing to operate on 620 kHz using a common transmitter, but separately licensed on a time-sharing basis. WFLA was allocated full-time use of Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and shared hours on Sundays. In 1940, The Tribune Company
270-494: The NBC Television Network . Once network programming had shifted from radio to television, WFLA began a full service middle of the road format of popular adult music, news, and sports. It later tried Top 40 and Adult Contemporary music . In the 1980s, listeners shifted to FM to hear music, so WFLA increased the news and talk programming. In 1982, WFLA hired street reporter Sam Cardinale from WPLP to make
300-573: The Orlando area, WFLF (AM) , uses "WFLA" as its branding. Both WFLA-FM and WFLF carries many of the same nationally syndicated programming as WFLA, but all three stations have their own local shows and news. WFLF-FM also previously carried the WFLA brand and programming in Panama City until September 2021; since then, the WFLA brand has been carried by two FM translators in the area. In 1925,
330-548: The "most listened to" stations in "the heart of Florida's most heavily populated trade area". WFLA added an FM station in 1948, WFLA-FM (now WFLZ ). In its early years, WFLA-FM largely simulcast its AM sister station . In the mid-to-late 1960s, it switched from Top 40 to beautiful music . A television station also went on the air in 1955, WFLA-TV , which is now owned by the Nexstar Media Group . Because WFLA-AM-FM carried NBC programming, WFLA-TV also joined
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#1732776590676360-711: The 1940s to the early 2000s, it ran at 5,000 watts.) It uses a directional antenna at all times. The main transmitter site is off Montague Street in Town 'n' Country, Florida . Programming is also heard on two FM translators , 94.5 MHz in Gulfport and 99.1 in Bayonet Point . Weekdays on WFLA begin with a local morning show, AM Tampa Bay , hosted by Aaron Jacobson, Katie Butchino and Natalie Aquilia. From 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., The Ryan Gorman Show airs, hosted by Ryan Gorman, who used to host PM Tampa Bay . The rest of
390-542: The Seminole Building. WSUN stayed on 620 kHz, licensed to St. Petersburg (now WDAE ). From 1945 to 1949, WFLA carried a southern gospel show, which featured legendary bass singer J. D. Sumner and The Sunny South Quartet. WFLA and WSUN were owned by the Clearwater and St. Petersburg Chambers of Congress. An advertisement in the 1950 edition of Broadcasting Yearbook said that WFLA-AM-FM were
420-583: The first in the United States, consisting of two 200 foot (61 m) towers, was successful. As an example of its effectiveness, engineer Wilmotte noted that at one point a telegram was sent from regulators in Washington asking why WFLA-WSUN was off the air, because an inspector located in Atlanta was not receiving the station when it employed the directional antenna. WFLA and WSUN were affiliates of
450-641: The floor of the Senate in February that a right-wing media personality had told him “flat out—before they knew any of the contents of the bill, any of the content, nothing was out at that point—that told me flat out, ‘If you try to move a bill that solves the border crisis during this presidential year, I will do whatever I can to destroy you, because I do not want you to solve this during the presidential election'" Lankford added, “[They] have been faithful to their promise and have done everything they can to destroy me in
480-563: The move toward news-oriented programming. Cardinale won multiple AP and UPI awards for the station for news coverage before joining WTVT . In 1986, WFLA made the full transition to all-talk. 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. Media General acquired the Tribune Company in the 1970s. This meant one company controlled, in Tampa,
510-476: The official replacement for The Rush Limbaugh Show , following a transitional period after Rush Limbaugh died on February 17. On June 28, 2021, Jesse Kelly took over the timeslot under the title The Jesse Kelly Show . Since 2020, Kelly has been based at KPRC in Houston , a station owned by Premiere Networks parent company iHeartMedia, Inc. He had been in limited syndication through Key Networks. In
540-467: The program on January 31, 2017, deciding to focus on television work instead. Premiere Networks announced on February 1, 2017, that Buck Sexton would become the new host. He began hosting the show on February 6. The show completely abandoned its general audience focus to become a more traditional conservative talk show during his run. In early 2018, the America Now title was removed, and the program
570-738: The schedule features mostly nationally syndicated Premiere Networks talk shows including The Glenn Beck Radio Program , The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show , The Sean Hannity Show , The Jesse Kelly Show , Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb and Coast to Coast AM with George Noory . Weekends feature shows on money, health, law, boating and fishing. Some weekend shows are paid brokered programming . On weekends, WFLA carries Sunday Nights with Bill Cunningham , Armstrong & Getty , The Ben Ferguson Show and This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal . WFLA provides local newscasts on both weekdays and weekends. Evening and overnight newscasts are pre-recorded. National and world news
600-609: The signal sent toward Milwaukee. The idea that a directional antenna would resolve the issue was somewhat controversial, with some doubters stating that fluctuations in the ionosphere would cause issues, while others believed that instead of going directly to Milwaukee, the WFLA-WSUN signal was actually travelling west through the Gulf of Mexico, then turning north through the Mississippi valley. The directional antenna installation,
630-692: The slogan "Why Stay Up North". In 1927 WFLA-WSUN moved to 580 kHz, then to 900 kHz the next year. In 1929, radio frequencies for stations in Florida were reallocated, and WFLA-WSUN moved to 620 kHz. The station's transmitter site was originally on the north side of the Courtney Campbell Causeway near Clearwater. WFLA-WSUN's move to 620 kHz resulted in a nighttime interference complaint from another station on that frequency, WTMJ in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. WFLA-WSUN
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#1732776590676660-525: The station first signed on as WGHB in Clearwater . In 1927, its call sign changed to WFHH, and later that year to WFLA at 1130 kHz . WSUN was first authorized in October 1927, joining WFLA at 590 kHz, with this station now assigned a dual call sign of WFLA-WSUN, under shared ownership by the Clearwater and St. Petersburg Chambers of Commerce. WSUN made its debut broadcast on November 1, using
690-436: The years, AM Tampa Bay has had three female co-hosts; Sharon Taylor, who was let go after ten years, Allyson Turner, who left less than a year after she was hired, and Corey Dylan, who was promoted to her own show at sister station WMTX after four years on WFLA. Longtime news anchors and reporters Steve Hall and Sharon Parker were released in a 2019 iHeart round of layoffs. In March 2023, longtime AM Tampa Bay host Jack Harris
720-439: Was given permission to construct a full-time station on 940 kHz. Because this was technically a new station, this authorization was initially given the call sign of WKGA. However, the authorization included shutting down WFLA on 620 kHz, so when operations began on 940 kHz, the historic WFLA call sign was transferred to the new frequency. WFLA's owner also owned The Tampa Tribune . The studios and offices were in
750-620: Was intended as a broad-audience rundown of the day's news events, including entertainment topics. It airs on its affiliates either live or on tape delay, along with distribution through the iHeartRadio app and podcast providers. Originally hosted by Andy Dean , America Now debuted on August 8, 2011. Joe Pagliarulo (known as "Joe Pags" and based at WOAI in San Antonio ) replaced Dean as interim host beginning August 11, 2014. Pagliarulo ceded hosting duties to Meghan McCain (daughter of Senator John McCain ) on July 15, 2015. McCain left
780-428: Was ordered to reduce powers from 1,000 watts night and 2,500 watts day to 250 watts night and 500 watts day. Station manager Walter Tison began an investigation into whether there was a way that WFLA-WSUN could increase its nighttime power to a more acceptable level. Working with T. A. M. Craven, a British engineer, Raymond M. Wilmotte, was engaged in 1932 to construct a then-theoretical antenna system that would reduce
810-457: Was rebranded as The Buck Sexton Show , a title previously used on his radio program with a video simulcast for TheBlaze from 2014 until 2017. Sexton's video simulcast moved to The First TV in October 2019. On May 27, 2021, Premiere Networks announced that Clay Travis would be teamed with Sexton, and that the two would take over the noon–3 p.m. ET timeslot on June 21, 2021, as The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show . The new program serves as
840-482: Was released from the station. Harris had been with WFLA off and on since 1970. The Jesse Kelly Show The Jesse Kelly Show (formerly known as America Now and The Buck Sexton Show ) is a three-hour early evening conservative talk radio show hosted by Jesse Kelly, and carried by Premiere Networks , a subsidiary of iHeartMedia, Inc. It is broadcast live 6 to 9 p.m. Eastern Time on weekdays. The show mainly covers politics, and under former hosts,
870-500: Was the forerunner of today's iHeartMedia . WFLA gave national hosts Glenn Beck and Lionel their starts in talk radio. For many years, Todd Schnitt hosted the nationally syndicated Schnitt Show at WFLA. Other prominent alumni, from the days when the station concentrated on local programming, include Bob Lassiter , Jay Marvin , Dick Norman, Jack Ellery and Freddy Mertz. Other former hosts include Al Gardner, Mark Larsen, Daniel Ruth, Mark Beiro, Paul Gonzalez and Mel Berman. Over
900-476: Was then WPDS from Blair Broadcasting in 1987. Blair was divesting all of its English-language broadcasting properties to concentrate on its Spanish-language TV network, Telemundo . Jacor Communications purchased WFLA from Sconnix in 1988. In 1989, the station moved from Jackson Street in downtown Tampa to its present location at 4002 W. Gandy Blvd., in south Tampa. Clear Channel Communications , purchased Jacor in 1999, which included WFLA and WFLZ. Clear Channel
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