WENG - A History
WENG-AM 1530 Englewood –WENG (ENGlewood) signed on the air in 1964 from studios at 1355 South River Road in Englewood. The one kilowatt daytimer’s original owner, Sarasota-Charlotte Broadcasting Corporation (Edward J. Ewing, Jr., president), was its licensee until 1993 when it was acquired by John Murray (Murray Broadcasting) for $165,000.
During its years under Murray’s ownership, WENG’s studios and offices were fully renovated with state-of-the-art equipment and digital sound technology installed. In October 2002 it was bought by Viper Communications (Ken Kuenzie and Dennis Klautzer) for $290,000.
Formerly an MOR, big band, and country (1988) station, today (2008) WENG is news/talk (“The Information Station”) and, since the 70’s, an ABC network affiliate. Its programming is also broadcast 24-hours a day via a repeater on 107.5 FM.
Other names from WENG’s history include Dick Williams (PD-1968), William Settliffe (chief engineer-1968), Ted Rasua (sales manager-1969), George Jarrett (chief engineer-1969), Craig Dalton (general manager-1971), Robert Pond (sales manager-1971), Geddes Kujaneck (chief engineer-1971), James R. Stephenson (GM)-1972), Jeffrey Barber (PD/news director-1973), Michael R. Joity (sales manager-1973), Kent Weissenger (news director-1974), Gary McHenry (1974), Ed Melton (sales manager-1979), Art Cronk (1986-2006; host of “Front and Center”), Ken Berryhill (1988), Scott Holcomb (1993; host of “The Morning Magazine;” operations manager-2008), Rich Spedaliere (sports director-1994; news director-2005), Dave McClure (sales), Ryan Rafferdy (news director-2002), Ken Griffin, Ken Birdsong (GM and host of “Suncoast This Morning”-2002), and Frank Benny (news director-2003-2005).
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Station History
1964 - 2008 Other Tampa Bay Area Stations (History)
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