Other Stations - Other Tampa Bay Area Stations - Who's Who - Details

WWBA AM & FM's Co-Workers

WUSA - A History
WFLZ - A History
WWJB - A History
WQSR - A History
WYND - A History
WKXY - A History
WPIN AM & FM - A History
WAZE - A History
WTRL - A History
WTMP AM & FM - A History
WJIS - A History
WPKM - A History
WPAS - A History
WBRD AM & FM - A History
WPLP - A History
WMNF - A History
WDCF - A History
WTYM - A History
WWRM - A History
WTKN - A History
WDCL - A History
WBVM - A History
WILZ - A History
WHVE - A History
WQBN - A History
WXCR - A History
WKES - A History
WNSI - A History
WSOL - A History
WWQT - A History
WTAN AM & FM - A History
WUSF - A History
WLVU AM & FM - A History
WRXB - A History
WPSO AM & FM - A History
WAMA - A History
WSRZ AM & FM - A History
WCBF - A History
WQXM - A History
WMLO - A History
WGNB AM & FM - A History
WHBS - A History
WSST - A History
WCTQ - A History
WRFA - A History
WVTY AM & FM - A History
WKRL - A History
WMGG - A History
WAVE - A History
WEND - A History
WTIS - A History
WLFF - A History
WKZM - A History
WSRZ - A History
WPDS - A History
WGNP - A History
WTCX - A History
WOKF - A History
WSAF AM & FM - A History
WWZZ - A History
WZNE - A History
WRAV - A History
WSGX - A History
WCKX - A History
WAVV - A History
WWLF - A History
WJYW - A History
WIQI - A History
WAMR AM & FM - A History
WFNN - A History
WOFN - A History
WEZX - A History
WLPJ - A History
WATL - A History
WNLT - A History
WLFW - A History
WWKY - A History
WFCE - A History
WOJC - A History
WLCY AM & FM - A History
WQSA - A History
WYNF - A History
WSPB AM & FM - A History
WGUL AM & FM - A History
WDUV - A History
WSUN AM & FM - A History
WFLA AM & FM - A History
WINQ - A History
WHBO - A History
WALT - A History
WDAE AM & FM - A History
WYOU - A History
WQYK AM & FM - A History
WRBQ AM & FM - A History
WFSO - A History
WCWR - A History
Chuck Adams
Brent Alberts
David Albright
Russ Albums
Nancy Alexander
Steve Alexander
John Alexander
Russ Altizer
Chuck Alton
Larry Anderson
Voncile Anderson
John Anthony
Tom Anthony
Jon Anthony
Alan Archer
Lee Arnold
Brad Baad
Gary Ballinger
Dave Banks
Bob Barnes
Denny Bateman
Chuck Bear
Beryl Beckett
Don Beckman
Joe Bell
Mel Berman
Frank Berry
Al Blake
Jack Bland
Neil Bob
Roy Bodden
Otis Boggs
Diane Bonilla
Marvelous Marvin Boone
Jim Boynton
Don Brady
Jim Brand
Al Brock
Pat Brooks
Charlie Brown
Hugh Brown
Steve Burgess
Bill Burnett
Bill Burns
Burt & Kurt
Shirley Buss
Johnny Byrd
Gordon Byrd
Bill Calder
Peter Callahan
Bill Campbell
Jim Campbell
Dave Campbell
Bob Campo
Ted Cannarozzi
Don Capone
Kevin Card
Dr. Don Carpenter
Murray Carpenter
Al Casey
Terry Casey
Pat Chamburs
Mark Champion
Charlie Champion
Scott Chase
Steve Cheney
Rita Ciccarello
Roz Clark
Bob Clark
Marshall Cleaver
Don Coe
Tim Coles
Rick Collins
Bill Connolly
Dwight Cook
Carson Cooper
Ken Copper
Al Corbett
Duane Cornett
Todd Cralley
Dennis Crandall
Rick Crandall
Dr. Chuck Crane
Mike Creager
Lary Crews
Dick Crippen
Joe Culbreath
Bob Cummings
Harry Cup
Chris Curley
Kathy Curtis
Hank Dale
John Dalton
Eugene Danzey
Tom Daren
Johnny Dark
Tim Davisson
Arch Deal
Bob Dearborn
Bob DeCarlo
Gene Deckerhoff
John DeHaven
Paul Delaney
Scott Dennis
Ron Diaz
Glen Dill
Dan DiLoreto
Mason Dixon
Nanci Donnellan
Tom Drane
Dean Drapin
Bill Dudley
Al Dunaway
John Eastman
Ronald Ebben
Big Ed Edwards
Jack Ellery
Bill Elliott
Larry Elliston
JR Evans
Scott Farrell
Jack Faulkner
George Fee
Tony Fernandez
A.G. "Tony" Fernandez
Charlie Fernandez
Charles Fernandez
Frank Ferreri
Jack Fichter
Joseph Field, Jr.
Reggie Fine
Larry Flegle
Marvin Flemmings
Valorie Flowers
Bill Floyd
Les Foerster
Al Ford
Trooper Jim Foster
David Fowler
Steve Fredericks
George Gainey
Al Gale
Bill Gamble
Russell Gant
Woody Garcia
Jim Genovese
Pat George
Martin Giles
David Gold
Paul Gonzalez
Jerry Good
Dan Grant
Joe Gratz
Jon Grayson
Scott Griffith
Dottie Groven
Marlen Hager
Joe Hager
Norm Hale
Sandy Hall
Steve Hall
Chuck Harder
Dave Harrell
Jack Harris
Spyder Harrison
Ken Hart
George Harvey
George Harvey, Jr.
Charles Hasbrouck
Rick Hatfield
Tom Henderson
Bill Hennes
Mike Hennessy
Robert Hensler
Howard Hewes
Downey Hewey
Don Hibbitts
Bob Higby
Glen Hill
Tim Hobson
Chris Holiday
Allan Hollar
Les Howard
Bob Hughes
Herb Hunt
Steve Huntington
Bill Jacobs
Peter Jahns
Brad James
Chris James
Maria Janello
Ralph Janotti
Greg Jarrett
Joey Jay
Bill Jenkins
Dan Johnson
Whitney Johnson
Ralph Johnson
Jim Johnson (WHBO)
Jim Johnson (WQXM)
Warren Kauffman
Marc Kaye
Ann Kelly
Austin Keyes
Gary Kines
Gary Knight
Zoltan Koppany
David (Kidd) Kraddick
Wayne Kysor
Kenny Lamb
John Lander
Ronnie "Night Train" Lane
John Lanigan
Mark Larsen
Bob Lassiter
Sam Latimer
Tom Latto
Jeff Laurence
George Laurie
Scott Ledger
Clair Linn
Lionel
Pepper Lipsync
Charlie Logan
Jim Lord
Rob Lorei
George Lowe
Mike Lusk
Mike Lyons
Charlie Mack
Kevin MacKenzie
Bob Mackey
Stan Major
Jim Maloy
Dave Mann
Steve Manuel
Carl Marcocci
Dick Marsh
Walt Marsicano
Bob Martin
Beecher Martin
Jay Marvin
Burl McCarty
Sam McClelland
Dave McClure
Les McDowell
Terry McElhatton
Mark McGee
Gerald McGougan
George McGovern
Gary McHenry
Pat McKay
Bob McKay
Dave McKay (WQYK)
Dave McKay (WWBA)
Terrance McKeever
Ron McKenney
Ed McMann
John Meder
Bruce Micek
Randy Michaels
Steve Michaels
Doug Miles
Dangerous Dan Miller
Jay Miller
Jeff Miller
Art Millman
Moby
John Moore
Mike Moore
Brad Moore
Roosevelt Moore, Jr.
Rick Morgan
John Morris
Tom Murphy
Kevin Murphy
Hal Murray
Bob Neil
Robert Nelson
Bobby Nelson
Jim Nettleton
Gerald Newton
Terry Nichols
Roy Nilson
George Nix
Dick Norman
Joe O'Grady
Bobby Ocean
Charlie Ochs
Russ Offenbach
Michael Osterhout
Judd Otis
Scott Owens
Bill Owens
Frank Parker
John Parker
Priscilla Parker
Ron Parker
Joe Patrick
Ed Pendino
Bob Penrod
Carlos Jose Peralta
Jonathan Pinch
Bill Polk
Jon Powers
Neil Presant
Randy Price
Ed Pyle
Q Morning Zoo
Jay Quigley
Jim Quin
Gus Quintero
Rex Rand
Drew Rashbaum
Chris Rathaus
Marv Ray
Mike Reeves
Ken Reitz
Paul Resnik
Art Reuben
Bob Reynolds
RJ Reynolds
Bobby Rich
Liz Richards
Don Richards
Dick Ring
Ed Ripley
Tom Rivers
Scott Robbins
Jay Roberts
J. Paul Robinson
Gene Allen Robinson
Ted Rogers
Neil Rogers
Jeff Rogo
Ron & Ron
Art Ross
Robert Rounsaville
John Rowe
Marshall Rowland
Robert Rowland
Bob Ruark
Daylon Rushing
Tim Ruskell
John Rutledge
Jeff Ryan
Marti Ryan
Craig Sager
Dave Saint
Rick Samples
Steve Sande
Nikki Sandler
Vicki Santa
Al Santana
Roger Schulman
Bob Schuman
Ron Scott
Glen Scott
Sue Scott
Michael Serio
Bob Seymour
Jim Shafer
Scott Shannon
David Sharp
Hank Shaw
Harvey Sheldon
Ron Shepard aka JoMama Johnson
Read Shepherd
Alvis Sherouse
Jim Shirah
Cal Shrum
John Sipos
Paul Sliwa
Rob Snowden
Gordon Solie
Chary Southmayd
Michael Spears
Roy Speer
John St. John
Jim Stanley
Shauna Stevens
Dr. Chuck Stevens
Greg Stevens
Dan Stevens
Bob Stone
Marla Stone
Rick Stone
John Stortz
Carl Strandell
Bob Stroud
Bill Swisher
Chris Taylor
Sharon Taylor
Michelle Tellone
Duff Thomas
Myron Hieronymous Thomas
Goldie Thompson
Jim Thurman, Jr.
Mel Tinney
Bob Tracy
Tim Trott
Nick Van Cleve
David Wagenvoord
JoJo Walker
Jerry Walker
Uncle Johnny Walker
Rusty Walker
Don Wallis
Jim Walter
Scott Walterman
Steve Warren
Al Waters
Tramonte Watts
James Wayman
Tedd Webb
Ray Webb
Mike Weber
Robert Weeks
Jack Weldon
Rod Weller
Jim West
Brock Whaley
Fez Whatley
Cleveland Wheeler
Mark Wheeler
Tim White
Rob Whitehurst
Art Williams
Early Williams
Dick Wilson
Walter Windsor
Dennis Winslow
Ed Winton
Russ Wittberger
Chris Wolf
John Wright
Randy Wynne

WWBA AM & FM - A History

WWBA-AM 680 & WWBA FM 107.3 St. Petersburg – Tampa Bay’s beautiful music BAy Radio, WWBA AM & FM, was originally St. Pete’s WPIN AM & FM when WWBA, Inc. (New Yorker Ed Winton, president) bought the pair in 1968. Winton was a hands-on owner (GM) and a leading exponent of the beautiful music genre – a protégé of radio legend Gordon McLendon and owner of Miami’s WOCN AM & FM.

Before converting WPIN to WWBA, Winton engaged in a massive advertising campaign which was extremely successful in generating public curiosity. He had billboards and bus stop benches throughout Tampa, St. Pete and Clearwater painted to read “A New Bay is Coming to Tampa!”, “A New Bay is Coming to St. Petersburg!”, etc.  The signs said nothing else and gave no hint as to what type of service or product they referred to.  After several months, the public breathlessly awaited to see what the “New Bay” would be. It turned out to be Bay Radio WWBA, a new radio station with a new type of format – and the rest is history.  
 
WWBA’s studios were located at Broadcast House on 62nd Avenue North at 28th Street in St. Pete with the FM tower directly behind the building. In the late 70’s, the offices and studios moved to 9721 Executive Center Drive in the Koger Complex, and the towers relocated to a single stick behind Derby Lane on Gandy Boulevard. The AM was a 1-kilowatt daytimer while the FM broadcasted full time with 64,000 watts in stereo. The FM’s power would be upgraded to 100,000 watts in 1975.

WWBA had the first morning radio news block in the Tampa-St. Petersburg market (“The Bay Radio Morning News”) which was heard weekdays from 6 AM to 9 AM.  Included was a syndicated commentary by Ronald Reagan.  The stations were also the first with two planes in the sky for traffic reports, one over Pinellas, and the other over Tampa.

In 1980, a narrow hallway housed the automation system – six Scully reel-to-reel tape decks for the FM and four for the one kilowatt AM. Below were two time-announce cart machines. One played the “odd” minute time checks and the other played the “even.” A series of standard cart machines were located on top of the racks, each loaded hourly with spots scheduled to run as per the program log. Although both stations shared a single production room, the AM had a full control room with an adjoining news booth while the FM had only a very small announcer’s booth. There were no cart machines in the FM until much later. FM programming was a 50% duplication of the AM.

In the ratings, WWBA was a solid number one 12+.  If management felt an agency-produced spot didn’t fit the station’s image, it was either rejected or re-produced by the in-house production staff. Outside morning drive, the FM played 13-minute music sets with breaks on the quarter-hours. Most of the reels contained instrumentals but there was always one that held light vocals.

Ed Winton sold WWBA-FM to Metromedia in 1981 but retained WWBA-AM, switching it to a nostalgia format branded Life 680 with new call letters – WWLF (1981), WLFW (1982), and then WLFF in 1985 when it was acquired by Century Broadcasting. When WLFF was sold in 1991, it became all-Spanish WRMD Rhumba 680. Meanwhile, the beautiful music format continued on WWBA-FM until 1988. Metromedia (which by that time had changed its name to Metropolitan Broadcasting) sold it to Cox Radio who turned it into soft A/C WWRM Warm 107.3.

Some names from Tampa Bay’s Beautiful (Music) 107 WWBA include Ronald Wilson (station manager-1971), William Emnard (sales manager-1971), Pete Jamieson (news director-1971), Robert Blumenkranz (chief engineer-1971), Robert Cavanaugh (news director-1972), Jack Fleet (chief engineer-1972), Bill Dutcher (station manager-1974), Bill Shricker (sales manager-1974), Bill Hazelton (news director-1975), Dave McKay (David McElroy-PD/production and creative director 1976-85), Steven Hill (news director-1979), Ed Gorman (chief engineer-1979), Tedd Webb (1980), Bob Higby and Bill Miller (morning news anchors), Ron Stauner (mornings), Norm Swensen (afternoons), Leon Pettersen (Ch. 10 weatherman Sonny Day-nights), Michael Serio, John Fennessy, Ronald J. Ebben (news director), Jeff Loughridge (chief engineer), Jim Genovese, Bob Hughes, Carl Buehl and Bob Campo.


(Thanks to Michael Serio and Dick Wheeler for their assistance with this history. Please contact us if you have additional information to share about WWBA.)

Station History

1968 - 1988 Other Tampa Bay Area Stations (History)

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