WXKL - A History
WXKL-FM 97.5 Winter Haven – In 1965 Bruce Parker bought out business partner Angelo Fazzari’s interest in Winter Haven’s WINT-FM and changed the calls to WXKL (Polk County’s first stereo FM). The station’s format became “a little bit of everything,” then eventually country.
Offices and studios were located in downtown Winter Haven next to Tip Top TV on Avenue D N.W. By 1968 they had moved into a mobile home at the Dundee Road transmitter site.
Parker sold WXKL in 1969 to Recreation Broadcasting of Grand Rapids, Michigan (H.J. Hunting, president), and Spencer Danes was brought in from Miami’s WGBS to run it. Offices and studios were then moved back to the rented space downtown on Avenue D NW next to Tip Top TV at which time a new Broadcast Products automation system was installed.
In 1970, Recreation was tired of the negative cash flow, fired Spencer Danes, and brought in Randy Jeffery as general manager. Jeffery changed the call letters to WHFL and to an automated beautiful music format. He also relocated the offices and studios to a more high profile location – The Florida Citrus Showcase (now known as the Orange Dome) on Cypress Gardens Boulevard.
Other names from WXKL history include Frank Berry (chief engineer), Bill Gaskins, and Marilyn Tyree (operations). There were only two announcers during WXKL’s automated years – Gaskins and Berry, who recorded their voice tracks on carts and let the automation system do all the mixing.
Station History
1965 - 1970 Other Polk County Stations (History)
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