Who's Who at WONN

Alan Wendt

Alan started in broadcasting in 1970 as a camera operator for Teleprompter Cable TV Channel 4 in Lakeland which had its studios in the basement of WONN. Because the restrooms and Coke machine were upstairs, he occasionally ventured into the radio control room and news booth and became fascinated with the life of a deejay and radio news.

In 1971, Alan got a weekend slot on the air – Sunday morning from 5am to noon. Then he began filling in for the other deejays, usually overnights, and then the 7 to midnight slot.

Getting into news came quite by accident. One night on his way home around midnight, he stumbled upon a fire. Alan grabbed his portable cassette recorder and recorded a soundbyte with the fire chief who was on the scene.  Then, he drove back to the station, wrote a news story, and left it for News Director Dan Sanborn. The next day, he got a call from Dan who offered him a part-time job in news.

When Arch Abernethy left in 1973, Alan became Assistant News Director and Sports Director. In 1977, he left WONN to join WTVT Channel 13 in Tampa as their Polk County Bureau Chief. Two weeks later, they brought him inside to work on the morning and noon shows, which led to his co-hosting the morning show and Pulse Plus. Over the next 17 years, Alan served as News Anchor and Principal Field Anchor.

Alan left Channel 13 in 1994 and became co-owner of a marketing and public relations firm, Wendt Productions.

Station History