WTMP (1150
kHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one h ...
) is an
AM radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...
serving the
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...
, Florida region. The station is licensed to
Egypt Lake, Florida and owned by Neal Ardman of NIA Broadcasting, Inc.
It also broadcasts on FM translator W271DL on 102.1 MHz in Egypt Lake and just added on October 1, 2022, W225CQ 92.9 MHz in
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough Co ...
. WTMP's studios are located on Howard Avenue in West Tampa, and its transmitter is located northwest of downtown.
Station history
WTMP plays
urban oldies
Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...
in the
Tampa Bay area
The Tampa Bay area is a major populated area surrounding Tampa Bay on the west coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 18th largest metropolitan area in the United ...
on frequencies 1150 kHz AM, 102.1 FM (translator, moved from 97.5), and as of October 2022, 92.9 covering Downtown Tampa. Even though its programming and frequencies have changed over the station's 57-year tenure, its main urban competitor is
WBTP. Its target audience is listeners between the ages of 25 and 54.
WTMP, on 1150 AM originally (including a few prior years as urban-formatted WIOK), has been a longtime heritage
urban contemporary
Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban conte ...
station in the market. Noted R&B vocalist and Tampa native
King Coleman got his start as a DJ on WTMP in the 1950s. In the late 1990s, the station, then-owned by Broadcast Capital, was bought by Tama Broadcasting, which has headquarters in Tampa, thus making WTMP the flagship. Long controlled by the Cherry family, Tama also owns stations in
Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County near the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 ...
,
Jacksonville
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the c ...
,
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...
and
Greenville, South Carolina; it owns newspapers in Daytona Beach and
Fort Pierce. The owner went on to buy the then-
WGUL in 2002 and made it a
hip hop-urban station (and home to
Russ Parr
Russ Parr (born 1959 in California) is an American radio DJ, film director, writer, actor and television personality known for such television shows as ''Rock 'N' America''.
Career
Parr began as a Production Services Director at ABC TV.
Russ wa ...
in the Morning) as WTMP-FM. Even after a format change to
rhythmic oldies
Rhythmic oldies is a radio format that concentrates on the rhythmic, R&B, disco, or dance genres of music. Playlists can span from the 1960s through the 2000s and, depending on market conditions, may be designed for African-American or Hispanic a ...
, that station did not do well due to its
rimshot signal
In radio and television broadcasting a rimshot is a station that attempts to reach a larger media market from a distant suburban, exurban, or even rural location. The term is primarily used with FM stations, and mainly in North America. The n ...
, so it ended up as a simulcast of WTMP a year later. The rimshot signal, which barely reaches the
Hillsborough County line from its transmitter southeast of
Brooksville, also couldn't be moved closer to Tampa or upgraded with changes to the tower or transmitter power, due to interference issues with other stations broadcasting on 96.1 and nearby frequencies.
The Tampa Bay would see an urban-formatted hip hop station months later called
WBTP;
WLLD is a
rhythmic-formatted hip hop station and has been around years prior. Such competition was a minor setback for WTMP as it was losing younger listeners to WBTP, but it was already restructured to an
Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music ...
by then anyway. Outside the R&B and Classic Soul playlist tenure, it also offered
urban gospel
Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prim ...
(early weekday mornings and Sundays), Old School Mix shows Friday nights and
Blues Sunday nights. It also had talk shows on weekends.
On September 2, 2011, after a 57-year run, WTMP's legacy as an R&B outlet came to an abrupt end at 3 PM as Davidson Media Group took over operation of the station under a
local marketing agreement
In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...
from Tama, who filed for bankruptcy and placed the station in court-ordered receivership. Davidson then flipped the combo to a Spanish tropical format. All of the syndicated shows and airstaff were already pink-slipped a day before the flip.
It was announced that WTMP would return to an urban AC format on May 1, 2014. The two stations were split from common operation with the flip, as the operation of WTMP was taken over by WestCoast Media, while the FM was retained by Davidson.
On March 14, 2016, WTMP flipped to classic hip hop as "Boomin' 1150".
Classic Hip-Hop Is Boomin In Tampa
/ref>
Both WTMP and WTMP-FM were purchased out of bankruptcy by Neal Ardman's NIA Broadcasting, Inc. effective May 18, 2017, at a purchase price of $500,000.
On October 1, 2022, WTMP added translator 92.9FM to boost its coverage into downtown Tampa on the FM dial. This is the first time since the station was on 97.5FM that the station could be heard on FM in and around Tampa.
Former logos
See also
WTMP-FM
References
External links
Official WTMP (AM) Website
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FCC History Cards for WTMP
{{coord, 28, 00, 42, N, 82, 29, 53, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title
TMP (AM)
Radio stations established in 1954
Urban oldies radio stations in the United States
1954 establishments in Florida