WWBA (820 kHz) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 ...

that airs a

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

. Licensed to

Largo, Florida Largo is the third largest city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, as well as the fourth largest in the Tampa Bay area. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 82,500, up from 69,371 in 2000. Largo was first incorporated in 1 ...

, it serves 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 ...

. The station is currently owned by Genesis Communications of Tampa Bay, LLC, and operated by NIA Broadcasting under an LMA. It was formerly known as "News Talk 820 WWBA". WWBA is one of two 50,000-

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

stations based in the Tampa Bay area with

AM 1010 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1010 kHz: 1010 AM is a Canadian clear-channel frequency. CFRB Toronto and CBR Calgary are both Class A, 50,000 watt stations. In Argentina * LV16 Rio Cuarto in Rio Cuarto, Córdoba ...

WHFS as the other. However, as AM 820 is a clear channel frequency reserved for WBAP in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...

, WWBA reduces power to 1,000 watts at night to avoid interference and uses a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performan ...

at all times. WWBA's

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to ...

is on 8th Avenue SE in Largo. WWBA is also heard on two

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...

stations: 96.7 W244EG 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 ...

and 98.3 W252DF in Largo.

History

The station went on the air as WSST on May 29, 1972, broadcasting at 800 kHz. It was a

daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...

, powered at only 250 watts and required to be off the air at night, to protect clear-channel stations

CKLW CKLW (800 AM) is a commercial radio station in Windsor, Ontario, serving Southwestern Ontario and Metro Detroit. CKLW has a news/talk format. It features local hosts in morning and afternoon drive times, with syndicated Canadian hosts in midd ...

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

and XEROK-AM in Ciudad Juárez,

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. Its first format was Southern Gospel music. It later moved to AM 820, as it sought upgrading its daytime signal while providing local nighttime service. Over the years, it has carried

Christian radio Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk prog ...

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

, and

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comedy ...

, as well as a

Spanish-language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in the Am ...

Contemporary Hits Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

format, as "La Preciosa 820". As a talk station, WWBA once aired more locally-produced programming, but later switched to

syndicated Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

conservative talk shows. It was affiliated with

ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five minute newscasts on the hour and news briefs at half- ...

. WWBA also aired a local midday show by Dan Maduri and had local sports hosts filling the morning hours. The station was also home to ''The Morning Magazine'' with Mark Larsen, which ended in December 2009. Another local talk show, Dan York's "The Tampa Bay Experience", was canceled in July 2009. In May 2019, afternoon host Chris Ingram was let go. In June 2019, the rest of the station's on-air announcers were let go. On September 29, 2008, WWBA moved its talk programming from 1040 AM to 820 AM, after it was announced that the station's owners, Genesis Communications, would be purchasing 820 AM from Mega Communications. The owners transferred the WWBA call sign to 820 when the sale closed. On February 13, 2017, WWBA became the new

flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyalt ...

of the Bubba the Love Sponge Show after WBRN-FM dropped the show the previous month due to a format change. In February 2019, the show left WWBA and moved to 1040 WHBO. Also in February 2019, owner Genesis Communications turned over management of the station to NIA Broadcasting via an LMA. In June 2019, 820 WWBA changed to

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

1970s-1990s

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on inn ...

music. The station discontinued local programming. On October 8, 2019, 820 WWBA switched back to a news talk format. On May 26, 2020, WWBA changed their format from news/talk to talk/sports, branded as "The Big 8", with sports programming from

CBS Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio is a sports radio network that debuted with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013. CBS Sports Radio is owned by Paramount Global and distributed by Westwood One. Programmin ...

.WWBA/WHBO Tampa Complete Programming Revamps
Radioinsight - May 27, 2020

References

External links

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Station history
* * * * {{Tampa Bay Radio WBA Radio stations established in 1972 1972 establishments in Florida Talk radio stations in the United States Sports radio stations in the United States