WTMP
Encyclopedia
WTMP is a radio station
serving the Tampa Bay
, Florida, broadcasting on 1150 AM and 96.1 FM. The station plays Spanish Tropical music, billed as "La Bahia", which is Spanish for "The Bay", referring to the Tampa Bay area. The station are owned by Davidson Media Group, who acquired the combo after its previous owners, Tama Broadcasting, filed for bankruptcy and had to sell the stations to pay off outstanding debts.
R&B and classic soul
music that was aimed towards the African American
community, though its main urban competitors were WBTP
and WRXB
. Its target audience were African Americans between the ages of 25-54 and was the current home of the Tom Joyner Morning Show
. Michael Baisden
's syndicated show Love, Lust and Lies was also carried by the station, whose slogan was "Today's Best In R&B and Classic Soul".
WTMP, on 1150 AM originally, has been a longtime heritage Urban Contemporary
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
, Jacksonville
, Savannah, Georgia
and Greenville, South Carolina
; it owns newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Pierce
. The owner went on to buy the then-WGUL
-FM in 2002 and made it a Hip Hop
/Urban station (and home to Russ Parr
in the Morning) as WTMP-FM. Even after a format change to Jammin Oldies, that station did not do well do to its rimshot signal, so it ended up a simulcast of WTMP-AM 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 wattage, 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
by then anyway. Outside the R&B and Classic Soul playlist tenure, it also offered Gospel (early weekday mornings and Sundays), Old School Mix shows Friday nights and Blues
Sunday nights. In addition, it also had talk shows on weekends aimed at the community.
On September 2, 2011, after a 57-year run, WTMP's legacy as a R&B outlet came to a abrupt end at 3PM (EDT), as new owners Davidson Media Group took over the station from Tama, who filed for bankruptcy and placed the station in court-ordered receivership. Davidson then went and flipped the combo to a Spanish tropical format. All of the syndicated shows and airstaff were already pink-slipped a day before the flip.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
serving the Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay."Tampa Bay" is not the name of any municipality...
, Florida, broadcasting on 1150 AM and 96.1 FM. The station plays Spanish Tropical music, billed as "La Bahia", which is Spanish for "The Bay", referring to the Tampa Bay area. The station are owned by Davidson Media Group, who acquired the combo after its previous owners, Tama Broadcasting, filed for bankruptcy and had to sell the stations to pay off outstanding debts.
Station History
During its tenure, WTMP featured urban adult contemporaryUrban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
R&B and classic soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
music that was aimed towards the African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
community, though its main urban competitors were WBTP
WBTP
WBTP is a Urban Contemporary radio station that serves the Tampa Bay area that plays hip-hop, R&B, and soul music that aims towards the African American community. Its target audience is African Americans between the ages of 18-34, but its main competitors are WLLD which has a very similar target...
and WRXB
WRXB
WRXB is a commercial American radio station broadcasting an Urban Gospel format. Licensed to St. Pete Beach, Florida with studios in St. Petersburg, it serves the Tampa Bay area....
. Its target audience were African Americans between the ages of 25-54 and was the current home of the Tom Joyner Morning Show
Tom Joyner
Thomas "Tom" Joyner is an American radio host, host of the nationally syndicated The Tom Joyner Morning Show, and also founder of REACH Media Inc., the Tom Joyner Foundation, and BlackAmericaWeb.com.-Early life:...
. Michael Baisden
Michael Baisden
Michael Baisden is an American author, motivational speaker, host of the TV One talk show Baisden After Dark, and host of his own nationally-syndicated radio show.-Career:...
's syndicated show Love, Lust and Lies was also carried by the station, whose slogan was "Today's Best In R&B and Classic Soul".
WTMP, on 1150 AM originally, has been a longtime heritage Urban Contemporary
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
station in the market. Noted R&B vocalist and Tampa native King Coleman
King Coleman
Carlton "King" Coleman was an American rhythm and blues singer and musician, known for providing the vocals for the 1959 hit single, " Mashed Potatoes", recorded with James Brown's band...
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, Florida
Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...
, Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
and Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
; it owns newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Pierce
Fort Pierce, Florida
Fort Pierce, also spelled Ft. Pierce, is a city in St. Lucie County, Florida, USA. It is known as The Sunrise City. The population was 37,959 at the 2004 census. As of 2008, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 41,000. It is the county seat of St. Lucie County.Fort Pierce is part...
. The owner went on to buy the then-WGUL
WGUL
WGUL is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Dunedin, Florida, USA, it serves the Tampa Bay area. The station is currently owned by Salem Communications and features only syndicated conservative weekday programing from Salem's talk radio network, as well as the...
-FM in 2002 and made it a Hip Hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
/Urban station (and home to Russ Parr
Russ Parr
Russ Parr is an American radio and television personality.-Career:Parr began as a Production Services Director at ABC TV....
in the Morning) as WTMP-FM. Even after a format change to Jammin Oldies, that station did not do well do to its rimshot signal, so it ended up a simulcast of WTMP-AM a year later. The rimshot signal, which barely reaches the Hillsborough County
Hillsborough County, Florida
As of the census of 2000, there were 998,948 people, 391,357 households, and 255,164 families residing in the county. The population density was 951 people per square mile . There were 425,962 housing units at an average density of 405 per square mile...
line from its transmitter southeast of Brooksville
Brooksville, Florida
Brooksville is an incorporated city in Hernando County, Florida, in the United States. It is the county seat of Hernando County. It is a suburban city included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, also couldn't be moved closer to Tampa or upgraded with changes to the tower or wattage, 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
WBTP
WBTP is a Urban Contemporary radio station that serves the Tampa Bay area that plays hip-hop, R&B, and soul music that aims towards the African American community. Its target audience is African Americans between the ages of 18-34, but its main competitors are WLLD which has a very similar target...
; WLLD
WLLD
WLLD is a Rhythmic Contemporary Hits-formatted radio station licensed to Lakeland, Florida that serves the Tampa Bay area in Florida, and is owned by CBS Radio. Although the target audience of WiLD 94.1 is mainly people of ages 18–34, its main competitor is currently Clear Channel-owned Mainstream...
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
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed by Barry Mayo when he, Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast...
by then anyway. Outside the R&B and Classic Soul playlist tenure, it also offered Gospel (early weekday mornings and Sundays), Old School Mix shows Friday nights and Blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
Sunday nights. In addition, it also had talk shows on weekends aimed at the community.
On September 2, 2011, after a 57-year run, WTMP's legacy as a R&B outlet came to a abrupt end at 3PM (EDT), as new owners Davidson Media Group took over the station from Tama, who filed for bankruptcy and placed the station in court-ordered receivership. Davidson then went and flipped the combo to a Spanish tropical format. All of the syndicated shows and airstaff were already pink-slipped a day before the flip.