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WFLF (540
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 on ...
) is a
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AM
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to
Pine Hills, Florida Pine Hills is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated subdivision in Orange County, Florida, United States, west of Orlando. Per the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,111. It is a part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Flori ...
, and serving
Greater Orlando The Orlando metropolitan area, commonly referred to as Greater Orlando, Metro Orlando, Central Florida as well as for U.S. Census purposes as the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, is a metropolitan area in the ...
. It is owned by
iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
and airs a
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 ...
format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...
. The
studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...
s and offices are in the iHeart Orlando complex in
Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...
. The station broadcasts using 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 performance ...
at all times, with the signal extending to the east to avoid interfering with Class A stations in
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 tot ...
and
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 Guatema ...
. The power is 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 ...
s by day (the maximum permitted by the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
) and 46,000 watts at night. The
transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
is on Tower Pines Drive in
Winter Garden A winter garden is a kind of garden maintained in wintertime. History The origin of the winter garden dates back to the 17th to 19th centuries where European nobility would construct large conservatories that would house tropical and subtro ...
. WFLF is Central Florida's Primary Entry Point station in the
Emergency Alert System The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national warning system in the United States designed to allow authorized officials to broadcast emergency alerts and warning messages to the public via cable, satellite, or broadcast television, and both ...
. WFLF is
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
on FM
translator station 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 tran ...
s W226BT 93.1
MHz 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 he ...
and W231CT 94.1 MHz, both in Orlando. The 93.1 translator broadcasts from South Orange Avenue at East Church Street. The 94.1 translator broadcasts from National Place at West Marvin Avenue. Programming is also heard on co-owned 107.7
WMGF WMGF (107.7 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Mount Dora, Florida, Mount Dora, and serving Orlando and Central Florida. It is owned by iHeartMedia and airs an adult contemporary radi ...
's
HD3 Euro1080 was the first commercial broadcaster in Europe to broadcast full-time high-definition television (HDTV) content. It was founded by Gabriel Fehervari in 2004 and is owned by Alfacam, of which declared bankrupt in 2013. The name origi ...
subchannel.


Programming

Weekdays begin with a local wake-up show called ''Good Morning Orlando'' with Bud Hedinger, a former TV
news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...
on
WFTV WFTV (channel 9) is a television station in Orlando, Florida, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Cox Media Group alongside independent station WRDQ (channel 27). Both stations share studios on East South Street (SR 15) in downto ...
9 and WKCF 18. The rest of the weekday schedule is largely made up of nationally syndicated talk shows from
Premiere Networks Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. It ...
, a
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of iHeartMedia. They include ''
The Glenn Beck Program ''Glenn'' (previously titled ''The Glenn Beck Program'') is a news talk and political opinion show on TheBlaze hosted by Glenn Beck. It is produced and recorded at TheBlaze studios in Dallas, TX. The show originally ran on CNN Headline News fr ...
,
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show ''The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show'' is an American radio program hosted by former Fox Sports Radio personality Clay Travis and former '' America Now/The Buck Sexton Show'' host Buck Sexton. It is broadcast on over 400 talk radio stations n ...
, The Tom Sullivan Show,
The Ramsey Show ''The Ramsey Show'' (formerly known as ''The Dave Ramsey Show'') is a three-hour self-syndicated radio program and podcast, hosted by the eponymous finance author and speaker Dave Ramsey, that airs Monday through Friday from 2-5 PM ET. It is br ...
with
Dave Ramsey David Lawrence Ramsey III (born September 3, 1960) is an American personal finance personality, radio show host, author, and businessman. An evangelical Christian, he hosts the nationally syndicated radio program ''The Ramsey Show''. Ramsey has ...
, The Dana Loesch Show,
Coast to Coast AM ''Coast to Coast AM'' is an American late-night radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics. Most frequently the topics relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was hosted by creator Art Bell from its inception in 19 ...
with
George Noory George Ralph Noory (born June 4, 1950) is an American radio talk show host. Since January 2003, Noory has been the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show ''Coast to Coast AM''. The program is syndicated to hundreds of radio stations in ...
'' and ''
This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal ''This Morning: America's First News'' (formerly ''The Wall Street Journal This Morning'') is a two-hour radio news/talk program hosted by Gordon Deal and Jennifer Kushinka, who replaced long-serving co-host Gina Cervetti on January 2, 2015. In a ...
''. Weekends feature shows on money, health, gardening, law, real estate and guns. Syndicated shows include '' Sunday Nights with Bill Cunningham'', '' Somewhere in Time with Art Bell'' and repeats of weekday shows. Some evening and weekend hours are paid
brokered programming Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot comm ...
. Most hours begin with world and national news from
Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, ...
. The station weather reports are from
AccuWeather AccuWeather Inc. is an American media company that provides commercial weather forecasting services worldwide. AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Joel N. Myers, then a Pennsylvania State University graduate student working on a master's degree i ...
's meteorologists and traffic reports come from the co-owned Total Traffic and Weather Network.


History


Top 40 WGTO

On September 9, 1955, the station first
signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...
as 10,000-watt, daytime-only WGTO. The station was originally licensed to
Haines City Haines City is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Its population was 13,174 at the 2000 census and 20,535 at the 2010 census. It is the third most populous city in Polk County. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan S ...
. It was owned by KWK, Inc., a popular station in
Saint Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which ...
. The
call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
stood for "Gulf to Ocean", as in
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
to
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
, a reference to the large coverage area afforded by the station's high power and low frequency. Three years later, the station's
city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broa ...
changed to
Cypress Gardens Cypress Gardens was a botanical garden and theme park near Winter Haven, Florida that operated from 1936 to 2009. As of 2011, the botanical garden portion had been preserved inside the newly formed Legoland Florida. History Billed as Florida' ...
and WGTO boosted its daytime power to 50,000 watts, calling itself "the most powerful station in the nation" due to operating at the lowest AM frequency permitted with the maximum amount of power permitted. WGTO aired a
Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
music format from its beginning until the mid-1970s, when the station experimented with a
disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
format.


Country music era

On January 29, 1977, WGTO made a dramatic format change to
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, ...
, with billboards around Orlando proclaiming the awakening of the market's "Sleeping Giant". As a country station, WGTO became a ratings success and won accolades as one of the top country-formatted radio stations in the nation, including being named
Billboard magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...
's "Small Market Country Station of the Year for 1978". Around this time, WGTO also added nighttime operations with 1,000 watts of power. But in the 1980s, as country music fans increasingly turned to the FM dial, WGTO lost
market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those units would have a ...
to FM country competitors such as 92.3
WWKA WWKA (92.3 MHz "K92-3") is a commercial FM radio station in Orlando, Florida. The station is owned by Cox Radio and has a country music radio format. The studios and offices are located in Orlando on North John Young Parkway (Route 423). The ...
. In 1982, WGTO was sold and the format changed to
religious programming Religious broadcasting, sometimes referred to as faith-based broadcasts, is the dissemination of television and/or radio content that intentionally has religious ideas, religious experience, or religious practice as its core focus. In some coun ...
.


Switch to oldies

Another sale four years later brought another format change, to
oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...
as "Cruisin' Oldies 54". But the station was not profitable and most of the station's local personalities were laid off in 1992 as the station switched to a satellite feed.


Sports format

Paxson Communications Ion Media (formerly known as Paxson Communications Corporation and Ion Media Networks) was an American broadcasting company that owned and operated over 71 television stations in most major American markets (through its television stations group ...
, owned by
Bud Paxson Lowell White "Bud" Paxson (April 17, 1935 – January 9, 2015) was an American media executive. In 1982, Paxson and his business partner, Roy Speer, co-founded the Home Shopping Club (now called the Home Shopping Network). He later established Pax T ...
, purchased WGTO in 1994, dropping the heritage call letters in favor of new call sign WWZN, and installing a
sports talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...
format, as "The Sports Zone". In 1996, the call letters were again changed to WQTM ("540 The Team"), keeping the all-sports format. In 1997, WQTM was acquired by
San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...
-based
Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
, the forerunner to current owner iHeartMedia, Inc. In February 2001, WQTM's format and call letters moved to
AM 740 AM or Am may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * A minor, a minor scale in music * ''A.M.'' (Chris Young album) * ''A.M.'' (Wilco album) * ''AM'' (Abraham Mateo album) * ''AM'' (Arctic Monkeys album) * AM (musician), American musician ...
, which later changed its call sign to
WYGM WYGM (740 AM) is a commercial radio station in Orlando, Florida, United States. It is owned by iHeartMedia and airs an all sports radio format. Programming is simulcast on FM translator station W245CL at 96.9 MHz in nearby Deltona, Florida, a ...
, using the moniker "The Game". With the end of the sports format on AM 540, the station switched to its current talk radio format, calling itself "NewsRadio 540 WFLA".


Programming changes

Through the fall of 2007, WFLF carried the Pat Campbell show from 6–9 a.m., and was the Orlando affiliate for ''The Mike Gallagher Show''. In December 2007, 540 WFLA began to merge programming with WQTM "740 The Team", a co-owned sports radio station which was preparing to change to a Spanish-language format. Pat Campbell was fired in December. A simulcast of the 740's ''The
Dan Sileo Daniel William Sileo (born January 3, 1963) is a former American football defensive tackle. He played college football at Maryland before transferring to Miami (FL). He was drafted in the third round of the 1987 NFL supplemental draft by the ...
Show'' took its place, and became the permanent replacement in January 2008. WFLF retained Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Bud Hedinger. The 6-9pm slot was simulcast with 740's "The Finish Line" starting in January 2008. After only one week, however, host Jerry O'Neill abruptly quit, and went to rival sports station 1080
WHOO WHOO (1080 AM) is a non-commercial listener-supported Catholic talk radio station licensed to Winter Park, Florida, and serving Greater Orlando. It is an owned and operated network affiliate of Relevant Radio. By day, WHOO is powered at 6, ...
. Contributor Mike Tuck took over the host role, with The Shot Doctor reprising his color role. During the
NFL playoffs The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Currently, seven teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs. A tie-breaki ...
, WQTM's contract with the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
football network and the
NFL on Westwood One ''The NFL on Westwood One Sports'' is the branding for Cumulus Broadcasting subsidiary Westwood One's radio coverage of the National Football League. These games are distributed throughout the United States and Canada (the latter through TSN Radio ...
was not picked up. Those sports broadcasts were moved to co-owned 104.1
WTKS-FM WTKS-FM (104.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Cocoa Beach, Florida, and serving Central Florida and Greater Orlando. It broadcasts a hybrid hot talk and alternative rock radio format. The station is owned and operated by iHeart ...
. In April 2009 Dan Sileo was moved to the newly launched sports outlet 740 The Game
WYGM WYGM (740 AM) is a commercial radio station in Orlando, Florida, United States. It is owned by iHeartMedia and airs an all sports radio format. Programming is simulcast on FM translator station W245CL at 96.9 MHz in nearby Deltona, Florida, a ...
, also owned by Clear Channel. Bud Hedinger was moved from afternoons on 540 WFLF to morning
drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...
while the syndicated
Dave Ramsey David Lawrence Ramsey III (born September 3, 1960) is an American personal finance personality, radio show host, author, and businessman. An evangelical Christian, he hosts the nationally syndicated radio program ''The Ramsey Show''. Ramsey has ...
Show was picked up to fill afternoons. Longtime
WTKS-FM WTKS-FM (104.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Cocoa Beach, Florida, and serving Central Florida and Greater Orlando. It broadcasts a hybrid hot talk and alternative rock radio format. The station is owned and operated by iHeart ...
Real Radio Assistant Program Director and Creative Services Director Dan Stone signed on to run the station as Assistant Program Director around this same time.


Move to FM

In early 2012, WFLF began work on a move to FM. Its chief talk radio rival, 580 WDBO, had added a simulcast on its co-owned 96.5 FM frequency as WDBO-FM. To get on the FM dial, WFLF initially simulcast its programming on
Altamonte Springs Altamonte Springs is a suburban city in central Florida in Seminole County, Florida, United States, which had a population of 46,231 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is in the northern suburbs of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metr ...
translator
W283AN W283AN (104.5 FM) is an FM translator station licensed to cover Orlando, Florida. It rebroadcasts an urban contemporary format from the HD2 subchannel of WTKS-FM. The station, which was launched on February 12, 2014,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 contem ...
format.) In February 2014, WFLF's FM simulcast moved to
W273CA W273CA (102.5 MHz, "La Z 102.5") is a non-commercial FM radio station translator in Orlando, Florida. It is owned by the Central Florida Educational Foundation, airing a Christian Spanish format branded as "La Z 102.5". From 2011 until February ...
at 102.5 MHz. On September 1, 2018, WFLF's programming moved down the dial to the Star Over Orlando-owned W226BT on 93.1 MHz after iHeartMedia's lease of W273CA from Central Florida Educational Foundation expired. It added another translator at 94.1, W231CT, several months later.


Translator

The 93.1 and 94.1 frequencies are the primary
brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
ing used on the station logo.


References


External links


FCC History Cards for WFLF
* * * * * *
WGTO history
at radioyears.com {{IHeartMedia FLF News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1955 1955 establishments in Florida IHeartMedia radio stations