WMTX (100.7 FM) 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 radio ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, 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 ...

, known as "Mix 100.7". It has an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

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 broadcasting, ...

, switching to

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

for much of November and December. It is owned by

iHeartMedia, Inc. 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 ...

, with its

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 on Gandy Boulevard in Tampa. WMTX serves as the primary

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 ...

station for 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 St ...

. WMTX has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

(ERP) of 100,000

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. 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 ...

site is off Rhodine Road in Riverview. WMTX broadcasts using

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

technology; its HD-2

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...

airs a simulcast of

WHNZ WHNZ (1250 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Tampa, Florida. The station's broadcast license is held by iHM Licenses, LLC, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia. The station airs a Spanish news/talk format. WHNZ is one of the eight stations ...

's Spanish-language

news/talk 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, while their HD-3 subchannel carries "Up! Tampa Bay," a

Contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

format.

Station history

CBS programming and Beautiful music

In November 1947, the station

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 ...

the air as WDAE-FM. It originally broadcast at 105.7 MHz and was powered at only 1,000 watts, a fraction of its current output. It

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 ...

co-owned WDAE (1250 AM) and the two stations were owned by the ''

Tampa Times The ''Tampa Times'', or ''Tampa Daily Times'', was a daily newspaper founded in Tampa, Florida, in 1893. It was started by the consolidation of two newspapers by the Tampa Publishing Company, whose vice president was W. B. Henderson, a leading b ...

'' newspaper. WDAE-AM-FM were

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

Network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

s, running its dramas, comedies, news, sports and other programming during the ''

Golden Age of Radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment, entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcastin ...

''. The station carried the WATL

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 ...

from 1966 to 1968, returning to WDAE-FM after two years. In the late 1960s, WDAE-FM flipped to

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator musi ...

, airing quarter hour sweeps of mostly instrumental

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of popular songs, as well as

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

show tunes. To give it a separate identity from its AM

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

, which aired teen-oriented

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, the FM station changed its call letters to WAVV in 1976, to represent the word "Wave." During the WAVV years, the station's tagline was "Waves of Beautiful Music". In 1978, the call sign changed to WJYW, to represent the word "Joy."

Adult contemporary

In 1982, the station flipped from beautiful music to

adult contemporary music Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

and the call sign changed to WIQI ("W-101"). In 1986, the call sign changed to WUSA-FM (named after Washington D.C. CBS television station

WUSA-TV WUSA (channel 9) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with CBS. It is the flagship property of Tegna Inc. (based in the nearby Virginia suburb of McLean). WUSA's studios and transmitter are located at Broadcast House on ...

since June 1986), while still being named "W-101" before rebranding as simply "101 WUSA" in July 1994. In December 1996, after Gannett traded the station to

Jacor Jacor Communications was a media corporation, existing between 1987 and 1999, which owned many radio stations in the United States. In 1998, Jacor was purchased by Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia, for $2.8 billion. Jacor Communicat ...

, the station flipped to

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

and rebranded as "Kiss 100.7", with the call letters changing to WUKS. In 1998, the call letters were changed to WAKS. During the "Kiss" era, the station was the home of the popular, locally syndicated Mason Dixon Morning Show. On August 28, 1999, at midnight, the station became "Mix 100.7", and the call sign changed to WMTX (which was first used on 95.7 FM as "Mix 96"). Community outrage was highly noted in local newspapers and on other radio stations. Under the "Mix" branding, the station flipped to a mainstream adult contemporary format. The station initially carried Casey's Top 20 countdown, hosted by

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably '' American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice Nor ...

, and

Backtrax USA ''Backtrax USA'' is a weekly two-hour radio program hosted by former WHTZ (Z100) disc jockey Kid Kelly that premiered in 1992. The original show highlights hit music from the 1980s. Since 2003, ''Backtrax USA'' has also offered a 1990s version of ...

. The format gradually shifted to

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

iHeartMedia ownership

Both WMTX and its AM counterpart, WDAE, were acquired by

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 ...

in 1999. In 2019, for the first time in its history, WMTX flipped to all-

for the holiday season, a week before

WDUV WDUV (105.5 FM "The Dove") is a commercial radio station licensed to New Port Richey, Florida and serving the Tampa Bay Area. Owned by Cox Radio, it broadcasts a soft adult contemporary format. It switches to all-Christmas music from mid-Novemb ...

or Joy FM (88.1, 91.5 and 91.7) usually flip to all-Christmas. In 2020, WMTX shifted from Adult Top 40, returning to adult contemporary music, but still calling itself "Mix 100.7."

Signal

WMTX transmits from a

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

in Riverview, Florida, shared with six other FM radio stations, and nearly all of the TV stations serving Tampa Bay. WMTX's signal is powered at 100,000 watts, the maximum for most stations in Florida. Its

stands at in

height above average terrain Height above average terrain (HAAT), or (less popularly) effective height above average terrain (EHAAT), is the vertical position of an antenna site is above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is ...

(HAAT). With a good radio, the station can be heard as far away as

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

and

Cape Coral Cape Coral is a city located in Lee County, Florida, United States, on the Gulf of Mexico. Founded in 1957 and developed as a planned community, the city's population has grown to 194,016 as of the 2020 Census, a rise of 26% from the 2010 Census ...

WMTX-HD2

In early 2007, WMTX launched an HD2

with a

Soft AC Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet sto ...

format. On December 17, 2007, WMTX HD-2 dropped the Soft AC format to introduce the

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

-oriented "

Pride Radio Pride Radio (stylized as PRIDE Radio) is an LGBTQ+ lifestyle and top 40 radio network launched by Clear Channel Communications Format Lab under the direction of Michael Albl, who conceived the format, on terrestrial HD2 & HD3 stations and onlin ...

" service, featuring Dance and Rhythmic Hits. On January 28, 2013, WMTX-HD2 changed its format to

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

, branded as "Thunder Tampa Bay", and began to be relayed on FM translators W233AV 94.5 (Gulfport) and W290BJ 105.9 (West Tampa). On September 24, 2014, WMTX-HD2 started simulcasting on W256CT 99.1 (Bayonet Point). In the Fall of 2015, WMTX-HD2 began simulcasting on translator W275AZ 102.9 (Wesley Chapel South). The "Thunder" branding and format was previously used on sister station WTBT 105.5/103.5 (now

WFUS WFUS (103.5 FM) is a country music radio station in Tampa, Florida. Licensed to Gulfport, Florida, the station's studios are located in South Tampa and the transmitter site is in Riverview. WFUS is one of the eight stations in the Tampa Bay ma ...

) from 1995 to 2005. On June 3, 2016, WMTX-HD2 shifted its format to

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

, still branded as "Thunder Tampa Bay". However, one month later, WMTX-HD2 returned to classic rock, still branded as "Thunder Tampa Bay". On December 13, 2016, WMTX-HD2 flipped to

classic hip hop Classic hip hop is a music radio format focusing primarily on hip hop music from the 1980s, 1990s, and the early to mid-2000s. Although stations with such a format date back as far as 2004, the format was first popularized in October 2014, after ...

as "Throwback 94.5 & 105.9", complementing

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 ...

sister station

WBTP WBTP (95.7 FM) is an 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. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. Its target audience is Afri ...

. On January 11, 2019, WMTX-HD2 announced that it would be changing its format the following Monday, and began directing listeners to WBTP. On January 14, W233AV, W256CT and W290BJ began simulcasting news/talk-formatted WFLA. The classic hip hop format continued on WMTX's HD2 sub-channel, with the HD3 subchannel carrying "The Breeze," a

format from

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...

. On July 26, 2021, WMTX-HD2 changed their format to a simulcast of Spanish news/talk-formatted

, branded as "Acción 1250".iHeartMedia Expands Acción To Jacksonville & Tampa
Radioinsight - July 26, 2021

References

External links

WMTX Website
* {{coord, 27.820, N, 82.261, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States MTX IHeartMedia radio stations Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in Florida