| Simulcast of WDAE, St. Petersburg, Florida | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Logo used on Rumba which is on WDAE-HD3, W237CW and W275AZ. | |
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| Broadcast area | Tampa Bay area |
| Frequency | 95.7 MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 95.7 WDAE & AM 620 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports radio |
| Subchannels |
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| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | August 19, 1963 |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | Taken from station's simulcast of WDAE |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 41382 |
| Class | C1 |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 185 meters (607 ft) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast |
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| Website | |
WDAE-FM (95.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station that serves the Tampa Bay area. WDAE-FM and co-owned WDAE (620 AM) simulcast a sports radio format. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. Licensed to Clearwater, the station's studios and offices are on Ulmerton Road in Clearwater, and the transmitter site is in Gandy.
History
[edit]The station signed on August 19, 1963, as WTAN-FM,[2] simulcasting sister station WTAN (AM 1340) with an easy listening format. In the mid-1970s, it became WOKF and adopted a disco format. It switched to adult contemporary in 1980 as WCKX. The station rebranded several times during the 1980s—first as WMGG, then as WNLT—while continuing with adult contemporary programming.
On November 2, 1990, the station became WMTX [3][4][5] with a hot adult contemporary format. On August 4, 1997, it changed call letters to WSSR [6][7] and shifted to modern adult contemporary.
On October 27, 2003, WSSR adopted an urban contemporary format as WBTP (“95.7 The Beat”). The station remained in that format for more than two decades, facing competition in the Tampa market.
On July 17, 2024, the urban format moved to sister station WRUB at 106.5 FM which had been broadcasting a Spanish-language contemporary hits format as “Rumba 106.5. The Rumba format was moved to the 95.7 frequency.” The two stations would swap callsigns on July 29.[8][9]
On February 13, 2026, iHeartMedia announced that "Rumba" would move to translators W237CW (95.3 FM) and W275AZ (102.9 FM) on February 23. The FM simulcast of WDAE's sports radio programming, in turn, moved from W237CW to WRUB's 100,000 watt signal at 95.7 FM, which became WDAE-FM.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WDAE-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "Commission Discord? Not In Clearwater". St. Petersburg Times. August 21, 1963. p. 1-B. Retrieved February 25, 2026.
- ^ "It's NOT a MIX-UP Series: AUDIO FILES/RADIO". Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- ^ "RR-1990-11-09" (PDF).
- ^ "BB-1990-11-17" (PDF).
- ^ "New Star rises from ashes of Mix 96 Series: RADIO". Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- ^ "RR-1997-08-08" (PDF).
- ^ iHeartMedia Launches Rumba 95.7 & 106.5/102.9 The Beat Tampa Radioinsight - July 18, 2024
- ^ YouTube: "Format Change: WBTP/Clearwater, Florida Becomes “Rumba 95.7” - July 18, 2024"
- ^ WDAE Tampa Bay Gets 100,000-Watt FM Boost; ‘Rumba’ Shifts Signals. Inside Radio - February 13, 2026.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Facility details for Facility ID 41382 (WDAE) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- WDAE in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
- Facility details for Facility ID 86293 (W244BE) in the FCC Licensing and Management System