WWRM

WWRM (94.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Tampa, Florida, and serving the Tampa Bay area. It has a hot adult contemporary radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are located on 4th Street North in St. Petersburg. It calls itself "Magic 94.9".
WWRM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts. The transmitter tower is shared with WTSP Channel 10, Tampa's CBS TV Network affiliate, off Rhodine Road in Riverview .
History.
Top 40 Era.
On September 1, 1970, the station signed on as WLCY-FM St. Petersburg. It was put on the air by Rahall Communications, co-owned with [[WWMI|WLCY]] [[1380 AM]] and [[WTSP|WLCY-TV]] Channel 10. WWRM's [[radio masts and towers|tower]] is still shared with Channel 10. The studios were in the "Rahall Color Communications Center" on [[U.S. Route 92|Gandy Boulevard]]. During the early 1970s, WLCY-FM was an [[Broadcast automation|automated]] station, airing [[Drake-Chenault]]’s "Hit Parade" and TM’s "Stereo Rock" formats.
Hoping to follow the sudden rise in popularity of local Top 40 station [[WRBQ-FM]] ("Q105") in the mid-1970s, WLCY-FM switched to live [[disc jockey]]s in 1976, using the moniker "Y95", using the whole-number frequency closest to 94.9. It soon adopted a new call sign, WYNF, a convenient shorthand for "Y-Ninety-Five".
Rock WYNF.
In 1980, [[Taft Broadcasting]] bought the station and rebranded it "95FM--Florida's Best Rock". The music changed from Top 40 to [[album-oriented rock]], to compete with the dominant local AOR station, [[WXTB|WQXM]]. WYNF's studios moved from St. Petersburg to Tampa, at 504 Reo Street (near [[Tampa International Airport]]), home of Taft's [[WDAE]] [[1250 AM]]. Two years later, the station was re-branded "95ynf". WYNF began calling itself "The New 95". Taft later became Great American Broadcasting.
In 1985, Great American Broadcasting sold WYNF to [[CBS Radio]] [[subsidiary]] [[Infinity Broadcasting]]. The studios were relocated to 4th Street North in St. Petersburg at the Koger Executive Center. 95ynf dominated the Tampa bay area for AOR music. In the early 1980s, WYNF again became a [[sister station]] to Channel 10 (now WTSP) after Taft acquired Gulf Broadcasting. (Around that time, WDAE was sold to [[Gannett Company|Gannett]], while Taft acquired [[WSUN (defunct)|WSUN]] AM 620 from [[Schering-Plough|Plough, Inc.]])
Ron & Ron.
After trying out several morning teams including Nick van Cleve and Jack Strapp, and later replacing van Cleve with [[Ron Diaz]], program director Carey Curelop paired Diaz with local comic [[Ron Bennington]], creating the popular "[[Ron and Ron]]" morning show at WYNF in the late nineteen-eighties. The show was successful in the [[Arbitron ratings]] and Ron & Ron became known as "Radio's Bad Boys." Their agent Ross Reback helped them form The Ron & Ron Radio Network to own and [[radio syndication|syndicate]] the show to other FM stations. 
The show's final broadcast on WYNF was on March 12, 1993. Reback became President and CEO of the newly formed network and negotiated deals to broadcast the show in [[Miami]], [[Orlando]] and [[Jacksonville]], with another dozen markets soon following (including a new more lucrative deal with [[WSUN (defunct)|WSUN]]).
Switch to WWRM.
[[File:WWRM former logo (2010-2012).png|thumb|left|200px|Logo of the radio station between 2010 and February 2012]]
In 1993, [[Cox Enterprises|Cox Broadcasting]], owners of WWRM (then at 107.3, as "Warm 107"), bought WYNF, as part of a trade with CBS Radio, also involving stations in [[Dallas]]. The studios were relocated back to St. Petersburg at The Koger Center. By that point, rival rock station [[WXTB]] had surpassed WYNF in the Arbitron ratings, eventually forcing WYNF to make a format change. 
On August 16, 1993, at 10 a.m., WYNF stopped playing rock music and began [[simulcast]]ing WSUN's [[talk radio]] programming. Seven days later, Cox relocated the [[Soft Adult Contemporary]] format of "Warm 107" and its WWRM [[call sign]] to 94.9, becoming "Warm 94.9". 
In the late 1990s, the station had a minor overhaul, becoming "The New Magic 94.9", though keeping the format and WWRM call sign. (WWRM's old frequency at 107.3 has since become [[classic hits]] [[WXGL]].) WWRM 94.9 evolved to more of a mainstream AC sound by [[2001 in radio|2001]], while its new [[sister station]] [[WDUV]] 105.5 concentrated on the softer AC hits. In May 2011, after ten years of being called "The New Magic 94.9", the station dropped "The New" in its name, becoming simply "Magic 94.9." On December 26, 2011, Magic 94.9 changed its slogan to "80's, 90's, & now."
For many years as a Soft AC station, WWRM had played all-[[Christmas music]] for much of November and December. But starting in November 2013, the all-Christmas music format shifted to sister station 105.5 WDUV. WWRM currently mixes some holiday songs in its usual [[playlist]] from Thanksgiving to Christmas. When B98.7 [[WPBB]] became an [[adult contemporary]] station, WWRM shifted its format a bit more uptempo, making the transition to [[Hot AC]], while retaining the "Magic" branding. WPBB has since become an [[active rock]] station. But 100.7 [[WMTX]] is now playing AC music, with WWRM leaning more toward Hot AC hits.
External links.
[[Category:Radio stations in the Tampa Bay Area|WRM]]
[[Category:Adult contemporary radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1970]]
[[Category:Cox Radio]]
[[Category:1970 establishments in Florida]]