WWBA

WWBA
	CBS Sports Radio
Ownership
Owner	Genesis Communications; (Genesis Communications of Tampa Bay, LLC);
Sister stations	WHBO, WMGG
History
First air date	May 29, 1972; 51 years ago (as WSST)
Former call signs	WSST (1972–1985); WRFA (1985–1994); WYTA (4/94-10/94); WNZE (1994–1996); WZTM (1996–2000); WMGG (2000–2009)
Call sign meaning	Tampa BAy
Technical information
Facility ID	51971
Class	B
Power	50,000 watts day; 1,000 watts night
Transmitter coordinates	27°54′30.00″N 82°46′51.00″W / 27.9083333°N 82.7808333°W
Translator(s)	96.7 W244EG (Tampa); 98.3 W252DF (Largo)
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	newstalkflorida.com

WWBA (820

Bubba The Love Sponge

Show."

WWBA is one of two 50,000-

clear channel frequency reserved for WBAP in Fort Worth, Texas, WWBA reduces power to 1,000 watts at night to avoid interference and uses a directional antenna at all times. WWBA's transmitter is on 8th Avenue SE in Largo.^[1]

WWBA is also heard on two

Tampa

and 98.3 W252DF in Largo.

History

The station went on the air as WSST on May 29, 1972, broadcasting on

Southern Gospel music. It later moved to AM 820,^[when?

] as it sought upgrading its daytime signal while providing local nighttime service.

Over the years, it has carried

Spanish-language Contemporary Hits

format, as "La Preciosa 820".

As a talk station, WWBA once aired more locally-produced programming, but later switched to

syndicated conservative talk shows. It was formerly known as "News Talk 820 WWBA".^[3] It had been affiliated with ABC News Radio

. WWBA also aired a local midday show by Dan Maduri and had local sports hosts filling the morning hours. The station was also home to The Morning Magazine with Mark Larsen, which ended in December 2009. Another local talk show, Dan York's "The Tampa Bay Experience", was canceled in July 2009. In May 2019, afternoon host Chris Ingram was let go. The following month, the rest of the station's on-air announcers were terminated.

On September 29, 2008, WWBA moved its talk programming from 1040 AM to 820 AM, after it was announced that the station's owners, Genesis Communications, would be purchasing 820 AM from Mega Communications. The owners transferred the WWBA call sign to 820 when the sale closed.[4]

On February 13, 2017, WWBA became the new

Bubba the Love Sponge Show after WBRN-FM dropped the show the previous month due to a format change. In February 2019, the show left WWBA and moved to 1040 WHBO.^[5] Also in February 2019, owner Genesis Communications turned over management of the station to NIA Broadcasting via an LMA

.

In June 2019, 820 WWBA changed to

CBS Sports Radio,^[7]

and the hot talk is once again from Bubba The Love Sponge.