WWMI

Final Radio Disney logo for WWMI.

Logo as "The Biz"

Brothers Joe, Sam, and Farris Rahall bought the city's Mutual Broadcasting System affiliate, WTSP 1380 and its FM, 102.5, from the St. Petersburg Times in 1956. Not interested in pursuing FM, they shut it down a year later. On July 15, 1959, the AM's callsign and format switched to WLCY ("Radio Elsie") and Top 40.

For many years, WLCY was the Tampa Bay area's premiere rock and roll station, with offices, studios, and transmitter in the previous WTSP facility on Gandy Boulevard near 4th Street North.

The disc jockeys during the era were known as "The Swingin' Gentlemen" and included "Stanley Steamer" Jim Stanley (mornings), Johnny Dart (Stan Grams), Rick Morgan, Mark Wheeler, "Shy Guy" Roy Nilson (also the Program Director), Al Dunaway, "Swingin' Sweeney," Johnny Rebel (Herb Hunt), George Nix, Jack E. Rabbitt, Dick Stambaugh (later Dick Starr in Miami), Tedd Webb, Bob Tracey, "Big Daddy" Don Owens, Pepper Lipsinx (James Wayman), Frank Lynn, Kenny Parks, Bob Collins, Bob Cannon, (Clande Miranda), Jeff Laurence, Johnny Stevens, Dave Archard, Bob Carr, D.J. O'Day, Rock Robbins (Bob Bernstein), Murph McHenry, Al Summers, Jack Kane, Bobby Lyons, Dean Drapin, Ron Parker, Dutch Walker, Wade West, Jim Clark, Johnny Byrd (Dennis Waters), Daylon Rushing, Mike Scott (Jim Shirah) and Lolita (Dottie Groven).

Clair Linn provided news and the "WLCY Weather Chick" was Charlene Mathias. Newsman Marshall Cleaver hosted a late-night call-in show, Open Mike, and was succeeded by Harvey Sheldon. Jingles were tagged with, "WLCY, One-thirty-eight!"

The station later shared space with Rahall's WLCY-TV and the new WLCY-FM at the "Rahall Color Communications Center", just east of the original Gandy site. The name of the licensee changed to WLCY, Inc., on June 20, 1963 and then to the Rahall Communications Corporation on October 3, 1969. WLCY began to identify dual city of license as "St. Petersburg-Tampa" in 1976.

Rahall began to divest itself of its Tampa Bay properties, and in September 1978, Florida Radio, Inc. became the station's new owner. WLCY moved out of the TV building and back into the old WTSP studios.

In 1981, the station was sold to Harte-Hanks and was changed to WNSI (News, Sports and Information). In 1983, after Edens Broadcasting bought the station, it became WRBQ, and flipped to a simulcast of Q105. This simulcast would last until January 1992, when WRBQ flipped to the satellite-fed Urban AC format known as "The Touch" and picked up Tom Joyner.[1][2][3] In July of that year, Edens sold WRBQ-AM-FM to Clear Channel Communications.[4][5] In February 1999, ABC Radio bought the station and it became WWMI and adopted the Radio Disney format on May 3 of that year.[6][7][8]

On August 13, 2014, Disney put WWMI and twenty-two other Radio Disney stations up for sale, in order to focus more on digital distribution of the Radio Disney network.[9][10]

On September 15, 2015, it was announced that Salem Media Group acquired the last five Radio Disney owned-and-operated stations for sale (including WWMI) for $2.225 million.[11] WWMI was acquired through South Texas Broadcasting, Inc., for $750.000.[12] The sale of WWMI was completed on December 11, 2015.[13]

On December 14, 2015, the station became Salem's Wall Street Business Network affiliate in Tampa Bay.[14] WWMI is now one of two stations in the market airing a business news/talk format, the other being WHFS.

On July 25, 2019, Salem Media Group agreed to sell WWMI, WLCC as well as WKAT and WZAB in the Miami market to Immaculate Heart Media, Inc. for more than $8.2 million.[15][16]

• Radio Years, Central Florida's Great Radio Stations of the Past

• Query the FCC's AM station database for WWMI
• Radio-Locator Information on WWMI
• Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WWMI