WDAE (AM)
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| Broadcast area | Saint Petersburg, Florida |
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| Branding | 620 WDAE Tampa Bay's Sports Animal |
| Slogan | Best Bucs Coverage |
| First air date | May 15, 1922 |
| Frequency | 620 KHZ |
| Format | Sports Radio |
| ERP | 5600 Watts Daytime/ 5500 Watts Nighttime |
| Class | B |
| Callsign meaning | Wonderful Days And Evenings |
| Owner | Clear Channel |
| Website | www.620wdae.com |
WDAE is the callsign for 620 WDAE - The Sports Animal, a sports radio station in Tampa, Florida, United States. It broadcasts at a medium-wave frequency of 620 kHz. It is owned by Clear Channel Communications. It broadcasts from two transmitters of 5.0kW and 5.6kW each in St. Petersburg.
The station at WDAE is believed to be the first radio station ever to broadcast in the state of Florida.
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[edit] History
WDAE began at 833 khz in Tampa around 1922, as the radio outlet of the Tampa Times, an evening paper in that city. While there is reason to believe WDAE is the first station on air in Florida, as the FCC credits them with being, there is evidence that there was a station in Jacksonville with the call letters WCAN-AM, and was licensed before WDAE was. Whether WCAN ever signed on or not is not known, thus WDAE is credited with being first. However WQAM-AM also takes credit as being first, although as a pirate station first.
In the 1970's WDAE was a top 40 station, and continued with that until the early 80's when it switched to Standards. In the 1990's it began a sports format.
In the late 1990's 620 WSUN owned by Cox communications was sold and the easy listening programming was moved along with those calls to 910 (formerly WPLA/WFNS in Plant City). After a brief interim while 620 WSSA broadcast the audio portion of Time/Warner's Cable Bay News 9, WDAE eventually moved its programming to the superior 620 signal. Business News WHNZ moved from 570 to 1250, and religious programming from Salem Communications took over at 570
WDAE is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications.
[edit] Programming
Currently, 620 WDAE "The Sports Animal" broadcasts a mixture of local and national sports programs. Its national shows include Jim Rome and shows on Fox Sports Radio. Its local hosts include Steve Duemig, Ron Diaz, Ian Beckles, Scott Ledger, and Matt Sammon.
It also airs the Dan Sileo show on weekday mornings, broadcast from WDAE's Orlando sister station, WQTM "740 The Team". Sileo used to broadcast for WDAE as well before a short stint on Fox Sports Radio between his WDAE and WQTM jobs.
[edit] Flagships
WDAE is the flagship station for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League and the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League. It shares flagship for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League with WFUS-FM. It is also the home in Tampa Bay for the Florida Gators College football and basketball games.
[edit] Devil Rays
It used to share flagship with its sister station, WFLA, for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays of the American League in Major League Baseball up until 2005, when sister station WHNZ took over, with the Devil Rays paying WHNZ, rather than the station paying the team, which is what WFLA and WDAE did.
[edit] Chris Thomas
When WDAE became a sports talk station in 1997, one of the hosts to help build the station was WFLA-TV sports anchor Chris Thomas. He hosted the Chris Thomas Show on WDAE from 1997 until 2004, when he died from cancer. Thomas was a listener favorite, often getting in mock on-air feuds with WDAE's afternoon host, Steve Duemig. The two men were friends in real life.
As part of his tongue-in-cheek on air persona, Thomas often gave himself nicknames, such as The Mediocore Sports Hunk. He also used many sound drops, such as the ferret from the Budweiser commercials, or various other animals, but he would give them names, such as Clevis and Clovis.
Thomas gained fame as the sports anchor on local television station WFLA-TV Channel 8. Despite his popularity, WFLA-TV declined to renew Thomas's contract in 2002, publicly expressing a desire to move to a younger broadcaster. However, some fans have speculated his openly hostile relationship with the Glazer family, owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a major sponsor of Channel 8, and an off the air alcohol-related incident six months earlier led to the station's desire to part ways with Thomas.
Off the air, Thomas battled alcoholism most of his adult life. In January 2003, he was involved in a drunk driving accident with Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleader Michelle Betancourt. However, despite the controversy surrounding his personal life, he remained a beloved figure in the Tampa Bay community.
After Thomas died in February 2004, the WDAE studio was renamed The Chris Thomas Studio.
WDAE Honors the memory of Chris Thomas with an annual "Chris Thomas Golf Tournament". The tournament is a chance for Tampa Bay area residents to celebrate the life and legend of Chris Thomas and raise money for Thomas's favorite charity, the Joshua House.
[edit] External links
- Query the FCC's AM station database for WDAE
- WDAE
- Chris Thomas Guestbook to remember him
- Article about Chris Thomas - St.Pete Time Feb 20, 2004
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