WWRM
| Company type | Commercial radio station |
|---|---|
| Industry | Broadcasting |
| Founded | September 1, 1970 |
| Headquarters | St. Petersburg , United States |
Area served | Tampa Bay area |
| Products | Hot adult contemporary music format |
| Owner | Cox Media Group |
WWRM (94.9 FM) is a commercial broadcaster licensed to Tampa, Florida, catering to the Tampa Bay area. Owned by Cox Media Group, it features a hot adult contemporary music format. The station's studios and administrative offices are situated on 4th Street North in St. Petersburg.
Operating with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts, WWRM's transmitter is located off Rhodine Road in Riverview, sharing the site with WTSP, Tampa's CBS television affiliate.
Top 40 period
The station began broadcasting on September 1, 1970, under the call letters WLCY-FM and was licensed to St. Petersburg. It was launched by Rahall Communications together with its sister stations WLCY AM and WLCY-TV, all based in studios on Gandy Boulevard. Initially, WLCY-FM operated with automated programming, airing Drake-Chenault's "Hit Parade" and TM's "Stereo Rock" formats.
During the mid-1970s, in an effort to challenge local Top 40 leader WRBQ-FM ("Q105"), WLCY-FM transitioned to live disc jockeys in 1976, adopting the "Y95" branding that referenced its approximate frequency. Following the sale of WLCY AM to Southern Broadcasting—owners of WRBQ—the FM station changed its call sign to WYNF ("Y-Ninety-Five").
Rock format as WYNF
In 1980, Taft Broadcasting took ownership of the station, rebranding it as "95FM--Florida's Best Rock" and shifting from Top 40 to an AOR format to rival prominent local AOR station WQXM. The studios relocated from St. Petersburg to Tampa at 504 Reo Street, sharing facilities with Taft’s WDAE. Two years later, it adopted the "95ynf" brand and promoted itself as "The New 95."
Following Taft's acquisition of Gulf Broadcasting in the early 1980s, WYNF became affiliated with Channel 10 (now WTSP). During this period, WDAE was sold to Gannett, while Taft purchased WSUN from Plough, Inc.. In 1985, Taft divested WYNF to CBS Radio, which moved the studios back to St. Petersburg at the Koger Executive Center on 4th Street North. Under CBS management, 95ynf became the dominant AOR station within the Tampa Bay market.
Ron and Ron era
After several attempts with different morning show hosts, program director Carey Curelop paired local comedian Ron Bennington with Ron Diaz in the late 1980s to create the successful Ron and Ron morning show. The program achieved high rankings in Arbitron ratings and earned notoriety as "Radio’s Bad Boys." Their representative Ross Reback played a key role in founding The Ron & Ron Radio Network to syndicate their show nationally.
WYNF aired its final broadcast on March 12, 1993. Subsequently, Reback assumed roles as president and CEO of the network, overseeing syndication agreements across Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, and additional markets—including a profitable contract with WSUN.
Transition to WWRM
In 1993, ownership of WYNF transferred to Cox Broadcasting, which already operated WWRM at 107.3 FM under the "Warm 107" brand. This acquisition occurred as part of a station exchange deal with CBS Radio involving properties in Dallas. The studios returned to St. Petersburg at The Koger Center. Due to declining ratings caused by competition from rock rival WXTB, a format adjustment was deemed necessary.
On August 16, 1993, WYNF discontinued its rock format and began simulcasting WSUN's talk radio programming. One week later, Cox relocated its Soft Adult Contemporary format along with the WWRM call letters from 107.3 FM to 94.9 FM, reintroducing itself as "Warm 94.9."
On January 5, 2001, the station updated its branding to "The New Magic 94.9," while retaining both its format and call sign. By this time, WWRM had shifted toward a mainstream AC playlist whereas sister station WDUV focused on softer AC selections. After a decade using "The New Magic 94.9," it shortened its name to "Magic 94.9" in May 2011. Later that year on December 26, WWRM adopted the slogan "80's, 90's, & now."