WYGM

WYGM
WTKS HD-3

City of license	Orlando, Florida
Broadcast area	Orlando, Florida
Branding	740 The Game
Slogan	Play Hard
Frequency	740 kHz
Repeaters	104.1-3 WTKS HD-3
First air date	January 1995
Format	Sports
Power	50,000 watts
Class	B
Facility ID	51982
Callsign meaning	W Y Ga'Me
Affiliations	Fox Sports Radio UCF Knights Jacksonville Jaguars Orlando Predators
Owner	Clear Channel Communications
Sister stations	WFLF, WJRR, WMGF, WRUM, WTKS, WXXL
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	740thegame.com

WYGM, known on-air as 740 The Game, is an AM all sports station radio station in Orlando, Florida, United States. It broadcasts at a medium-wave frequency of 740 kHz. It is owned by Clear Channel Communications and operates out of Clear Channel's Orlando area offices in Maitland. It broadcasts from a 50 kW transmitter in Clermont, Florida.

In 2010, WYGM began simulcasting on WTKS "Real Radio 104.1" as HD Radio subchannel WTKS HD-3.

Current programming

WYGM immediately picked up The Dan Patrick Show from 9am to Noon on weekdays, and airs Fox Sports Radio programming when local programming is not otherwise on. It has also picked up The Dan Sileo Show, which was on 540 WFLA during WQTM's brief move into the Hispanic music market. The station will remain the radio flagship of the UCF Knights, as it was in its previous incarnations, and has picked up affiliation for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The station resumed airing The Jim Rome Show, another show formerly on WQTM, in April 2009.

History

WWNZ

WORZ signed on February 8, 1947 at 740 AM. In the 1960s as WKIS, the station played adult contemporary music. In 1979, WKIS changed to news/talk. When the station became WWNZ ("Wins") on May 12, 1988, the change in call letters also meant a signal upgrade, from 5000 watts during the day and 1000 watts at night to 50,000 watts with a directional antenna all the time. Clive Thomas was the midday host, while Jim Philips was on in the afternoons.^[1][2]

WQTM

WQTM debuted as a sports talk radio station, "The Team", in January 1995. From 1995-2001, WQTM broadcasted on the 540 frequency previously used by WGTO. In January 2001, WQTM transitioned over to 740 AM by simulcasting on both frequencies for one month. Beginning in February, the transition was complete, and 540 AM became WFLF (NewsRadio 540 WFLA).

740 The Team was anchored by four local shows:

• The Dan Sileo Show from 6-9 a.m.
  • From 1995-2000, Jerry & Shot Doctor hosted the morning show from 6-9 with "Mandy."
  • From 2000-2002, Pat Clarke and Charles Davis hosted the morning program.
• Keep 'N Score from 9-10 a.m. hosted by Orlando Sentinel columnists
• Coach and Company from 3-6 p.m. hosted by Marc Daniels, the voice of UCF Knights radio broadcasts, and accompanied by then-Florida Gators reporter "Stunning" Steve Egan. "The Freak" Mark Lloyd was also part of the show through 2001, after which he left and joined the WWE announcing staff.
• The Finish Line from 6-9 p.m. hosted by Knights sideline reporter Jerry O'Neill along with "The Shot Doctor" and Mike Tuck (often pre-empted by live sports).
• 740 The Team was also the Orlando affiliate of The Jim Rome Show and Fox Sports Radio.

Format changes

On October 12, 2006 Clear Channel announced the dismissal of twelve-year program director, and show host Marc Daniels. The move was made as part of budget cuts. Steve Egan was also dismissed.[2] Speculation in an Orlando Sentinel article suggest the station possibly could have a format change. On November 10, 2006, it was announced that WQTM's summer 2006 ratings fell to an average of 0.6 (84,000 listeners), falling behind competitor ESPN 1080 WHOO for the first time in at least 15 months.[3]

On October 1, 2007, WQTM changed their morning lineup. It dropped Keep 'N Score, a one-hour show hosted by Orlando Sentinel columnists which ran from May 2003 and FSR's Out of Bounds in favor of the newly re-launched Dan Patrick Show from 9 a.m. to noon.

In January 2008, further changes were made at 740 AM, and other Clear Channel-owned stations in the market. The station transitioned to Spanish-language format. Pat Campbell left 540 WFLA's morning show. Dan Sileo's morning show was put in its place at 540, and it was simulcast on WDAE as well. The Finish Line with Mike Tuck and The Shot Doctor also moved to 540 (taking its normal 6-9 p.m. timeslot). The The Jim Rome Show was picked up by rival station WHOO, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers affiliation switched to RealRadio 104.1.

Transition back to sports radio

After many rumors, Clear Channel Orlando announced on January 23, 2009 that the Sports talk format would return in February 2009.^[3]

WQTM received new call letters WYGM on February 11, 2009. 740 began stunting at 5 p.m., on Friday, February 13. As expected, the station went back to Sports Talk, this time branded as "740 The Game" on Monday, February 16 (the previous moniker "The Team" had been snagged during the sabbatical by WHOO). 740 The Game resumed affiliation with FSR from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Rick Everett is the station's Program Director. He is also the PD for sister rock station WJRR.

In May 2009, The Dan Sileo Show transitioned back from 540 WFLA and became the 6-9 a.m. morning anchor program on "740 The Game." The Finish Line, however, did not return. Initially, the Shot Doctor was fired by Clear Channel and Mike Tuck moved to WHOO to re-unite with Jerry O'Neill.

However, the Shot Doctor returned in July to host a new afternoon show, The Sports Rx, from 3pm-6pm.

Eventually, Dan Sileo was dropped from Orlando to focus as a Tampa Bay show. He was eventually replaced by Mike Bianchi at the 6-9am slot in 2011.

References

1. ^ "WWNZ-AM 740 Orlando". http://www.cflradio.net/740_WWNZ_AM.htm. Retrieved 2011-07-21. 
2. ^ "Call Sign History (WYGM)". http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=51982&Callsign=WYGM. Retrieved 2011-07-21. 
3. ^ [1]

External links

• Query the FCC's AM station database for WYGM
• Radio-Locator Information on WYGM
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for WYGM