WFTL (850 AM) is a commercial radio station in West Palm Beach, Florida, serving parts of Palm Beach County, Broward County, and Miami-Dade County. The station airs an news-talk format and is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, through licensee WPP FCC License Sub, LLC.
By day, WFTL is powered at 50,000 watts, the maximum for commercial AM stations in the United States. As 850 AM is a clear channel frequency, WFTL reduces power at night to 20,000 watts to avoid interference to other stations. It uses a directional antenna with a six-tower array. The transmitter is near U.S. Route 27 in Okeelanta.Radio-Locator.com/WFTL Programming is also heard on FM translator W242CI at 96.3 MHz in Jupiter.RadioInsight.com "West Palm Beach's Party Comes to End as WFTL Arrives on FM" May 19, 2025
Programming Weekdays on WFTL begin with The South Florida Morning Show with Jennifer Ross and Bill Adams. Another local show hosted by Joyce Kaufman is heard in mid-afternoons. The rest of the schedule is nationally syndicated conservative talk programs: Brian Kilmeade, Erick Erickson, Guy Benson, Will Cain, Joe Pags, Lars Larson, America in the Morning and Red Eye Radio.
On weekends, the station airs specialty shows on health, money, real estate and the law. Syndicated weekend hosts include Bill Handel, Michael Brown, Bill Cunningham and Markley, Van Camp & Robbins. Most hours begin with an update from ABC News Radio. WFTL is the South Florida home of Florida State Seminoles football.
History
WEAT The station signed on the air on February 14, 1948.Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 page 112. Retrieved July 14, 2023. Its original call sign was WEAT, and it was owned by the Lake Worth Broadcasting Corporation, headed by Robert Rounsaville. Its city of license was Lake Worth and it broadcast on 1490 kHz with 100 watts of power.
WEAT was an affiliate of the NBC Radio Network, carrying NBC's dramas, comedies, news and sports during the "Golden Age of Radio". Programming ranged from NBC Theater to Eddie Cantor.Passy, Charles, "Live From Belle Glade It's Sweet 'Sugar 900'", The Palm Beach Post, October 4, 1997 In a few years, the power increased to 250 watts.
In 1954, WEAT changed its community of license to West Palm Beach and moved to 850 AM. That allowed it to increase to 1,000 watts of power.
For many years, WEAT was owned by billionaire John D. MacArthur. In 1969, WEAT added an FM counterpart, WEAT-FM (Easy 104.3). The FM played quarter hour sweeps of easy listening music. In the 1970s, the AM station switched to a country music format, with national news supplied by the ABC Information Radio Network.Broadcasting Yearbook 1973 page B-47. Retrieved July 14, 2023. On October 1, 1982, WEAT moved to a talk radio format. On April 16, 1984, it became adult contemporary station WCGY, emphasizing 1960s and 1970s music; it would devote 25 percent of its playlist to current music.Thornton, Linda, "Radio Station Does It With Doo-Wop Ditties", The Miami Herald, December 6, 1984 By April 1985, the station was once again known as WEAT, and was simulcasting WEAT-FM."TV, Radio To Offer Multitude Of Games", The Miami Herald, April 7, 1985
In October 1986, sportscaster Curt Gowdy sold WEAT-AM-FM to J.J. Taylor Companies Inc. of North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, for an undisclosed price.Pounds, Marcia H., "Curt Gowdy Sells Two Radio Stations", Sun-Sentinel, October 11, 1986 In May 1992, WEAT-FM switched to an adult contemporary format. According to the Sun-Sentinel, on the AM side, WEAT adopted a more conservative easy listening format to keep the station's 45-and-older listeners. The studios were re-equipped for digital sound, with all the music on compact disc and all the commercials run from a computer hard drive.Curry, Pat, EAT Changes Format, Pursues 25-To-54 Market", Sun-Sentinel, March 26, 1992 In July 1994, WEAT switched to an all-news formatCurry, Pat, "WEAT Changes to News Format", Sun-Sentinel, July 30, 1994
In October 1995, WEAT-AM-FM were sold to OmniAmerica Group of Cleveland for an estimated $18 million.McKenney, Mitch, "A Wave Of Radio Sales Echoes The Sound Of Money", The Palm Beach Post, October 23, 1995 In May 1996, WEAT was sold with seven other stations for $178 million to Chancellor Broadcasting Co.McKenney, Mitch, "Firm Buys 8 OmniAmerica Stations", The Palm Beach Post, May 16, 1996 WEAT was sold again in June of that year, along with WEAT-FM and WOLL (94.3 FM), to American Radio Systems of Boston.
WDJA In April 1998, the station was sold to James Hilliard's James Crystal Enterprises for $1.5 million and changed its call letters to WDJA. The call sign represented "Dow Jones Averages", with WDJA becoming a business talk station.Waresh, Julie, Fairbanks Selling Six Local Radio Stations, The Palm Beach Post, April 22, 1998 In November 2000, Jack Cole, formerly of WJNO, began a daily hour-long show.Smith, Thom, "Dershowitz Finds Recount Saga Positively Biblical", The Palm Beach Post, November 14, 2000 Cole left the station in October 2001 because of a brain tumor;"Boss Called, and Clemonds Went - to N.Y.", Palm Beach Post, October 2, 2001 he died three months later.Smith, Thom, "Jack Cole Reigned Over Local Radio Since the '80s - 1938-2002", Palm Beach Post, January 9, 2002
WFTL In October 2003, the station relaunched as "Live 85" with call letters WFTL, swapping with a Fort Lauderdale station at 1400. "Live 85" featured an all-news format.Betcher, Bob, "WFTL shifts to all news", Fort Pierce Tribune (FL), October 9, 2003 In August 2005, after the all-news format failed, the station became "NewsTalk 8-5-oh WFTL".
WFTL and co-owned stations KBXD, WFLL, and WMEN, were purchased out of bankruptcy from James Crystal Enterprises by Mark Jorgenson's ACM JCE IV B LLC in a transaction that was consummated on August 6, 2015. The purchase price was $5.5 million.At the Chapter 11 auction of four James Crystal stations, the “credit bid” won. Tom Taylor Now, April 1, 2015. The station was operated by Palm Beach Broadcasting until that company was acquired by Alpha Media in February 2016. Alpha announced its intent to purchase the station outright in February 2017. Alpha's purchase of WFTL and WMEN, at a price of $2 million, was consummated on April 27, 2017.
On September 27, 2018, Alpha Media agreed to sell the West Palm Beach cluster to Hubbard Radio.Hubbard/Alpha Media West Palm Beach Purchase Price Revealed The sale, at a price of $88 million, was consummated on January 23, 2019.
References
External links
WFTL Radio -- "Live 85" 850 kHz AM (formerly 1400) FCC History Cards for WFTL