With the absence of professional sports play-by-play, media outlets devoted to football, baseball, hockey, basketball or, well, anything else involving team activity, have proven to be a financial and programming challenge since early March, when the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to all activities in North America.
But, even before that, ESPN Radio was experiencing challenges. Now, it’s lost its big Class B home in Central Florida as part of a major retooling of Cox Media Group‘s Orlando station group that sees a heritage News/Talker return to its AM home until late 2012, and Spanish-language programming get a major facility upgrade.
As of Wednesday (6/24), WDBO-FM is beginning a transition process that will see the end of its “News 96.5” branding. That’s because it is turning back the clock by returning to its original 580 kHz home.
That facility still holds the WDBO-AM call letters, and from the late 1980s through the 1990s was “NewsTalk 580,” mirroring then-sister WIOD-AM 610 in a transition from Full Service programming to a fully spoken word operation.
With FM listening on the rise and market demographics rapidly shifting thanks to an influx of Puerto Ricans from the U.S. territory, Cox in August 2011 discontinued the Classic Rock format of WHTQ-FM 96.5, rechristening it as WDBO-FM and entering into a simulcast with WDBO-AM.
By November 2012, with much of the listening now on the FM band, WDBO-AM affiliated with ESPN Radio, and for a period was the flagship radio home of the NBA’s Orlando Magic. That affiliation was later lost, in 2018, to iHeartMedia, as its WYGM-AM and FM translator (“96.9 The Game”) now have the rights.
Now, “The Game” is the only non-HD game in town for Sports Talk programming, as Cox has decided to fight iHeart not with deportes but with éxitos. ESPN programming will now air exclusively on WCFB-FM 94.5 HD2.
While Talk programming is migrating to big-signal 5kw WDBO-AM, with 1 tower during the day and 2 at night putting a signal over the entire I-4 corridor, it is getting a new — albeit smaller — FM home. That would be W297BB at 107.3 MHz, an FM translator that until now had been airing Tropical-flavored Spanish Adult Contemporary titles under the “Solo Exitos” brand.
Coming Monday (6/29), the “Exitos” will be found on WDBO-FM, under new branding “Exitos 96.5.” The format won’t change, with AC titles from artists such as Marc Anthony, Romeo Santos and Juan Luis Guerra a key part of the musical blend.
While it is an FM demotion for WBDO, Cox argues that the move gives the Talker “superior coverage” across the market. In reality, that’s thanks to the AM, as W297BB only reaches Orlando’s bedroom communities of Winter Park and Altamonte Springs, as well as downtown. That’s because it must protect Cox’s Classic Rock WXGL-FM “107.3 The Eagle” in St. Petersburg, a Class C1 100kw property.
WDBO-FM, on the other hand, is a Class C 99kw facility with a tower east of Orlando that gives the station DMA-wide coverage, with a city-grade signal over Daytona Beach, and the Melbourne-Titusville-Cocoa market. WBDO-FM is also clearly audible in Lakeland-Winter Haven, which is a Hispanic growth market.
“I’m excited and honored to be a part of something new and historic for the Central Florida Hispanic community,” said Estee Martin, Director of Branding and Programming for Éxitos 96.5. Martin, raised in Central Florida, has been a host on CMG Orlando Rhythmic Top 40 WPYO-FM “Power 95.3” since 2005.
Indeed, it is a major move for not only Cox Media Group, but also for Hispanic media in Central Florida, where WRUM-FM “Rumba 100.3” has been a dominant Spanish-language audio magnet for iHeartMedia since February 2005.
Jason Meder, VP/GM for CMG Orlando Radio said, “This move strengthens our portfolio of radio brands and reflects our commitment to serving the diverse community of audiences and advertisers in the market.”
Asked specifically why the moves were made amid rumors that WDBO-FM is being groomed for divestment by a new Cox Media Group that has seen the exit of CEO Kim Guthrie and prominent Miami programming and on-air talent in recent weeks, Meder told RBR+TVBR, “It is about the growing Hispanic audience in Central Florida. This is one of the fastest-growing Hispanic communities in the country right now and we believe that local radio should reflect that. WDBO is still a very powerful and important radio station, back home on AM 580. Combined with our perfectly positioned translator coupled with the massive growth we are seeing on our ‘DBO stream, it makes the perfect move for our cluster and the market.”
In addition to WRUM, Entravision Communications has had a presence in the market via Class C2 WNUE-FM 98.1, “Salsa y Más,” with a Deltona, Fla.-based signal best heard in the northeastern portion of the Orlando DMA.
A host of low-power signals targeting Puerto Ricans from the U.S. territory can also be found, in Kissimmee and St. Cloud, to the south of downtown Orlando.
