Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud is the first name to surface and announce that he will be part of a new local program on the recently rebranded 1150 WTMP signal in the Tampa Bay market. The station, which is owned and operated by Neal Ardman of NIA Broadcasting, came to an agreement with ESPN Radio in February to carry the network’s programming after it departed iHeartMedia’s 95.3 WDAE and AM 620 in November of 2024.
Stroud, who co-hosted morning drive on WDAE with current Poynter Institute senior media writer Tom Jones from 2011 to 2016, also serves as the lead Buccaneers beat reporter for the Tampa Bay Times and hosts the Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast. Notably, Stroud shared the news via his X account early Tuesday morning.
“I’m very excited and honored to have the opportunity to co-host the first local show on ESPN Tampa Bay,” wrote Stroud via X. “Radio has always been one of my favorite formats because of the instant connectivity to the audience and the ability to share my experience and insight from my work at the Tampa Bay Times.”
However, Stroud did not hint at a timeline for the debut of the new program or reveal who his co-host may be for the upcoming show on the Tampa Bay sports radio outlet.
Meanwhile, in February, former WDAE host Ian Beckles hinted at the possibility of joining the station during an episode of his Beckles & Recher podcast.
“I had a young man approach me. I’m not going to say his name right now because maybe he doesn’t want me to say his name,” explained Beckles on his podcast on February 19. “He contacted me about a month ago saying he was trying to purchase ESPN Radio. He hit me up yesterday and said everything is done. I’ll be contacting the next week or so, trying to do some local radio.”
As for ESPN Radio Tampa Bay programming, it is now based on 1150 WTMP Egypt Lake, along with translators 92.9 W225CQ Tampa and 102.1 W271DL Egypt Lake/St. Petersburg, FL. Previously, the station had aired Rhythmic Oldies. Significantly, the Tampa Bay radio market has not seen a true all-sports competitor to iHeartMedia’s WDAE since December of 2014, when CBS Radio’s 98.7 The Fan folded after just over two years.
“There’s so many talented people out there,” said Beckles in February. “I’m not saying that the other station is not doing a great job, but I think it’s going through a kind of a metamorphosis a little bit. There’s been a lot of changes, and maybe we need some new blood.”
For context, Stroud has been working in the Tampa Bay market since April of 1983, covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times.
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