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| Broadcast area | Tampa Bay area |
| Frequency | 103.5MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | US 103.5 |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Country music |
| Subchannels | HD2:WBTPsimulcast (Classic hip-hop) |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | November 1963; 62 years ago (1963-11) (as 103.3 WBRD-FM Bradenton) |
Former call signs |
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Former frequencies | 103.3 MHz (1963–1997) |
Call sign meaning | "Florida's US 103.5" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 63984 |
| Class | C0 |
| ERP | 66,000 watts |
| HAAT | 472 meters (1,549 ft) |
| Translator | HD2: 102.9 W275AZ (Tampa) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | us1035 |
WFUS (103.5FM) is acommercial radio station licensed toGulfport, Florida. It airs acountry musicformat and is one of the eight stations in theTampa Bayradio market owned byiHeartMedia. It carriesThe Bobby Bones Showsyndicated fromNashville in morningdrive time. The studios are on Feather Sound Drive inClearwater.
WFUS is aClass C0 FM station with aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 68,000 watts. Thetransmitter is on Colonnade Vista Drive inRiverview.[2] WFUS broadcasts usingHD Radio technology. Its HD2subchannel carries theclassic hip hop format of co-ownedWBTP (106.5 FM).
The stationsigned on the air in November 1963; 62 years ago (1963-11).[3] It originally broadcast on 103.3 MHz and itscall sign was WBRD-FM, with those call letters referring to thecity of license,Bradenton. At first, WBRD-FM mostlysimulcast itssister stationWBRD (1420 AM). They were owned by Sunshine State Broadcasting.
After the first year, WBRD-FM switched to abeautiful music format. It was largelyautomated, playing quarter hour sweeps of soft, instrumentalcover versions of popular adult music, along withBroadway andHollywoodshow tunes. In 1973, it changed its call letters to WDUV and began calling itself "The Dove." Over time, it added more soft vocals and removed some of the instrumentals. WDUV continued to playeasy listening music into the 1990s, when other beautiful stations had switched to more contemporary formats.[4]
In the early 1990s, WDUV relocated its frequency to 103.5 FM, to improve its coverage area in the Tampa Bay area. A couple of years later, WDUV was acquired byJacor Broadcasting. Jacor relocated the studios toSt. Petersburg.
On April 5, 1999, at Midnight, WDUV swapped its frequency withclassic rock station WTBT. WDUV moved from 103.5 to 105.5 FM and WTBT took the 103.5 dial position. However, both frequencies retained their transmitting locations and cities of license. After the swap, WDUV became licensed toNew Port Richey with transmitting facilities inHoliday, while WTBT, whose transmitter was located inRiverview, became licensed to Bradenton. (In the 2000s, the city of license changed again to Gulfport.) Shortly after the swap,Clear Channel Communications sold WDUV to its present owner,Cox Radio. Because WDUV is aimed at an older audience, Cox saw more potential gain with WTBT at 103.5.[5]
The station formerly went by "Thunder 103.5" as a classic rock station that started on March 14, 1995, on 105.5 FM.[6] Popular radio personalityRon Diaz was the morning drive host at that time. Towards the end of the classic rock format, WTBT was the Tampaaffiliate forThe Bob and Tom Show syndicated fromIndianapolis.
On April 13, 2005, WTBT flipped to its current country format as WFUS. It called itself "US 103.5". Its main competition is veteran country outletWQYK99.5 FM, owned by theBeasley Broadcast Group. That leftCox Radio'sWHPT102.5 FM as the market's only classic rock station at that time.[7]iHeartMedia (then known as Clear Channel Communications) later relaunched the classic rock format as "Thunder Across The Bay", operating onFM translators at 94.5 FM (Gulfport), 99.1 FM (Holiday), 105.9 FM (Tampa), and onWMTX-HD2.
In August 2014, WFUS's HD2 subchannel's format changed to "Soft EZ Oldies", a format meant to compete with market leader WDUV. Prior to that, the HD2 subchannel was classic rock, branded as "Thunder 103.5 HD2".
In September 2014, WFUS-HD2 flipped once again, asalternative rock-formatted "ALT 99-9", meant to compete withCox Radio'sWSUN97.1 FM. "ALT" was also broadcast on FM translator W207BU at 99.9 MHz, located in Bayonet Point. On November 7, 2014, at Noon, W207BU moved from 99.9 MHz to 100.3 MHz to eliminate interference withWXJB inBrooksville. The station then re-branded as "ALT 100.3". The translator also changed call letters, and is now identifying as W262CP. On March 14, 2016, the "ALT" format was replaced with a rebroadcast of iHeart's Sarasota-based tropical/Latin pop-formattedWRUB "Rumba 106.5".
WFUS was the officialflagship station of theTampa Bay BuccaneersNFL team from 2004 to 2016. Games are now airing on co-ownedactive rock stationWXTB 97.9 FM.[8]
27°49′12″N82°15′40″W / 27.820°N 82.261°W /27.820; -82.261