BY TAMECA JOHNSON
Freelance Writer

The Florida Sentinel has learned the motive behind the drastic change in WTMP’s format.  According to the station’s current management, it was a matter of dollars and cents.

Scott Savage of Savage Media, is the court-appointed receiver who operates WTMP.  He has been given authority by the courts to try to sell the station.  Savage says he spent three years looking for a buyer, but came up empty handed. His job, he says, is to maximize the assets of the station and he was convinced the numbers showed the historic urban format of WTMP was not generating profits.

“The format change was really a business decision,” he says. “WTMP just wasn’t profitable in the format that it was. There are three or four FM competitors that dominate the [Tampa] market and the revenue generated [by those stations] left WTMP in a difficult situation with the competition.”

However, James Ransom, spokesperson for Tampa Organization of Black Affairs (TOBA) disagrees.  “I am surprised at hearing comments that the station was not profitable.  The financial documentation reviewed by the investment group pursuing the purchase of WTMP a few years ago found that the station was profitable when it was managed by the previous owners.”

Ransom is convinced all  parties involved are making progress and want to assure the community that process is well “underway and active.”

Meanwhile, TOBA is still accepting letters of interest from potential investors. Letters should be mailed to the TOBA – Economic Development Committee, P. O. Box 3485, Tampa, Florida 33601.