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Move Allows WTMP To Stay Close To Listeners

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By JAMIE PILARCZYK

Published: August 29, 2008

TAMPA - Coming in from the outskirts to be closer to its listeners, radio station WTMP has settled into a new office across from the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory on Howard Avenue.

"We looked at a number of places on Lois Avenue near International Plaza and Kennedy Boulevard, but we wanted to be close to the community," general manager Jim Kozlowski said.

The station's eight-member staff moved from its 5207 E. Washington St. headquarters in East Tampa a month ago to set up shop on the second floor of an office building at 407 N. Howard Ave.

WTMP plays urban contemporary music to a mature black audience, Kozlowski said, and has done so since 1954, first with the 1150 AM station and then simulcasting on 96.1 FM beginning in 2001.

Kozlowski said WTMP's grass-roots nature sets it apart. The station, which is owned by Tampa-based Tama Broadcasting, sponsors health fairs, offers free public service announcements for community groups and broadcasts local news on Saturday mornings.

About 95 percent of WTMP's listeners are black, Kozlowski said, with many living in the 33606 and 33614 ZIP codes, which incorporate neighborhoods in Courier City/Oscawana, Hyde Park, West Tampa, Egypt Lake and Plaza Terrace near Raymond James Stadium.

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