For many years prior to October 1, 1982, WEAT was owned by billionaire John D. MacArthur and was paired with WEAT-FM. In October 1986 sportscaster Curt Gowdy sold the station to J.J. Taylor Companies Inc. of North Dartmouth, Mass., for an undisclosed price. In October 1995, it was sold with WEAT-FM to OmniAmerica Group of Cleveland for an estimated $18 million. In May 1996, WEAT was sold with seven other stations for $178 million to Chancellor Broadcasting Co., and WEAT was sold again in June of that year, along with WEAT-FM 104.3 and WOLL 94.3 to American Radio Systems of Boston. In April 1998, the station was sold to James Hilliard's James Crystal Enterprises for $1.5 million and changed its call letters to WDJA. becoming a business talk station. WFTL, along with co-owned stations KBXD, WFLL, and WMEN, was purchased out of bankruptcy from James Crystal Enterprises by Mark Jorgenson's ACM JCE IV B LLC in a transaction that was consummated on August 6, 2015, at a purchase price of $5.5 million. The station was operated by Palm Beach Broadcasting until that company was acquired by Alpha Media in February 2016. Alpha announced its intent to purchase the station outright in February 2017; Alpha's purchase of WFTL and WMEN, at a price of $2 million, was consummated on April 27, 2017. On September 27, 2018, Alpha Media has agreed to sell their cluster at West Palm Beach to Hubbard Radio.
Timeline
1948 – originally an NBC affiliate, airing everything from NBC Theater to Eddie Cantor. prior to October 1, 1982 – format was country music. October 1, 1982 – became news/talk radio April 16, 1984 – became adult contemporaryWCGY, 1960s' and 1970s' music with 25% current music. prior to April 1985 – station was once again known as WEAT and simulcasting WEAT-FM's Easy 104 format. March 1992 – WEAT-FM switches to adult contemporary. According to the Sun-Sentinel, on the AM side, WEAT has adopted a more conservative easy listening format to keep the station's 45-and-older listeners. The studios have been re-equipped for digital sound, with all the music on compact disc and all the commercials run from a computer hard drive. July 1994 – switches to all-news format November 2000 – Jack Cole, formerly of WJNO, begins a daily hour-long show. October 2001 – Jack Cole leaves the air because of a brain tumor. He died three months later. October 2003 – becomes "Live 85" with call letters WFTL, swapping with a Ft. Lauderdale station at 1400. Live 85 was an all-news format. August 2005 – becomes NewsTalk 8-5-oh WFTL after a failed all news format. New slogan adopted as "Bigger, Better, Smarter"
