WBGB-AM 1580 Mount Dora

History of WBGB

Built in the 1940s, the station is one of the oldest in Lake County. In March of 1986, Transmission and office equipment of WBGB was scheduled to be auctioned off. The station went off the air in mid-January after a Lake County circuit judge ordered the station's equipment sold to repay a bank loan. Judge Ernest Aulls ordered the station closed and its equipment sold after Umatilla State Bank foreclosed on a mortgage to Central Florida Broadcasting Inc., an Ohio company that has operated the station for four years. The bank received a $30,000 judgment on the loan in default. The Lake County Sheriff's Department made an inventory of the station's equipment last month. A similar inventory was conducted at WROD-AM 1340, Daytona Beach which is also operated by Central Florida Broadcasting. Michael Buckley, vice president of Central Florida Broadcasting, said that the company was working with two groups in an attempt to get WBGB out of its financial bind. He refused to identify the groups. Buckley said WBGB is owned by Central Florida Radio Ltd., a limited partnership in which Central Florida Broadcasting serves as the managing partner. The company also serves as the managing partner of Daytona Beach Radio Ltd., which owned WROD-AM 1340 in Daytona Beach at the time. The partnership plans to sell WROD for $1.2 million to LaPaz Broadcasting Inc. by the end of the month. Ron Aicher, WBGB's former owner, said Central Florida Broadcasting still is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to operate the station. Aicher and Karl Meek, who owned the station for five years before selling it in 1980, have been awarded a $90,000 judgment against Central Florida Broadcasting. The amount included a $75,000 mortgage plus interest and legal fees. The station's license cannot be transferred to a new owner without FCC approval. If the station is sold, the FCC must approve an operating license for the new owner. An involuntary license transfer could be requested if the station were placed into receivership. Aicher said he is working with Umatilla State Bank to get the station operating without having to sell off the equipment. He said creditors would not recoup one-tenth of what they are owed if the equipment is sold. He estimated the value the equipment at $10,000.

Two former employees of WBGB-AM (1580), Mount Dora, will receive back pay
May 18, 1986 By Adam Yeomans of The Sentinel Staff
Two former employees of WBGB-AM (1580), Mount Dora, will receive $6,500 and attorneys' fees under a judgment for back wages approved by the U.S. Middle District Court earlier this month. Ted and Cheryle Branch sued the station's owner, Central Florida Broadcasting Inc., last summer for failing to pay back wages. WBGB, one of the county's oldest stations, went off the air in January after Umatilla State Bank foreclosed on a mortgage to Central Florida Broadcasting.

Switched: The Erie Couple Who Decided To Make The Jump To Moscow
Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA) - Saturday, January 23, 1988
Author: Jeff Brown, Inquirer Staff Writer
For years, Theodore and Cheryl Branch struggled fruitlessly for prominence. This week, the couple from Erie had their fleeting moment in the public eye - but even that was laced with scorn. The attention came Tuesday, when a Soviet official summoned reporters to a news conference in Moscow to announce that a pair of American "mass- communication experts" had been granted "political asylum" in the Soviet Union. The Branches - both in their 40s - were not rocket scientists or nuclear physicists; he was a radio disc jockey and she his helper. They apparently carried no national secrets, and their move - characterized by some American news organizations as a "defection" - left the U.S. State Department nonplused. Americans, the State Department observed, have a constitutional right to live wherever they want. The Branches' decision was notable, though. Since World War II, a period in which more than six million people have fled the Soviet bloc, fewer than 100 Americans have elected to move permanently to the Soviet Union, according to a State Department estimate. So why did the Branches do it? Interviews this week with people who know or were acquainted with the couple - including the former owner of a Florida radio station where the couple worked, and a Philadelphia woman who was with them in Leningrad two months ago - indicate that for years they struggled unsuccessfully to achieve a respected position in America. There is no indication they were motivated by any deeply held political beliefs, while there is much to suggest they were isolated and seeking escape from a cycle of lost jobs and professional disappointments. "They're certainly not 'mass communication' experts," said Ron Aicher, president and general manager of Group A Television Productions in Florida. "He kind of reminded me . . . of a milquetoast kind of guy," Aicher said. Aicher said he knew the Branches when they worked for WBGB, a tiny 5,000- watt daytime-only AM radio station he once owned in Mount Dora, Fla. WBGB is currently off the air because of financial problems, but a few years ago it broadcast easy-listening pop tunes from the 1940s and 1950s to a target audience of retirees, many of them living in the numerous trailer parks of Lake County, not far from Orlando, he said. Theodore Branch's job application, filed with the station in October 1983, said he was born Dec. 11, 1943, and grew up in Erie , where he completed his education at a broadcasting school in the 1960s, Aicher said. The application said Branch worked as a $1.75-an-hour disc jockey from December 1969 to June 1972 at a radio station in Union City, Pa., according to Aicher. From January to December 1977, Branch was a disc jockey at a station in Covington, Ky., making $3.50 an hour. From January to November 1978, Branch drove a taxi in Erie , the application said, and from November 1978 to June 1983, he worked as a "bin operator" at a Coca-Cola plant in Leesburg, Fla. He left the cab job to "move to Florida," and he left Coca-Cola because of "lack of work," according to the application, Aicher said. After leaving Coke and starting work at WBGB, the Branches remained in Leesburg, where they lived in a mobile home, Aicher recalled. Theodore was the morning disc jockey, and the couple worked together in the afternoons selling air time and producing commercials, Aicher said. The couple had few friends, if any, and were inseparable, Aicher said. Often Cheryl would sit quietly behind her husband as he did his morning show, Aicher said. "His wife just followed him around like a little puppy dog," Aicher recalled. Aicher said he didn't think Branch had enough talent to make it to the big time. "He wasn't terrible," said Aicher. "He was just the kind of guy that would always work at a small-market radio station." Yet Branch seemed to feel he could do important things in the radio business if given the chance. "They were kind of spaced-out, kind of frustrated. . . . There was always somebody against them. . . . They bitched and moaned about everything." In 1985, a new station owner fired Branch. The couple filed suit against the station, and in 1986 they were awarded $22,000 in lost wages and attorneys' fees. They never collected because the station failed, eventually falling into receivership, Aicher said. The Branches returned to Erie , where they moved in with Theodore's father, Clarence. During this last stint of unemployment, the Branches met a Russian couple who had moved to the United States. The woman, apparently homesick, painted a rosy picture of life in the Soviet Union, the elder Branch said. Much to the dismay of friends and family, the Branches started talking about moving to Russia, a decision the elder Branch described as "stupid." On Nov. 14, the Branches were in a group of 15 Americans who landed in Moscow for a seven-day package tour. One of the tourists was Gina Tyler of Philadelphia. The Branches soon became a topic of conversation on the tour. Tyler said she never got a complete picture of the Branches, but she picked up bits and pieces. "They were sort of weird," she said last week. " To be 'experts in mass communication' . . . I mean, after 'Hello, how are you?' all other possibilities of conversation were exhausted." She noticed something odd about them almost immediately, she said. "It was supposed to be a week (tour)," she said. "That's why we thought it was strange that they took all those linoleum steamer trunks." While the Branches were generally uncommunicative, they revealed some of their thoughts. "They were sort of vague and told some sort of disjointed stories. . . . What little they said was very hostile - very hostile to the United States." Midway through the tour the group went to Leningrad. A day or two later, the group gathered for breakfast in its hotel. The tourist guide called attention and announced that the Branches had returned to Moscow , but there was no explanation of why. Nor was there ever any explanation for the delay of two months or so in announcing the Branches' decision to stay in the Soviet Union. "Of course, the speculation was that they had decided to stay," she said. ''It was such a weird thing to do, and if anyone was going to do it they would be the ones." In Florida, Aicher speculated that the Branches' move was just another step in their fruitless search for success. "This is the God's truth," Aicher said. "I really believe this guy went to Russia just to be in the radio business. He just wanted to be in radio, but didn't have the talent. . . . "This guy thought he was great and nobody else did. It's a shame, really."

Mount Dora AM Station Facing Foreclosure
June 19, 1985 By Adam Yeomans of The Sentinel Staff
MOUNT DORA — Creditors plan to foreclose on WBGB Radio 1580 in Mount Dora unless the owner arranges to sell the station, one of the oldest in Lake County. The station's owner, Central Florida Broadcasting Inc., has been negotiating a sale for about six months with a group of investors in Orlando. Michael Buckley, company vice president, refused to comment Tuesday about the sale until it is completed later this month. Creditors filed suit last fall against Central Florida Broadcasting for failing to make payments on loans worth more than $100,000. The company bought the station at 401 Old Eustis Road in 1982. A hearing will be held in early July at the county courthouse to consider the creditors' request to foreclose on the station. Ron Aicher, one of the creditors, owned the station for five years before selling it in 1980. Court records show the company has not made payments on loans of more than $75,000 from Aicher and Karl Meek, another creditor. The owner also has not made payments on a $25,000 loan from Umatilla State Bank, court records show. Del Potter, a Mount Dora attorney representing Central Florida Broadcasting, said the company has considered several alternatives to improve its cash flow. In addition to trying to sell the station, the owners have considered bringing in another partner and reducing company costs to retain ownership. Potter said he has been told by company officials that a sales agreement is being completed but he has not seen a contract. Buckley has said that the station's financial problems stem from a lack of advertising and some staff problems. Built in the 1940s, the station will continue to air nostalgic music. Central Florida Broadcasting is based in Cleveland and also owns radio stations in Daytona Beach and Sarasota.

Judge's order shut downs radio station
The Orlando Sentinel, Wednesday, January 29. 1986
By Adam Yeoman of the Sentinel Staff Tavares
WBGB-AM (1580), Mount Dora went off the air last weekend after a Lake County Circuit Court judge ordered the station's equipment sold to repay a bank loan the station's owner failed to pay, Judge Ernest Aulls ordered deputy sheriffs to lock the station last week so an inventory of equipment can be taken. Built in the 1940s, the station is one of the oldest in the county. The shutdown follows legal and financial woes that have been dogging the station for the past two years. At least four suits have been filed against Central Florida Broadcasting Inc., an Ohio company that has owned the station for four years, for its failure to pay previous owners, former employees and a bank loan. For six months, creditors have delayed pursuing their lawsuits to give the owner a chance to repay the loans. Although repayment plans were approved, no money was forthcoming, creditors said. In his decision Thursday, Aulls ordered the station equipment to be sold so Umatilla State Bank can receive a $30,000 judgment on a loan to Central Florida Broadcasting. No date has been set for the sale. Circuit Judge Welborn Daniel awarded the station's former owners, Ron Aicher and Karl Meek, more than $90,000 in a decision issued Tuesday. Aicher and Meek owned the station for five years until selling it in 1980. Central Florida Broadcasting bought the station in 1982 and assumed payments on $75,000 owed to Aicher and Meek. The station's license cannot be transferred to a new owner unless approved by the Federal Communications Commission, FCC representative Maureen Peratino said. If the station is sold, the FCC first must approve an operating license for the new owners, she said. If the station is placed into receivership, where an operator would be appointed to restructure the station's debt, an involuntary license transfer could be requested, she said. Aicher said he was not sure what will happen to the station but plans to contact Umatilla State Bank to work out an agreement to keep the station operating. "It's kind of crazy," Aicher said. "I'm up in the air about the whole thing. The main thing is there is no radio station serving Mount Dora." Michael Buckley, vice president of Central Florida Broadcasting, would not comment Tuesday. Buckley has said the company was trying to sell the station because of staff problems and a lack of advertising. The company also is trying to sell WDOQ-FM 101.9 in Daytona Beach and a station in Sarasota. Two former employees sued the company last summer for more than $8,000 including $3,000 in unpaid back wages. A Texas company that provided a radio format for the station was awarded $4,780 last summer after the station's owner failed to pay for the service..

WBGB HOPING TO RETURN TO AIR BEFORE MARCH 18
Orlando Sentinel March 04, 1986
Transmission and office equipment of WBGB-AM (1580) in Mount Dora is scheduled to be auctioned March 18, but the station's creditors say they hope to work out an arrangement to get the station back on the air before then. The radio station at 401 Old Eustis Road went off the air in mid- January after a Lake County circuit judge ordered the station's equipment sold to repay a bank loan. Built in the 1940s, the station is one of the oldest in Lake County. Judge Ernest Aulls ordered the station closed and its equipment sold after Umatilla State Bank foreclosed on a mortgage to Central Florida Broadcasting Inc., an Ohio company that has operated the station for four years. The bank received a $30,000 judgment on the loan in default. The Lake County Sheriff's Department made an inventory of the station's equipment last month. A similar inventory was conducted at a Daytona Beach station also operated by Central Florida Broadcasting. Michael Buckley, vice president of Central Florida Broadcasting, said Monday that the company is working with two groups in an attempt to get WBGB out of its financial bind. He refused to identify the groups. Buckley said WBGB is owned by Central Florida Radio Ltd., a limited partnership in which Central Florida Broadcasting serves as the managing partner. The company also serves as the managing partner of Daytona Beach Radio Ltd., which owns WROD-AM (1340) in Daytona Beach. The partnership plans to sell WROD for $1.2 million to LaPaz Broadcasting Inc. by the end of the month. Ron Aicher, WBGB's former owner, said Central Florida Broadcasting still is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to operate the station. Aicher and Karl Meek, who owned the station for five years before selling it in 1980, have been awarded a $90,000 judgment against Central Florida Broadcasting. The amount included a $75,000 mortgage plus interest and legal fees. The station's license cannot be transferred to a new owner without FCC approval. If the station is sold, the FCC must approve an operating license for the new owner. An involuntary license transfer could be requested if the station were placed into receivership. Aicher said he is working with Umatilla State Bank to get the station operating without having to sell off the equipment. He said creditors would not recoup one-tenth of what they are owed if the equipment is sold. He estimated the value the equipment at $10,000. Aicher refused to disclose details of his discussions with the bank. Maggie Evans, a lawyer representing the bank, could not be reached Monday for comment. The auction, scheduled for 11 a.m. March 18 at the station, is to be conducted by the sheriff's department.

WBGB Personalities

Owner(s):	1958-Charlotte Radio & Television Corp.
	1959-Frank Taylor
	1959-Cherry Hill Broadcasters
	1962-Robert Lewis
	1965-David Rawley
	1972-Cherry Hill Broadcasters
	1974-Lake Radio, Inc.
	1975-Community Broadcasting, Inc.
	1976-Walter "Jack" Kaufman, Jr.
	1980-Donald and Marilyn Painter
	1982-Central Florida Broadcasting Inc.
	1987-Group A Productions Ronald Aicher Receiver
	1993-Cross Country Communications ($30,000)
	1998-American Community Radio Network
	2000-American Community Oriented Radio Network
	2002-Peoples Radio Network, Inc
	2002-Rama Communications ($600,000 with WGAF-AM 1090)

History Of Call Letters and Formats:	WMDF-1958-Country "Cross Country"
	WVGT-1960-MOR/News/Sports "The Voice of the Golden Triangle"
	WGTW-1975-MOR
	WGTW-1976-Country "Great Country GT158 AM"
	WGTW-1976-MOR/Beautiful Music
	WHTZ-1981-Easy Listening/Jazz/MOR
	WBGB-1983-Easy Listening/Jazz/MOR
	WBGB-1984-Beautiful Music
	WBGB-1993-Religious
	WNTF-1997-Simulcast of WPGS-AM 840
	WNTF-2000-News/Talk
	WNTF-2002-Spanish
	WNTF-2003-Religious
	WNTF-2003-Licensed/Silent
	WNTF-2005-Black Gospel simulcast of WOKB-AM 1600
	WNTF-2005-Spanish "Latina 1580AM"
	WNTF-2011-Licensed/Silent (Jul 1, 2011)
	WNTF-2012-Spanish Religious
	WNTF-2014-Licensed/Silent Mar 21, 2014
	WNTF-2017-Classic R&B
	WNTF-2017-Vietnamese
	WNTF-2017-Caribbean Music/Talk
	WNTF-2019-Haitian Christian
	WNTF-2020-Vietnamese Language Programming "Vietnamese Broadcasting Central Florida"
	WNTF-2022-Classic R & B

Network Affiliation(s):	ABC Entertainment
	Florida News Network