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'Bubba the Love Sponge Show' to air on WWBA-AM 820 in Tampa Bay

 
Radio host Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, shown here leaving court after being cleared in a 2013 defamation suit, is now off the air in Tampa Bay. EDMUND D. FOUNTAIN   |   Times
Radio host Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, shown here leaving court after being cleared in a 2013 defamation suit, is now off the air in Tampa Bay. EDMUND D. FOUNTAIN | Times
Published Feb. 8, 2017

TAMPA — The Bubba the Love Sponge Show has found a new home on the radio waves in Tampa Bay.

Beginning Feb. 13, WWBA-AM 820 will air the show live during the morning time slot of 6 and 10 a.m., according to a press release.

In January, Beasley Broadcast Group's WBRN-FM 98.7 said it would no longer broadcast radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem's show in Tampa Bay following a ratings-tampering lawsuit filed against him by Nielsen, which is claiming $1 million in damages. Clem admitted to the ratings tampering charges at a news conference last year.

Beasley continues to broadcast the Clem's show on WRXK-FM in Fort Myers.

Previous Coverage: Bubba the Love Sponge Clem is off the air at WBRN-FM 98.7

The new agreement makes WWBA-AM 820 the "flagship station" for Clem's show, which is still nationally syndicated, according to a press release.

"We are extremely excited to enter into a partnership with the Bubba the Love Sponge Show," Tom Paleveda, program manager of WWBA-AM 820, said in a statement. "The show has an incredibly engaged audience across West Central Florida and we felt we could serve that audience exceptionally well with our distribution platform. We have assurances that Bubba will do his best to be a good boy while providing his unique brand of content."

WWBA is is licensed as part of the Tampa Bay radio market and airs news and talk-show programming. WWBA, which is known as "820 News" on air, is owned by Genesis Communications.

Clem has been at the center of several controversies in recent years.

Previous Coverage: Could ratings-tampering scandal take Bubba the Love Sponge off the air?

In 2001, Clem was charged with animal cruelty after the castration and slaughter of a pig on air. He was later acquitted. Three years later, he lost his job at Clear Channel after racking up $755,000 in fines for indecent behavior from the Federal Communications Commission.

In 2006, he recorded a video of Hulk Hogan having sex with Clem's wife, a tape that was later leaked to the Gawker website. Hogan and Clem settled a lawsuit out of court. In 2013, Clem won a high-profile defamation suit against a rival radio personality Todd Schnitt.