WHPT
| Company type | Commercial radio station |
|---|---|
| Industry | Broadcasting |
| Founded | November 15, 1960 in Sarasota, Florida, United States |
| Headquarters | St. Petersburg , United States |
Area served | Tampa Bay area |
| Products | Radio broadcasting (hot talk format) |
| Owner | Cox Media Group |
WHPT (102.5 FM) operates as a commercial radio station licensed in Sarasota, Florida, catering to the Tampa Bay area. Under the ownership of Cox Media Group, it features a hot talk programming format. WHPT serves as the primary station for the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team and broadcasts South Florida Bulls football. Its main studios and administrative offices are situated on 4th Street North in St. Petersburg.
Classified as a Class C facility, WHPT transmits with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts, which is the upper limit for most FM stations. The transmitter tower is positioned near Gopher Hill Road in Myakka City, located southwest of Manatee County. Utilizing HD Radio technology, WHPT’s HD2 subchannel is dedicated to a Tampa Bay Lightning-themed sports radio format.
WYAK - WSAF-FM
The station commenced operations on November 15, 1960, under the call sign WYAK. At that time, it was uncommon for FM stations to operate independently without affiliation to AM or television outlets. Owned by Multitone Music Corporation, WYAK broadcasted with a power of 2,750 watts from studios located at 1375 Fifth Street.
In 1967, Stewart Broadcasting purchased WYAK along with WSAF 1220 AM (currently known as WSRQ). Following this acquisition, the FM station adopted the call letters WSAF-FM and began simulcasting much of its content alongside its AM counterpart.
WQSR
The Sarasota Radio Company acquired WSAF-FM in 1973 and shifted its format to beautiful music, rebranding the station as WQSR. This change reflected the vision of president Edward Rogers, with QSR standing for Quality Stereo Radio. The station’s playlist included soft instrumental pieces as well as selections from Broadway and Hollywood show tunes.
Originally, WQSR aired beautiful music from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m., switching to progressive rock during overnight hours. Due to declining audience numbers and advertising revenue, the station eventually replaced its daytime easy listening format with rock music full-time. It also experimented with quadraphonic sound, promoting itself as "Quad One-Oh-Two-And-A-Half." Despite these efforts, free-form rock struggled against more formatted album rock competitors, resulting in diminished Arbitron ratings. In 1991, the station changed its call sign to WHPT ("The Point") and later adopted the "The Bone" branding while retaining these calls.
Hot talk
On-air personalities were granted greater latitude to include comedic elements and commentary segments, which became more popular than music programming. By April 2012, WHPT had fully embraced a hot talk format while continuing to use "The Bone" brand identity.
In September 2022, Cox Radio named WHPT as the flagship broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League. Concurrently, an HD2 subchannel was launched to provide nonstop Lightning-related content including live shows, game replays, and podcasts. That same year, WHPT also became the flagship station for sports coverage of the University of South Florida, featuring Bulls football and basketball events.