WQYK-FM

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WQYK-FM
City of license	Tampa, Florida
Broadcast area	Tampa, Florida
Branding	99.5 WQYK
Slogan	Tampa Bay's Country Station
First air date	1971
Frequency	99.5 (MHz)
Format	Country
Class	C1
Owner	CBS Radio
Website	http://www.wqyk.com

WQYK-FM is a commercial country music radio station in Tampa, Florida, broadcasting on 99.5 FM. The call sign is pronounced "Ninety-Nine Point Five, WQYK"

Contents 1 History 2 Schedule 2.1 Weekdays 3 External links

[edit] History

Marshall Rowland, President of Suncoast Radio and owner of WQIK AM & FM in Jacksonville, took former classical station WTCX-FM 99.5 (which had gone silent and was in bankruptcy) and WALT 1110-AM (which was long past its Top 40 prime) and launched country twins WQYK-AM and WQYK-FM (Tampa Bay’s first 24-hour stereo FM country music station).

WQYK-AM hit the air first with the new country format in 1970 broadcasting from studios at the old WALT transmitter site in Temple Terrace. The FM, which started out on Haines Road in St. Petersburg, followed in 1971 and soon a combined operation settled into a second floor suite of offices at 1902 W. Kennedy Boulevard in Tampa. In the very early years, WQYK was affiliated with the Mutual Radio Network.

In 1974, the combo packed up and moved across the bay to the FM transmitter site off 4th Street North in St. Petersburg where a brand new building had been erected. The WQYK-AM tower and transmitter were also moved there from Temple Terrace. Around 1976, Suncoast sold off the AM to a religious broadcast group and its call letters became WTIS. Since the AM station would remain at the transmitter location, the FM moved its offices and studios a few blocks further south on 4th Street into the Koger Center just south of Gandy Boulevard.

WQYK had several managers during the time Suncoast owned the station (1970-1977). Marshall Rowland ran the station himself for awhile. Doug Coombs was brought in later to manage. Don Hibbitts (Sales Manager and former on-air personality Don Dee) was another, and in 1976 Rowland’s brother, Bobby, was sent down from sister station WQIK in Jacksonville to run things.

Announcers in the early history of WQYK, in addition to Don Dee mentioned above, were Jeff Alexander, Bob Hudson, Wayne Kysor, Jack Allen, Jeff King, Charlie Mac, and Jim Brand (who called himself Chuck Brand for a short while). Other deejays there during the period Suncoast owned the station were Jim Maloy, John Parker, Ken Cramer, Don Beckman, Dave Young, John Scott, Steve Alexander, Jay Roberts, Ross Wheldon, Don Wallis, Dave Ralston, Rusty Walker, John St. John, Jeff Ryan, John DeHaven, Dennis Thomas, Keith Halladay, Lyn Michaels, Pepper Lipsync and Kris Erik Stevens. Herb Hunt, former WLCY jock “Johnny Rebel,” was News Director for awhile in the mid 1970’s.

Other personnel at WQYK during the station’s early years were Beryl Beckett (copywriter), Stella Valenti (bookkeeper), Russ Altizer, Stan Wineman, and Tony Nicholson (sales), Pat Barr (traffic) and Dwayne Cornet (Chief Engineer). Valenti left the company when offices and studios moved to St. Petersburg in 1974 and was replaced by Shirley Buss who stayed through two more ownership changes and retired in the early 2000’s. Cornet was also Chief Engineer at sister stations WQIK AM & FM in Jacksonville.

Suncoast Radio sold WQYK-FM in 1977 to Suncoast Stereo Corporation, a division of Lake Huron Broadcasting. Infinity bought the station in 1987 and it continues to be one of Tampa Bay’s top stations.

That same year, Infinity also acquired 50,000 watt WCBF AM-1010 (formerly WINQ). In November, Chief Engineer Frank Berry took the station off the air to rebuild the transmitter facility. During that time, the old towers were taken down and the building was gutted and reconfigured to better accommodate the transmitter equipment. The two transmitters, a Continental 50kw for daytime and a Harris 5kw for nights were dismantled, cleaned and reassembled. Berry ordered new phasing and tuning equipment, new towers, equipment racks and audio processing, transmitter remote control equipment and STL transmitters and receivers.

On April 1, 1988, after many months of wiring, tuning and testing, the new WQYK-AM signed on the air at 12 noon with the start-up broadcast and dedication ceremonies (WQYK-AM Dedication Video).

From the late 1980s until the end of the 2003 season, WQYK was the flagship station of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, airing their games on both the AM and FM frequencies. Clear Channel purchased the package in 2004 and has been airing the team's games on two stations, WDAE and WFUS, ever since.

WQYK-AM’s format has changed several times since the late 1980’s and has run the gamut from Classic Country to Talk and Sports. It even changed call letters to WBZZ in 2004. Owners CBS Radio (formerly Infinity) returned the WQYK calls on January 3, 2006 and currently programs Sports Talk.

[edit] Schedule

[edit] Weekdays

• Cledus T. Party - 6AM-10AM
• Hank Dale - 10AM-3PM
• Randy and Dave - 3PM-7PM
• Veronica - 7PM-12AM
• Hank Shaw - 12AM-6AM

[edit] External links

• WQYK
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WQYK