WSPT (97.9
FM) is a
radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
that is licensed to
Stevens Point, Wisconsin
Stevens Point is a city in Portage County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 25,666 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It forms the core of the Stevens Point micropolitan statistical area, which had a p ...
, United States and serves the
Stevens Point-
Wisconsin Rapids
Wisconsin Rapids is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, Wisconsin, United States, along the Wisconsin River. The population was 18,877 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Marshfield–Wisconsin Rapids micropolitan stati ...
area. The station is owned by Richard L. Muzzy, through licensee Muzzy Broadcast Group, LLC and broadcasts a
classic hits format.
History
The station first signed on May 1, 1961, as WSPT-FM. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, it was a dominant
top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...
station in the
Wausau-
Stevens Point market, originally
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...
ing its AM sister station
WSPT (1010 AM). In April 1968, Peter A. Bernard sold WSPT-AM-FM to Sentry Corp., a subsidiary of Stevens Point-based
Sentry Insurance, for $465,000. The simulcast ended in late 1977 when WSPT (AM) flipped to country music as WXYQ; the FM outlet retained the top 40 format and adjusted its
call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...
to WSPT.
Through the early 1990s, WSPT's ratings were second only to Wausau-based rival
WIFC.
In October 1993, the station switched to an
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
(AC) format, branding itself as "Sunny 98". By the middle of the decade, this was adjusted to a
modern AC presentation as "Today's Music Revolution, 98 WSPT"; in 1996, the station changed its call sign back to WSPT-FM. In the 2000s, WSPT-FM segued to
hot AC
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, ...
as "97.9 WSPT". In 2005, the station flipped to
ABC Radio's fledging syndicated
adult hits format, "
Jack FM
Jack FM is a radio network brand that is licensed by Sparknet Communications, with the exception of the European Union where it is licensed by Oxis Media. It plays an adult hits radio format, format, in most cases not using disc jockey, DJs.
F ...
", reverting to the "97.9 WSPT" branding when it flipped to
oldies
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music.
Since 2 ...
featuring programming from
The True Oldies Channel. In 2012, the station dropped the -FM suffix to become simply WSPT. Later, On June 30, 2014, WSPT segued to a
classic hits format.
Syndicated programming on WSPT includes ''America's Greatest Hits'', a weekly show hosted by
Scott Shannon.
References
External links
*
*
{{Classic Hits Radio Stations in Wisconsin
SPT
SPT may refer to:
Organisations
* Society for Philosophy and Technology
* Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, Scotland
* Sunpentown, a Taiwanese appliance manufacturer
Science and technology
* Septic pelvic thrombophlebitis, a postpartum co ...
Classic hits radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1961
1961 establishments in Wisconsin