WHTK (AM)

WHTK

City	Rochester, New York
Broadcast area	Rochester, New York
Branding	FOX Sports 1280 Rochester
Frequency	1280 kHz (also on HD Radio)
Format	Sports
Audience share	0.8, #16 (Winter 2009, R&R[1])
Power	5,000 watts
Class	B
Facility ID	37549
Transmitter coordinates	43°5′54.00″N 77°35′1.00″W / 43.0983333°N 77.5836111°W / 43.0983333; -77.5836111
Callsign meaning	Hot TalK (former format)
Former callsigns	WVET (1947–1961) WROC (1961–1979) WPXN (1979–1984) WPXY (1984–1991) WKQG (1991–1992) WPXY (1992–1993)
Affiliations	Fox Sports Radio, Premiere Radio Networks, Westwood One
Owner	iHeartMedia (Citicasters Licenses, Inc.)
Sister stations	WAIO, WDVI, WHAM, WKGS, WNBL, WVOR
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	whtk.com

WHTK (AM 1280) is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. Licensed to Rochester, New York, USA, the station serves the Rochester area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, with studios downtown and a transmitter in Brighton. It features programming from Fox Sports Radio. WHTK carries New York Yankees broadcasts, serves as the radio home of the Rochester Americans, and shares rights to the Rochester Red Wings with WYSL (with WYSL carrying afternoon games and WHTK carrying night games), among other local and national sports. The station's weekday lineup includes Dan Patrick, The Rich Eisen Show, and Carl Falk. On weekends, the station carries a variety of sports programming including the Canandaigua National Bank High School Sports Show (section V athletics), The Pain Clinic (pro wrestling), Kick This! (soccer), What's Going On (current events and issues) and more.^[2]

History

logo through 2008

In 2008, the station re-branded itself as "Sportsradio 1280". Prior to the change, WHTK had been known as "Hot Talk 1280". As of 2014, the station is now known as "FOX Sports 1280 Rochester".

Prior to that, the station was first known as WVET, signing on in 1947, under ownership of a group of returning World War II veterans calling themselves Veterans' Broadcasting Company. It operated successfully for many years with a personality full service adult popular music format. It changed call sign from WVET to WROC when Veterans bought WROC-TV from Transcontinent Television Corporation in 1961. Simultaneously, an FM sister station, WROC-FM, signed on, first playing classical music and later automated jazz and pop standards. Veterans Broadcasting sold all the WROC stations in the mid-1970s. The AM station continued with its full service format until late in the 1970s, when it tried an all-news format first as WROC and then as WPXN. It would later change calls letters to WPXY and simulcast its FM sister station, by the early 1980s known as WPXY-FM and airing the personality contemporary hit music format, which WPXY FM still runs today. Late in the 1980s, after changes in ownership, the AM station would migrate to pop standards,^[3] then back to a simulcast with the FM, and then, in October 1993, to mostly syndicated "hot talk", a lineup of talk and sports programming meant to appeal to young adult men.^[4] At that time, it adopted the WHTK call sign (the "HTK" meant to stand for "hot talk") which it still uses today.

On September 9, 2009, at midnight WROO changed their call letters to WHTK-FM and changed their format from country music, as "Country 107.3" to sports, simulcasting WHTK 1280 AM, as "1280 WHTK & FM 107.3", and is known as "Rochester's Sports Talk."^[5] The change was made to address nighttime signal limitations of WHTK (AM), which must protect co-channel signals in New York City and the midwestern US by directionalizing after sunset. The FM station filled in signal nulls which limited WHTK's nighttime and early morning reach in southeastern Monroe County, southern Wayne County and Ontario County. The FM simulcast ended on May 5, 2012.

References

External links

• Query the FCC's AM station database for WHTK
• Radio-Locator Information on WHTK
• Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WHTK