WSRQ Broadcasting on 1220 AM is a radio station with a format that features Oldies from the 60s, 70s, 80s. Licensed to Sarasota, Florida, the station was owned by Florida Talk Radio, LLC. It was announced on July 14, 2011, that WSRQ would be acquired by Florida Talk Radio, LLC. Prior to June 29, 2018, the station was branded as The Voice of Sarasota-Manatee and featured a talk show lineup. WSRQ AM is the official radio station of Tampa Bay Rays baseball. WSRQ is also carried in northern and central Sarasota County and throughout Manatee County on their 250-watt FM translatorW295BH on 106.9 FM in Sarasota and in southern Sarasota County as far south as North Port on their 210-watt FM translator W240DP on 95.9 FM in Venice. 1220 AM is a Mexican clear-channel frequency. XEB is the only Class A station on this frequency; all other stations on this frequency in the United States and Mexico must reduce power or become directional during the nighttime in order to prevent interference to the skywave signal of XEB. WSRQ has been granted an FCCconstruction permit to move to a different transmitter site and decrease day power to 770 watts and night power to 15 watts.
Format Change
WSRQ Radio was the Sarasota-Manatee area's only talk radio station on both the AM and FM dials for many years, but abandoned that format as of 5 p.m. Friday owner Jim Lampl said Wednesday. The change was intended “as a respite from the daily onslaught of negative media,” Lampl said in a news release, and also is necessary because talk radio has “become an unsustainable business model.” “The change was motivated by a desire to shut off the megaphone that talk radio provides to strident voices,” Lampl said. “For too long, some of the most popular national programs have also been the most divisive.” The new brand of the station, heard at 106.9 FM and 1220 AM, was HitlandSRQ. Its broadcast consisted of the music of the 1960s and ’70s and “will be packed with the songs that Baby Boomers grew up with,” Lampl said. Weekday mornings still begin with the popular Suncoast Morning show, hosted by Dave and & Kaylene and continuing to offer local news and intelligent banter, Lampl said.
