WSKQ-FM
This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2016) |
Broadcast area | New York City |
---|---|
Frequency | 97.9 MHz (HD Radio) |
Branding | "Mega 97.9" |
Programming | |
Format | Tropical music |
Ownership | |
Owner | Spanish Broadcasting System (WSKQ Licensing, Inc.) |
WPAT-FM | |
History | |
First air date | 1941 (as W47NY at 44.7) 1947 (as WGYN at 97.9) |
Former call signs | W47NY (1941–1943) WGYN (1943–1952) WEVD-FM (1952–1989) |
Former frequencies | 44.7 MHz (1941–1947) |
Call sign meaning | Super KQ (former format) |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 61641 |
Class | B |
ERP | 6,000 watts |
HAAT | 415 meters (1,362 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°44′54.36″N 73°59′08.36″W / 40.7484333°N 73.9856556°W[1] |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | www |
WSKQ-FM (97.9 FM), known on-air as "Mega 97.9", is a radio station licensed to New York City and is owned and operated by Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS). The station has a tropical format, which consists of such musical styles as salsa, merengue, bachata, and reggaeton. WSKQ-FM's transmitter is located at the Empire State Building.
History
The 97.9 FM facility's heritage goes back to 1941, when the Muzak Corporation went on the air as W47NY at 44.7 MHz. The call letters changed to WGYN in 1943, and the frequency ended up at 97.9 MHz on the new FM band in 1947. WGYN went off the air in May 1950 due to unprofitable operations.[2]
In December 1952, the frequency was revived as WEVD-FM when The Jewish Daily Forward, owner of WEVD, was granted the license. Programming consisted of brokered ethnic programming, Jewish programming, and some pop standards and big band.
Norman B. Furman was general manager of WEVD from 1968 to 1972. He initiated a variety of programs to serve the many ethnic communities in New York. The call letters were announced as WEVD, "the station that speaks your language." These languages included Yiddish, Hebrew, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, German, Russian, Japanese and Irish, all serving their various communities. The "Forward Hour", a popular variety show, was MC'd by Furman for many years. He had a major role in developing and procuring the most popular of all Jewish jingles: "Joe and Paul a fargenigen ... A suit, a coat kenst du krigen."
In October 1983 SBS bought WVNJ in Newark, New Jersey, and converted what had been big band/adult standards-format into a Spanish Adult contemporary music station with the callsign of WSKQ. Known on-air as Super KQ, the station was led by Rafael-Diaz Gutierrez, Raúl Alarcón Jr. (former DJ in Cuba), and Adriano Garcia Sr. (CEO of SAR Records). WSKQ would become the New York market's fourth full-time Spanish station at that time, after WADO, WJIT, and WKDM.
In 1988, SBS negotiated a deal that would enable them to acquire the 97.9 FM frequency that was occupied by ethnic WEVD. SBS had acquired the 1050 AM frequency in October 1988, as the frequency's previous occupants, WFAN, had just replaced WNBC on the 660 AM frequency. Since it was illegal in 1988 for the same company to own two AM stations in a market, there was a problem in regards to what to do with the 1050 frequency. To solve this problem, the FCC allowed SBS to operate the 1050 frequency as a non-commercial station. The call letters would be WUKQ, and would play Spanish adult contemporary music without commercial interruptions, while 620 AM would become a Spanish oldies station. Finally, on February 1, 1989, the deal between SBS and WEVD closed, and SBS instituted a Spanish music format with the call letters WSKQ-FM on 97.9 FM, while WEVD moved to 1050 AM.
The Spanish oldies music format on 620 AM would remain for several years after the deal, and in 1995, that station would take on a tejano format as WXLX. A couple of years later, SBS would sell the station to One-on-One Sports (now Sporting News Radio), and it would become a sports-talk station.
As for WSKQ-FM, the Spanish adult contemporary format initially obtained mediocre ratings. Then in 1993, with the hiring of Vice President and General Manager Alfredo Alonso, the station moved to an upbeat tropical format playing a lot of salsa, merengue, and dance music and using the name "Mega 97.9". At that point the station would flourish; as of 2005, it was one of the highest rated radio stations in New York City. Its morning show, the syndicated El Vacilón de la Mañana, has sometimes reached number one among all morning shows in New York. The shows, such as the Luis Jimenez-era El Vacilon and its former Sunday night programs "On Fuego: The Daddy Yankee Show" and TRL Latino, were syndicated by CBS Radio and ABC Radio Networks.
The Spanish adult contemporary format was resurrected in January 1996, when SBS acquired WPAT-FM's license and transmitter.
The call letters for WSKQ were taken from the first AM station that Raúl Alarcón Sr. purchased (La Super 1380).[3]
Ratings
In August 2013, "La Mega 97.9" surpassed "Z100 and Lite FM for the No. 1 position among adults aged 18 to 34 and 18-49".[4]
In February 2017, WSKQ ranked #1 for Ages 18–34 and 18-49 in all of the Tri-State Area, regardless of language or format.[5] These ratings have set "Mega 97.9 as the #1 ranked Latino station in the nation."[5]
“La Mega 97.9” reached #7 in the “Leading radio stations in New York in November 2017, by ratings”. According to the statistics, 4.6 percent of people who listen to the radio in the New York City Metropolitan area listened to WSKQ-FM for at least five minutes in each 15-minute period.[6]
Impact on the Hispanic Community
La Mega reaches a wide population of Hispanic listeners every day. In an interview with the New York Times, Bill Turner, radio consultant, stated:
“Hispanics listen to the radio much more than English-language listeners do. If they are longer listeners, as Hispanics are, and if the station does a nice job with programming, which WSKQ does, then you have the formula for success.”[7]
Hispanic radio shows, like La Mega, provide Hispanic listeners a platform in which they can stay connected through the news, sports, weather, celebrity news, and comedy. Unlike other radio shows, La Mega is broadcast entirely in Spanish and therefore reaches the non-English speaking portion of the Hispanic community, giving them the ability to remain aware in society. La Mega allows listeners to call in to the radio and express their opinions on the topics being discussed or to request specific songs, giving them the chance to get involved. It provides “a vital and irreplaceable resource”[8] for these communities.
In addition, they are “valuable sources of employment that impacts local economies”.[8] Local TV and Radio in New York has created over 150,000[8] jobs in Hispanic communities, improving the economy and allowing access to media based careers.
La Mega has segments throughout their show where they invite lawyers to talk about important issues that may arise such as "debt, credit restoration, immigration, and matrimonial law".[9] This allows the Hispanic community access to resources that would otherwise be difficult and expensive to obtain.
Tragedies
Junior Hernandez's death
Junior Hernandez, whose Spanish-language morning program was second-popular radio show in NYC for 6 years, died of heart attack on February 4, 1998.
He suffered from asthma, was stricken outside his offices at WSKQ-FM in Midtown Manhattan, said Jesus Salas, the station's program director. After paramedics attempted to revive him, he was taken to St. Clare's Hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was 34.
The night of his death, the radio station had to close its doors early because of the number of fans trying to sneak in to pay tribute to him.[10]
"El Boy from Bonao"'s death
Raymond Reinoso, the distinguished and very popular Dominican DJ, better known as "El Boy from Bonao", one of the founders in NYC for nearly 18 years, died after a long battle with cancer on March 6, 2007. He is survived by his wife Antonia and by his sister Socorro.
The President of SBS remembered Reinoso as a "happy, aggressive, optimistic and active man, who was also a great professional".[11]
DJ Jinx Paul's death
DJ Jinx Paul, 39 whose real name is Jean Paul Guerrero was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on December 19, 2016 in Brooklyn near Sheffield and Jamaica Avenues in East New York around 4AM. He was taken to Brookdale Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
On November 9, 2017, Kevin Ozoria, 28, was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident with fatality and tampering with evidence.[12]
References
- ^ National Geodetic Survey datasheet KU3602, Retrieved July 26, 2009
- ^ "Radio and Television; WGYN, FM Station, Quits Broadcasting as Result of Unprofitable Operations". The New York Times. May 12, 1950. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (2003-07-26). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
{{cite book}}
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has generic name (help) - ^ "Mega 97.9 Rules New York Radio". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
- ^ a b "WSKQ-FM Mega 97.9FM Hispanic Station Ranks No. 1 In New York, Across All Formats And Languages". Retrieved 2017-12-11.
- ^ "Most popular radio stations in New York November 2017 | Statistic". Statista. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
- ^ "La Mega Scores Big Ratings – LatinTRENDS.com". latintrends.com. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
- ^ a b c National Association of Broadcasters (Jan 2017). "Broadcast Television and Radio in Hispanic Communities" (PDF). Retrieved Dec 7, 2017.
- ^ "On The Radio". Cabanillas & Associates. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
- ^ Chen, David W. (1998-02-05). "Junior Hernandez, 34, Radio Host in New York". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
- ^ "La Mega remembers DJ 'El Boy'". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
- ^ "Driver arrested in hit-and-run that killed DJ Jinx Paul: DA". New York's PIX11 / WPIX-TV. 2017-11-09. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
External links
- Mega 97.9 website
- Facility details for Facility ID WSKQ ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's FM station database