WKDM (1380AM) is acommercial radio stationlicensed toNew York, New York. The station is owned byMulticultural Broadcasting and broadcasts inMandarin Chinese on weekdays. Most shows arebrokered programming, where the host pays for the time and may sell commercials to support the broadcasts. On weekends, programming switches toSpanish languageChristian radio.

WKDM

New York, New York United States
Broadcast area	New York metropolitan area
Frequency	1380kHz
Branding	AM1380
Programming
Languages	Chinese (weekdays) Spanish (weekends)
Format	BrokeredMandarin Chinese (weekdays) Spanish languageChristian radio (weekends)
Ownership
Owner	Multicultural Broadcasting (Multicultural Radio Broadcasting Licensee, LLC)
Sister stations	WPAT,WWRU,WZRC
History
First air date	September 25, 1926; 98 years ago (1926-09-25)
Former call signs	WKBQ (1926–1930) WBNX (1930–1984) WKDM (1984–2000) WNNY (2000–2002) WLXE (2002–2003)[1]
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	71137
Class	B
Power	5,000 watts (day) 13,000 watts (night)
Transmitter coordinates	40°49′13″N74°04′09″W / 40.82028°N 74.06917°W /40.82028; -74.06917
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen live
Website	nysino.com/am1380/

WKDM operates at 5,000 watts by day, using adirectional antenna to protect other stations on1380 AM. After being granted aFederal Communications Commission (FCC)construction permit to increase night power, it operates at 13,000 watts after sunset, using a different directional pattern.^[3] The station'stransmitter is located inCarlstadt, New Jersey.

The station began operation in 1926, as WKBQ.^[4] The original call sign was randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call letters. One of the station's first permanent homes was insideStarlight Park, anamusement park located on the east bank of theBronx River just south of East 177th Street. This tenancy lasted until 1932, when theGreat Depression forced the park's closure, which then led to the station's eviction from its studios.^[5]

Beginning in the 1920s, there were significantly more radio stations operating in the New York City area than could be given exclusive frequency assignments. WKBQ changed frequencies several times during its early years. On November 11, 1928, theFederal Radio Commission made a major nationwide reallocation under itsGeneral Order 40, and WKBQ was moved to 1350 kHz, sharing this frequency with three other local stations: WBNY, WMSG and WCDA.^[6]

In 1930, thecall sign WKBQ was changed to WBNX, reflecting the station's location inThe Bronx. In 1933, the owners of WCDA worked to consolidate the four time-sharing stations on 1350 kHz into a single station, to serve as the primary affiliate for the currently formingAmalgamated Broadcasting System. Eventually only three of the stations were merged, which continued operation under the WBNX call letters. In addition, Amalgamated quickly failed, and ended operations at midnight on November 1, 1933.^[7]

The holdout from the 1933 consolidation was the former WBNY, nowWAWZ. WBNX operated 18 hours a day with general entertainment and brokered programming. In March 1941, WBNX and WAWZ were moved to 1380 kHz, as part of the implementation of theNorth American Regional Broadcasting Agreement.^[8]

In 1960, WBNX was sold to United Broadcasting. By the mid-1960s, the station was airing aSpanish contemporary music format during most of its hours, with some Jewish-oriented and Italian-language programming on weekends.

In 1984, WBNX changed call letters to WKDM. It became a full-time operation after United paid WAWZ owner Pillar of Fire to give up its portion of the time-share (WAWZ continued to operate on FM). It remained successful until the advent of a full-timeSpanish language format onWSKQ-FM in 1989, which pulled away listeners. As a result, in the early 1990s, the station began to carry more leased-access/brokered shows. In 1992, it went completely brokered, and was sold to Multicultural in 1994.

In 1999, Multicultural transferred WKDM to Mega Communications in exchange for cash and various Washington D.C. area stations. Mega changed the call letters to WNNY and instituted an all news Spanish format (Noticas 1380). Eventually, the all-news evolved into a news/talk format. This format was not successful, and on July 24, 2002, at midnight, Mega had changed the call letters to WLXE and the format to Mexican pop music as "X-1380". A few months later, Multicultural bought the station back and reinstated the WKDM call sign and the brokered programming policy.Since 2007, WKDM has broadcast in Mandarin Chinese 24 hours a day Monday through Friday, featuring drama, popular music, talk shows, news program, children's programs and sports, as well as programs from China and Taiwan.^[9]

• Official website
• Spanish website
• Facility details for Facility ID 71137 (WKDM) in theFCC Licensing and Management System
• WKDM inNielsen Audio's AM station database
• "History Cards for WKDM".Federal Communications Commission. (covering 1927-1981 as WKBQ / WBNX) (Guide to reading History Cards)