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| Broadcast area | Pittsburgh metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 660kHz |
| Branding | WAMO 107.3 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Urban contemporary |
| Affiliations | Compass Media Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| Operator | Audacy, Inc. |
| History | |
First air date | August 25, 1960 (1960-08-25) (as WWML at 1470)[1] |
Former call signs |
|
Former frequencies | 1470 kHz (1960–2004) |
Call sign meaning | "Allegheny,Monongahela,Ohio" (Three rivers that meet in Pittsburgh) |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 25732 |
| Class | D |
| Power | 1,400watts day |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°24′47″N79°51′14″W / 40.41306°N 79.85389°W /40.41306; -79.85389 |
| Translator | 107.3 W297BU (Pittsburgh) |
| Repeater | 107.9 WDSY-FM HD2 (Pittsburgh) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
| Website | audacy |
WAMO (660kHz) is acommercialAMradio stationlicensed toWilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, and serving thePittsburgh metropolitan area. It broadcasts anurban contemporaryradio format, is owned by theMartz Communications Group and is operated byAudacy, Inc., under alocal marketing agreement (LMA).
Its studios and AMtransmitter are located inBraddock, east of Pittsburgh.
By day, WAMO is powered at 1,400watts. To protect thenighttime signal ofClass A stationWFAN inNew York City on the same frequency, WAMO is adaytimer, required to go off the air at night. Programming is also heard on 250-wattFM translatorW297BU (107.3MHz) inPittsburgh. It uses the FM dial position in its monikerWAMO 107.3.
The stationsigned on the air on August 25, 1960. Initially, the station broadcast on 1470 kHz inPortage, Pennsylvania, halfway betweenJohnstown andAltoona, under thecall sign WWML.[3] It operated as adaytime-only station.
It saw numerous changes in format (usually between country and oldies) and call sign; it was variously known as WWML, WRML,[3] WHYM, WZGO, and WFJY.[4] In 1990, 1470 finally received permission from theFederal Communications Commission to operate at night with a limited power of 88 watts. Though successful financially in its earlier years, the station and its FM sister, then known as WZGO, experienced a sharp decline during the mid 1980s, as did the local economy, in part due to the collapse of the region's steel-producing and coal-mining industries.
Under FCC rules which permit a station owner to move a daytime-only station and change its frequency, WFJY was relocated to the Pittsburgh area with a new frequency and city of license around 2004. On 660, the station first signed on with the callsign WCIX, before changing to WPYT.[4]
The station formerly carried programming from then-owner Alex Langer'sNational Radio Network programming lineup until the network ceased operations in March 2010. Martz planned to put anurban/urban AC format on the station, returning this programming to the Pittsburgh market for the first time sinceWAMO (860 AM) andWAMO-FM (106.7) were sold toCatholic broadcasters in 2009.
On May 21, 2011, WPYT and translatorW261AX (100.1FM) signed on with the promisedmainstream urban format, but have always had a shift towardsrhythmic contemporary. At the end of 2011, they changed their slogan to "Pittsburgh's home for Hip-hop and Hottest Hits" and became an official rhythmic contemporary station.[5]
On June 3, 2011, the station changed its call sign to WAMO, marking the return of the callsign and format after two years. This is WAMO's fourth incarnation in Pittsburgh, as it originally broadcast on 860 AM, later with a simulcast on105.9 FM before being moved to 106.7 in 1996.
In January 2013, WAMO was added toBDS' Rhythmic Airplay panel as an indicator reporter, but is not considered a monitored reporter because it is not rated inNielsen Audio (as Martz is a non-subscriber) and in part due to being an AM daytimer with an FM translator. This occurred in spite of the station's primary emphasis on R&B/Hip-Hop material. That changed by 2017 when it became a monitored R&B/Hip-Hop reporter in both BDS andMediabase.
BDS then returned WAMO back to the Rhythmic panel as a monitored reporter in February 2019, due to an adjustment in its musical direction.
On June 25, 2019, at 11 a.m., WAMO changed formats from rhythmic contemporary (which continued onWBZZ-HD3 and W261AX) to urban adult contemporary, branded as "107.3 The Beat"; the branding referred to WAMO's new FM translator, W297BU (107.3).[6] On October 16, 2020, WAMO announced that the "WAMO 100" hip hop programming would move to 107.3 on November 2, marking the fourth FM frequency to carry the "WAMO" brand and the return of the hip hop format to the 660 frequency;[7] W261AX was concurrently repurposed as an FM translator forKDKA (1020 AM).[8] On March 22, 2022, it was announced that Audacy would purchase the WAMO intellectual property, and begin operating the station on April 4 via alocal marketing agreement.[9]
On November 18, 2022, Martz announced that it would donate the WAMO license to Pittsburgh Public Media, owner ofWZUM andWZUM-FM. Following the donation's completion, the urban contemporary format will only be heard on W297BU and on the HD2 channel of Audacy-ownedWDSY-FM; the move followed the expiration of a four-year window requiring W297BU to operate as a WAMO translator.[10] However, as of 2024, the sale had yet to take place, with Audacy still controlling the station.[11]
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | HAAT | Class | Transmitter coordinates | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W297BU | 107.3 FM | Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania | 157117 | 250 | 115 m (377 ft) | D | 40°24′46.8″N79°51′13.8″W / 40.413000°N 79.853833°W /40.413000; -79.853833 (W297BU) | LMS |
