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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | New York metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 98.7MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | La Exitosa 98.7 |
| Programming | |
| Language | Spanglish |
| Format | Latin pop–adult contemporary music |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WLIB | |
| History | |
First air date | April 1, 1941 (84 years ago) (1941-04-01) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | ESPN Radio (previous affiliation) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 63781 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 6,000 watts |
| HAAT | 415 meters (1,362 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°44′53″N73°59′10″W / 40.748°N 73.986°W /40.748; -73.986 |
| Repeater | 1190WLIB (New York) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaLive365) |
| Website | www |
WEPN-FM (98.7FM, "La Exitosa 98.7") is a radio station in New York City, owned byEmmis Corporation. The station carries a Spanish-language format with a gold-based mix ofLatin pop and English-languageadult contemporary music. The station's transmitter is located at theEmpire State Building.
WEPN-FM originally began operations as an experimental FM station in 1939, spun off from 710WOR. It then became one of the first licensed commercial FM stations in 1941. Until 1965, when the FCC prohibited this practice in larger markets, the station served as an FM simulcast of WOR. At that time, the station—by then owned byRKO General—flipped to one of New York's firstfree-formradio formats, focusing onprogressive rock. In 1974, it adopted atop 40 format. Amid declining listenership, the station briefly adopted anadult contemporary format modeled after Chicago sisterWFYR in 1980.
Beginning in December 1980, after further declines in ratings under the AC format, the station began to transition to a format focusing primarily ondance music (such asdisco) andR&B; the format officially launched in August 1981, with the station becoming WRKS-FM, and adopting the brandingKiss FM. The newrhythmic contemporary format was immediately successful. In 1983, WRKS became the first station in New York City to regularly playhip hop, furthering its success. Amid thegolden age of hip hop, WRKS-FM was New York's highest-rated radio station for a period.
After RKO General's exit from the broadcasting industry in the late 1980s, the station was sold to Atlanta-based Summit Communications Group in 1989. WRKS was, in turn, acquired by Emmis Communications—the owner of its rivalWQHT—in 1994, forming the firstduopoly in New York City radio. In defense of theurban contemporary format of WQHT, Emmis flipped WRKS to anurban adult contemporary format focusing primarily on R&B, while maintaining theKiss branding.
In 2012, theKiss brand came to an end when Emmis leased the station toThe Walt Disney Company under a 12-yearlocal marketing agreement (LMA). The station flipped tosports radio as WEPN-FM, the flagship of theESPN Radio network. The LMA was transferred toGood Karma Brands (GKB) in 2021, which continued the ESPN Radio format. In August 2024, the LMA with GKB expired; as a result, WEPN-FM's programming was migrated to the formerWCBS under a new LMA between GKB andAudacy, while WEPN-FM flipped to an interimhot adult contemporary format. On January 10, 2025, WEPN flipped to a Spanish-language format with a focus on Latin and English pop hits.
In the late 1930s,WOR (710 AM), then licensed toNewark, New Jersey, and owned by the Bamberger Broadcasting Service, Inc., a division ofR.H. Macy and Company, became interested in the newly developed technology of FM radio. In the summer of 1939, WOR engineers, working with Bell Telephone engineers, set up an experimental 1,000-watt transmitter in Carteret, New Jersey, with the call sign W2XWI. In June 1940 experimental operations were moved to 444 Madison Avenue in New York City, now operating under the call sign W2XOR.[2]
TheFederal Communications Commission (FCC) began permitting commercial operations by FM stations in 1941, and Bamberger's New York station was included among the first authorizations made for the original FM band.[3] The station was given the call sign W71NY, which reflected its operation at 47.1 MHz.[4]
Effective November 1, 1943, the FCC updated its call letter policy to allow FM stations to have call signs similar to those used on the AM band. The station initially chose WOR-FM, but six weeks later changed it on December 14 to WBAM.[5] In 1945 the FM band was moved to higher frequencies, and WBAM was initially reassigned to 96.5 MHz, before moving to 98.7 MHz in October 1947.[6]
WBAM changed its call sign to WOR-FM on June 13, 1948.[7] Like most early FM stations, the station initiallysimulcastAMsister stationWOR. Macy's/Bamberger sold the WOR stations (which launched atelevision station in October 1949) to theGeneral Tire and Rubber Company in 1952. General Tire reorganized its broadcasting division intoRKO General in 1957. WOR-FM simulcast its AM sister station'sfull service Talk/MOR format.
In 1965, theFederal Communications Commission ordered AM stations in large markets to end continuous simulcasting on co-owned FM frequencies, a move made to spark development of FM stations as individual entities. On July 30, 1966, WOR-FM began running afreeform-basedprogressive rock format for most of its broadcast day, though the station continued to simulcast WOR radio's morning programRambling with Gambling for a time afterwards. Under the leadership of legendary disc jockeyMurray "the K" Kaufman, and featuring other notable disc jockeys such asScott Muni andRosko, the freeform format was the first of its kind in New York City radio. Later, Muni and Rosko departed forWNEW-FM, where the same progressive format would become a huge success.
Initially, theDrake-Chenault-consulted, Top 40-formatted WOR-FM played new songs but in less of a rotation thanWABC, which was then New York's big Top 40 station. Some of the notable early personalities included Bill Brown (who was a holdover from the rock format and would leave for then-rock stationWCBS-FM in 1969); Joe McCoy (who would later become general manager of WCBS-FM);Johnny Donovan (who would go to WABC in 1972 and remain there until his 2015 retirement);Tommy Edwards, later the longtime midday personality on Chicago Top 40 giantWLS (AM); and Al Brady (who would program WABC in 1979), among others.
On October 23, 1972, RKO General changed the station's call sign to WXLO, and starting in April 1974, it became known as99X, a reference to the WXLO frequency's close proximity on the FM dial to 99 MHz. This was a version of what was known as the "Q" format, so named because it was modeled after station KCBQ in San Diego. The format featured about 15-20 currents, with a heavy emphasis on constant contests and promotions.
In 1976, WXLO held a contest in which listeners had to guess the identity of sixBeatles songs blended together in a sound montage. The Beatles montage was about three seconds in duration and contained one or two notes of each of the songs. They were "Hey Jude", "Got to Get You into My Life", "Day Tripper", "Come Together", "Do You Want to Know a Secret", and "Ticket to Ride". The station announced that the contest winner was fromTappan, New York. The prize was aRock-Ola jukebox stocked with Beatles 45s. The station also once held an all-Elton John weekend. Listeners had to count how many Elton songs were played and win hisGreatest Hits Vol. 1 album. Another weekend they held a "No Bee Gees" weekend, where they asked their listeners to request Bee Gee songs that they didn't want played. "I'll be sure to not get that on the air for you" a DJ said on that weekend.
WXLO evolved to a younger skewing Top 40 format and the "99X" moniker remained until late 1979, when it became "FM 99 WXLO". This iteration had decent ratings for a while, but by the spring of 1980, the ratings fell dramatically. RKO General phased out the Top 40 format, and brought in new program director Don Kelly from successful sister soft adult contemporary WFYR in Chicago in an attempt to duplicate that format's success on WXLO. The station at first attempted a call letter change back to WOR-FM, but an FCC challenge from competing crosstown WRFM (nowWWPR-FM) prevented the call letter change from happening. Still, Kelly attempted to make the station the same adult contemporary format he had in Chicago. These changes did not gain any new listeners for WXLO, and ratings sank even lower. Later, Kelly adjusted the music and very slowly and gradually began mixing more disco and soul into the format. In the fall of 1980, Kelly, in consultation with RKO General, decided to go afterWBLS-FM's urban audience and WKTU's Rhythmic audience by bringing in new music directorBarry Mayo. Mayo, shortly before his arrival, suggested a new format for the station to Kelly and then-general manager Lee S. Simonson after he received a surprising lambasting from his idol, WBLS Program DirectorFrankie Crocker (who would later become his rival). Mayo would later become WXLO's program director when Kelly left to start his own consultancy.
By December 1980, the station was leaning towardsDisco andR&B. The station droppedAmerican Top 40 in January 1981. The evolution was gradual, and by May 1981, WXLO was nearly all rhythmic, playing almost all disco, soul, and rhythmic-friendly pop. Almost all the rock and AC crossovers were gone. By today's standards, this station would be called "RhythmicCHR", but that term did not exist back in 1981. Therefore, the station was classified as "Urban Contemporary" (which today would be considered as a strictlyR&B-type format whetherRap orSoul).
In June 1981, the station was known on-air as "FM 99 WXLO making its move to 98.7". By the middle of July, the station had changed its call sign to WRKS-FM (the meaning of which originally referred to its being an RKO Station) and adopted the on-air brand98.7 Kiss FM, as the station's transition to this newurban contemporary format was completed by that August. The first song on "Kiss FM" wasMake That Move byShalamar.[8] Early on, WRKS played a great deal ofR&B anddance music, and became an almost instant hit with listeners, as its ratings skyrocketed from 22nd place to third. Notable Kiss FM Mixmasters at the timeShep Pettibone and, later,Tony Humphries, were commissioned to create longer versions of current popular songs. Longtimeurban contemporary leaderWBLS was caught off-guard by the sudden rise of the new station, which represented its first direct competition in that format.
Around mid-1983, the station approachedAfrika Bambaataa about an undergroundhip hop music show. He liked the idea and appointedDJ Jazzy Jay, a fellow member ofZulu Nation. He then passed the gig on to his cousin,DJ Red Alert. In Fall 1983, WRKS became the first station in the United States to playrap music in regular rotation. Also that year, non-R&B dance music and disco were phased out, as the station played strictly music catering mainly to an African-American audience. WBLS responded by hiringMr. Magic to conduct a weekend rap show, which helped WBLS reach number-three in the ratings that year, beating out WRKS. Nevertheless, the station had made such strides in its first two-and-a-half years that it resulted in Barry Mayo being promoted as general manager, the first African-American to hold such a position in the RKO radio chain.
WRKS incorporated artists such asKurtis Blow,Whodini,Run DMC,Fat Boys,LL Cool J, andPublic Enemy into the same rotation as such established acts asAshford & Simpson,Kool and the Gang, andGladys Knight. In 1986,Indianapolis-basedEmmis Communications launched WQHT (then at 103.5 FM), which had an early emphasis on dance music, forcing WRKS and WBLS to add more dance music to their playlists again. In 1988, Mayo left to organize a new broadcasting company with Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson, and RKO appointed Charles Warfield (former general manager of WBLS) as the new general manager of WRKS. With Vinny Brown as the station's program director, WRKS became the No. 1 radio station in the largest media market in the world for six years right through the mid 1990s.
By the late 1980s, however, RKO General was forced out of the broadcasting business when the FCC began revoking its licenses to its radio and television stations in New York,Boston and Los Angeles because of gross misconduct and lack of candor on the part of its corporate parent, theGeneral Tire and Rubber Company.[9] Having already been stripped in 1982 of its license toWNAC-TV in Boston, RKO was left with no choice but to break up its broadcasting unit.[10] In New York City, RKO's three stations were sold to different companies during a two-year period beginning in 1987. Two years after WOR-TV went toMCA (and renamedWWOR-TV), on June 26, 1989, RKO sold WRKS to the Summit Communications Group ofAtlanta.[11] Around the same time, WOR radio was sold toBuckley Broadcasting.
That same year,WBLS lured on-air personality Mike Love (formerly of the originalKiss Wake-Up Club) to their morning drive show. WRKS immediately formulated a new morning show featuring Ken "Spider" Webb and Jeff Foxx along with then-unknownWendy Williams. (Foxx and Webb would continue on for the next several years, while Williams held various shifts on the station.)
For many years, WRKS was number one in theArbitron ratings due to itship hop-influenced format. WRKS was also the first radio station in the United States to embracedancehall andreggae music by adding Dahved Levy to do a Sunday night reggae show with Sting International. The battle between WRKS and WBLS continued into the 1990s, but a major turning point occurred in the spring of 1994, when WQHT changed formats from dance music to primarily hip-hop by luring "Funk Master Flex" away from WRKS, who, at the time, was a fill-in DJ for "DJ Red Alert" when Red Alert was out on tour or making appearances, thus competing directly with WRKS. WRKS responded by adding "The Bomb Squad Mix Show", hosted by "The N.O." (also known as "The Native One") featuring "DJ Enuff", "DJ Ace", and "Supernatural the Freestyle Fanatic". The Bomb Squad began "breaking" hot new hip-hop artists and ushering in the "Golden Era of Hip Hop". The Bomb Squad was the first hip-hop mix show in the country to play the records ofThe Notorious B.I.G.,Wu Tang Clan, andMobb Deep. The Bomb Squad introduced its signature "bomb dropping" whistle sound effect as they played exclusive new hip-hop music and produced fresh remixes not heard on other urban stations across the country. Leaning towards a younger demographic, the station formulated a new morning show featuring Wendy Williams, who was replaced by "The Native One" during her former 6 p.m.-10 p.m. weeknights shift.
Based on WRKS's success, several radio stations in other markets began to use the "Kiss FM" moniker for branding the station itself or its format. In the case of WRKS, the branding was grandfathered even asClear Channel Communications trademarked "Kiss FM" for its use on itsmainstream top 40 pop stations in the late 1990s, largely based onKIIS-FM in Los Angeles, whose "KIIS" name was trademarked by prior ownerGannett Company in 1986.[12]
In December 1994, WQHT's parent Emmis Communications took advantage of newly relaxed FCC ownership regulations and agreed to purchase WRKS from Summit, forming the market's first FMduopoly. WRKS subsequently stopped playing hip-hop and flipped tourban adult contemporary format using the slogan "Smooth R&B and ClassicSoul". The shift in format resulted in notable personalities associated with the previous format, such as Wendy Williams and Red Alert, moving from WRKS to WQHT. The new sound on WRKS was introduced by the station during its annual "Twelve Days of Kiss-mas" promotion during the Christmas holiday, and was fully implemented in January 1995. Soul music legendBarry White became the station's imaging voice and promotional face, and would remain in this role until his death in 2003.
In September 1995, WRKS hired another deep-voicedbass singer,Isaac Hayes, as its new morning show host, and later added Ashford & Simpson to helm its afternoon drive program. Funk musicianRoger Troutman (of the bandZapp) and former disc jockey-turned-motivational speakerLes Brown also hosted programs on WRKS around this time.
WRKS's playlist for its first year consisted almost exclusively of songs from the 1960s and 1970s; after 1996, the station began reintroducing current R&B back into rotation. But in 1999, WRKS switched from a classic soul-based Urban AC format to a mostly current R&B format. That same year,Frankie Crocker was hired as an announcer and a weekend DJ. The station slowly began to reintroduce rap in 2000. WhenWWPR-FM was launched in March 2002, the station shifted back to classic soul. In 2003,Barry Mayo briefly returned as general manager for WRKS, WQHT and jazz-formatted WQCD (nowWFAN-FM), and WRKS returned to its full-fledged Urban AC format.
In April 2001, WRKS became the New York home for the nationally syndicatedTom JoynerMorning Show, as Isaac Hayes chose not to renew his contract with the station; he remained for a few months to host the local segments within the program (known on the station asThe Tom Joyner Morning Show with Isaac Hayes). Joyner's first stint on WRKS lasted only two years.D. L. Hughley was brought on to hostThe D. L. Hughley Morning Show in July 2009.[13] Emmis planned to syndicate the show, but after a dispute between Emmis and a proposed distributor over who would pay his salary, Hughley left the station and the program was cancelled on August 7, 2010.[14] The station picked up Joyner's program again in 2011.[15] In 2003, author and "relationship expert"Michael Baisden became host of the afternoon show, which later became syndicated nationally in January 2005.[16]
In early September 2010, the slogan for the station, "Old School & Today's R&B", changed to "'80s, '90s & Today's R&B", which included dropping most pre-1979 titles. This would later change to "Classic Soul & Today's R&B", which would last until the station's demise in 2012.
Following the death ofWhitney Houston—who was born in nearbyNewark, New Jersey—on February 11, 2012, WRKS dedicated the subsequent weekend to commemorating her career, including tributes by the station's staff and alumni, and listener phone-ins.[17]
Notable station personalities during the Kiss years included:
On April 26, 2012,the Walt Disney Company and Emmis Communications agreed to a 12-year-lease of the 98.7 FM frequency for an undisclosed price. YMF Media (which acquired WBLS' parentInner City Broadcasting Corporation) acquired the intellectual property and trademarks of WRKS, primarily the New York City market rights to "Kiss-FM".[27][29] As a result, Kiss signed off on the 30th with a goodbye show featuring all of the remaining airstaff, and went off the air at midnight, with "Brother's Gonna Work It Out" byWillie Hutch being the last song on Kiss. Immediately after,ESPN Radio began broadcasting on 98.7 FM under alocal marketing agreement with the Walt Disney Company.[27] Inner City/YMF also moved WBLS and its AM sister stationWLIB into WRKS's former office/studio space at Emmis' New York broadcast facility.
The 98.7 frequency simulcastWEPN, the ESPN owned-and-operated AM station, until September 7, 2012, when the AM station switched over toESPN Deportes Radio full-time.[30][31] After the closure of ESPN Deportes Radio in 2019, the AM station became a passthrough for overflow programming, including the national ESPN Radio weekday schedule.[32][33]
The station's call sign changed to WEPN-FM on May 14, 2012, to match the AM call sign. YMF Media then transferred theWRKS call sign to the ESPN Radio affiliate in theJackson, Mississippi area.
In December 2021,Beaver Dam, Wisconsin-basedGood Karma Brands—an operator of ESPN Radio affiliates in other markets—announced that it would acquire operational control of WEPN-FM from Disney/ESPN, with Good Karma assuming the remainder of Disney's lease agreement with Emmis Communications; Emmis maintains ownership of the station's license. In the same transaction, Good Karma purchased full ownership of WEPN (AM) and ESPN Radio-owned stations inChicago andLos Angeles from Disney.[34]
On September 19, 2023, GKB owner Craig Karmazin told theNew York Post that it would not renew the LMA with Emmis when it expired and would thus relinquish the 98.7 FM frequency on August 31, 2024. GKB had made an offer to acquire WEPN-FM outright, but talks with Emmis were unproductive.[35] The original plan was to consolidate WEPN-FM's local programming onto 1050 AM, and direct users to the ESPN New York digital platform for overflow programming.[32][36] However, on August 12, 2024, GKB instead announced that it would enter into an LMA withAudacy's 880 WCBS beginning August 26, replacing its all-news format with WEPN-FM's former programming asWHSQ.[37][33]
After the expiration of the LMA, WEPN-FM's operations would be returned to Emmis; it planned to carry a music-based format on 98.7 in the interim, pending the search for a new operator or the outright sale of the station.[36] Shortly before the expiration, Emmis would reach an agreement with syndicatorUnited Stations Radio Networks to provide interim programming for WEPN-FM; plans were made for the programming to be anchored byThe TJ Show —a United Stations-distributed show hosted by formerWHTZElvis Duran and the Morning Show co-host TJ Taormina. The station's on-air imaging and programming was developed in around a week, which would beautomated andvoice-tracked using the Radio.Cloud platform to integrate localized content.[38]
At midnight on August 31, 2024, WEPN-FM abruptly ended its ESPN Radio programming (to the point that it joined "Shut Up and Dance" byWalk the Moon already in progress) and flipped tohot adult contemporary asTJ 98.7. The format was intended as being temporary from its start, with promos billing the "TJ" format as a "pop-up" radio station that would be "here... until we're not";The TJ Show would air twice daily during morning and afternoon drive for the run of the format.[38][39][40][41]
On January 8, 2025, it was announced that theTJ 98.7 format would end, with the station airing promos inviting listeners to tune in at 6:00 p.m. on January 10, 2025 "to hear what's next".[42] At that time, following a live farewell show hosted by Taormina, both WEPN-FM and sister AM stationWLIB relaunched as the Spanish-languageLa Exitosa. Similarly to stations such asWMIA-FM in Miami, the station carries a gold-based mix ofLatin pop and English-language adult contemporary hits, with programming and imaging conducted in Spanish.[43]