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| Broadcast area | New York metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 93.1MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | "93.1 Amor" |
| Programming | |
| Language | Spanish |
| Format | Tropical music |
| Subchannels | HD2:Regional Mexican & Urban Music "La Privada 93.1 HD2" |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WSKQ-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | March 1957; 68 years ago (1957-03) |
Call sign meaning | Paterson (WPAT'scity of license) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 51663 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 4,800 watts |
| HAAT | 415 meters (1,362 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°44′54″N73°59′9″W / 40.74833°N 73.98583°W /40.74833; -73.98583 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | lamusica |
WPAT-FM (93.1FM) – branded "93.1 Amor" – is acommercial radio station with atropical music format, serving theNew York metropolitan area.[2] It islicensed toPaterson, New Jersey, and owned by theSpanish Broadcasting System, Inc., and serving theNew York metropolitan area. The studios are on East 26th Street inMidtown Manhattan.
WPAT-FM'stransmitter is atop theEmpire State Building and it broadcasts usingHD Radio technology.[3] Its HD2subchannel carries "La Privada," a Spanish-languageRegional Mexican and Urban format.
WPAT-FMsigned on the air in March 1957; 68 years ago (1957-03).[4] It was the FMsister station ofWPAT930 AM, with studios inNewark, New Jersey. Its frequency of 93.1 MHz had previously been assigned toEdwin Howard Armstrong's pioneering FM station based inAlpine, New Jersey,KE2XCC. That station wentoff the air in 1954 with Major Armstrong's death. This was the second station to hold the WPAT-FMcall sign. An earlierWPAT-FM, originally called WNNJ, had operated on 103.5 MHz from 1949 until its deletion in early 1951.
WPAT-AM-FM had abeautiful music format for nearly four decades.[5] The stations aired quarter-hour sweeps of instrumental music, mostlycover versions of popular adult songs,Broadway andHollywoodshow tunes. Over time, some vocal songs were added. The station was playing four vocals per quarter-hour by the late 1970's. To help the station sound more contemporary, by the 1980s, more soft rock vocals were mixed in. By 1992, vocals made up half of theplaylist. Beginning in January 1993, WPAT-FM had made the transition tosoft adult contemporary.[6] On October 1, 1994, the station moved to a mainstream adult contemporary format, purging most weekend specialty programming.
After being based in Newark, WPAT-AM-FM moved to studios on Church Street in Paterson. The stations later relocated to studios at the four-tower transmitter site of the AM station, at 1396 Broad Street inClifton, New Jersey. WPAT-AM-FM were purchased byCapital Cities Communications in 1961.[7]
In 1985, Capital Cities announced that it would buy theABC Network, including its television and radio stations.[8][9] As a result ofFederal Communications Commission regulations at the time, the company decided to sell WPAT-AM-FM because ABC already owned 770WABC and 95.5WPLJ in New York City. (A broadcasting company could only own one AM and one FM station in eachmarket.) The WPAT stations were sold toPark Communications, owned by Roy H. Park.[10]
In October 1995, Park Communications announced the sale of WPAT FM toSpanish Broadcasting System, owners ofWSKQ. The sale included the license and transmitter, and excluded real estate, sales contracts employment contracts, internal equipment, and leases. The building was sold with AM 930WPAT. On January 19, 1996, at 11:59 pm, WPAT-FM ceased being an English-language station when control was switched over to current ownersSpanish Broadcasting System. WPAT-FM DJ Karen Carson did the last air shift for the station's adult contemporary format that day.[11] Operations Director Ken Mackenzie gave a farewell speech right before the station ended its broadcast.
Immediately after the station signed off from Clifton, a new Spanish-languageadult contemporary format signed on from SBS studios inManhattan. The branding became "Suave 93.1" ("Smooth 93.1"). Eventually, on February 4, 1998, the station's branding was changed to "Amor 93.1" ("Love 93.1") and in January 2002, returned to "93.1 Amor" ("93.1 Love"). Over time, the station transitioned from Spanish AC to Spanishtropical music.