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WAMO (660
kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...
) is a
commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
AM
radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
to
Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania Wilkinsburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The borough has a population of 15,930 as of the 2010 census. Wilkinsburg is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The borough was named for John Wilkins Jr., a United States Army o ...
, and serving the
Pittsburgh metropolitan area Greater Pittsburgh is a populous region centered around its largest city and economic hub, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The region encompasses Pittsburgh's urban core county, Allegheny, and six adjacent Pennsylvania counties: Armstrong, Beaver, ...
. It broadcasts an
Urban Contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...
radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
. It is owned by
Martz Communications Group Martz Communications Group is an American radio broadcasting company, which operates three radio stations in the St. Lawrence River area of New York and one in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company, which also operates under the names Radio Power a ...
and is operated by
Audacy, Inc. Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...
, under a
local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...
(LMA). By day, WAMO is powered at 1,400
watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
s. But it must protect the nighttime signal of Class A
WFAN WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New York metropolitan area while ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
on the same frequency. So WAMO is a
daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-coun ...
, required to go off the air at night. Its studios and AM
transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
are located in Braddock east of Pittsburgh. Programming is also heard on 250-watt
FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...
W297BU on 107.3
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. It uses the FM dial position in its moniker ''WAMO 107.3''.


History


Early Years

The station
signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...
the air on . It broadcast on 1470 kHz, and was licensed to
Portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, halfway between Johnstown and Altoona. The original
call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
was WWML. It operated as a daytime-only station. It saw numerous format and call sign changes, (usually between country and oldies). In 1990, 1470 finally received permission from the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
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 in the mid 80's, as did the local economy, in part due to the collapse of the region's steel-producing and coal-mining industries.


Move to Pittsburgh Area

Under FCC rules which permit a station owner to move a daytime-only station and change its frequency, the station was relocated to the Pittsburgh area with a new frequency and city of around 2004. On 660, the station first signed on with the call letters WCIX. On 1470, it had previously been known as WWML, WRML, WHYM, WZGO, and WFJY (its final calls before the move). The station had operated Langer's "National Radio Network" programming lineup, but that network ceased operations in March 2010 and its format thereafter was unknown. Martz planned to put an
Urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...
/
Urban AC Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...
format on the station, returning this programming to the Pittsburgh market for the first time since WAMO (860 AM) and WAMO-FM (106.7) were sold to
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
broadcasters in 2009. On May 21, 2011, WPYT and translator
W261AX W261AX is a translator station serving the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania market, broadcasting on 100.1 MHz on the FM dial with a power of 99 watts. The station is owned by Martz Communications Group (through its Radio Power subsidiary), but broadcasts ...
(100.1 FM) signed on with the promised
mainstream urban Mainstream may refer to: Film * ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film Literature * ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine * Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher * ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso Mu ...
format, but they have always had a shift towards
Rhythmic Contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...
. 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 Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...
station. 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 on 105.9 FM before being moved to 106.7 in 1996. In January 2013, WAMO was added to BDS' Rhythmic Airplay panel as an indicator reporter, but is not considered a monitored reporter because it is not rated in
Nielsen Audio Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...
(as Martz is a non-subscriber) and in part due to being an AM daytimer with an FM translator, this despite having a primary emphasis on R&B/Hip-Hop material. That would change by 2017 when it became a monitored R&B/Hip-Hop reporter in both BDS and
Mediabase Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytic ...
. BDS would return WAMO back to the Rhythmic panel as a monitored reporter in February 2019 due to a adjustment in its musical direction.


Urban Adult Contemporary

On June 25, 2019, at 11 a.m., WAMO changed formats from rhythmic contemporary (which continued on
WBZZ WBZZ (100.7 FM, "100.7 Star") is a top 40/CHR station licensed to New Kensington, Pennsylvania, targeting Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and owned by Audacy, Inc. Its transmitter is located in Pittsburgh's Spring Hill district and its studios a ...
-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). 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; W261AX was concurrently repurposed as an FM translator for KDKA (1020 AM). On March 22, 2022, it was announced that Audacy would purchase the WAMO intellectual property, and begin operating the station on April 4 via a
local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...
. On November 18, 2022, Martz announced that it would donate the WAMO license to Pittsburgh Public Media, owner of WZUM and
WZUM-FM WZUM-FM (88.1 FM) is a radio station licensed to Bethany, West Virginia, United States, and serving Wheeling, West Virginia. The station is owned by Pittsburgh Public Media. WZUM-FM is run by former staff members of the former WDUQ (which was so ...
. Following the donation's completion, the urban contemporary format will only be heard on W297BU and on the HD2 channel of Audacy-owned
WDSY-FM WDSY-FM (107.9 MHz, "Y108") is a commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a country radio format. The studios and offices are in Foster Plaza on Holiday Drive in Green Tree, Pennsylvania, but usi ...
; the move followed the expiration of a four-year window requiring W297BU to operate as a WAMO translator.


Translators


Previous logos


References


External links

* * {{Daytime-only radio stations in Pennsylvania AMO (AM) Urban contemporary radio stations in the United States
AMO Amo or AMO may refer to: Places *Amo, Indiana, United States, a town in Hendricks County * Amo Creek, a river in Alaska *Amu Darya, a river in Central Asia, sometimes referred to as "Amo" *Amo Township, Cottonwood County, Minnesota *Kampong Amo, ...
Radio stations established in 1960 1960 establishments in Pennsylvania Audacy, Inc. radio stations