WPAT-FM (93.1
FM) – branded "93.1 Amor" – is a
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 ...
that programs a
Spanish CHR radio format.
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
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[Spanish Broadcasting System
Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. (SBS) is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States. SBS is also invested in television and internet properties, deriving the majority of its income from advertising through i ...]
and serves the
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...
. It has studios in
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
, and the
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 ...
is located at the
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
.
WPAT-FM broadcasts in
HD.
History
WPAT-FM signed on in 1957 with studios in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.[Edwin Howard Armstrong
Edwin Howard Armstrong (December 18, 1890 – February 1, 1954) was an American electrical engineer and inventor, who developed FM (frequency modulation) radio and the superheterodyne receiver system. He held 42 patents and received numerous aw ...]
's Alpine, New Jersey station,
KE2XCC
KE2XCC, first authorized in 1945 with the call sign W2XEA, was an experimental FM radio station located in Alpine, New Jersey and operated by inventor Edwin Howard Armstrong. It was located at the same site as Armstrong's original FM station, W2X ...
, until it went off the air in 1954. This was the second station to hold the WPAT-FM call sign, as an earlier
WPAT-FM
WPAT-FM (93.1 FM) – branded "93.1 Amor" – is a radio station that programs a Spanish CHR radio format. Licensed to Paterson, New Jersey, the station is owned by the Spanish Broadcasting System and serves the New York metropolitan area. ...
, originally WNNJ, had operated on 103.5 MHz from 1949 until its deletion in early 1951.
WPAT-FM eventually moved to studios on Church Street in Paterson, and later moved to studios at the four-tower transmitter site of its AM sister station at that time, 930
WPAT (AM)
WPAT (930 AM), is a radio station licensed to Paterson, New Jersey, with a brokered programming format. WPAT is owned by Multicultural Broadcasting, and its studios are located in New York City, in Manhattan's Financial District. The station's ...
, at 1396 Broad Street in
Clifton, New Jersey
Clifton is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Criss-crossed by several major highways, the city is a regional commercial hub for North Jersey and is a bedroom suburb of New York City in the New York Metropolitan Area. As ...
. WPAT AM & FM were purchased by
Capital Cities Communications
Capital Cities/ABC Inc. was an American media company. It was founded in 1985 when Capital Cities Communications purchased the much larger American Broadcasting Company. It eventually proposed a merger of equals with The Walt Disney Company and ...
in 1961. In 1985, Capital Cities announced that it would buy
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
. As a result of
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 ...
regulations at the time, the company decided to sell WPAT AM & FM because ABC already owned 770
WABC and 95.5
WPLJ
WPLJ (95.5 FM) is a non-commercial Christian adult contemporary music radio station licensed to New York City. It is owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF) and broadcasts EMF's flagship programming service, K-Love. WPLJ's transmitte ...
in New York City. The WPAT stations were sold to
Park Communications
Roy Hampton Park (15 September 1910 – 25 October 1993) was an American media executive and entrepreneur. He is known for creating the Duncan Hines brand of packaged food products, and for his television/radio/newspaper conglomerate, Park Commun ...
.
On January 19, 1996, at 11:59 pm, WPAT-FM ceased being an English-language station when control was switched over to current owners
Spanish Broadcasting System
Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. (SBS) is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States. SBS is also invested in television and internet properties, deriving the majority of its income from advertising through i ...
. WPAT-FM DJ Karen Carson did the last air shift for the station's adult contemporary format that day,
[Hinckley, Davi]
IT'LL BE MULLER TIME AT WYNY IF CHI DEEJAY JOINS A.M. BREW
''New York Daily News'' January 23, 1996 and operations director Ken Mackenzie gave a farewell speech right before the station signed off. Immediately after the station signed off from Clifton, a new Spanish-language adult contemporary format signed on from
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
with the branding "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").
References
External links
WPAT Websitean
WPAT Website*
{{Spanish Radio Stations in New Jersey
PAT
PAT
PAT-FM
Radio stations established in 1957
Hispanic and Latino American culture in New York City
1957 establishments in New Jersey
HD Radio stations
Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States