WFME-FM (92.7 FM, ''Family Radio'') 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 ...

licensed to

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located on Long Island in Nassau County New York. It is the Greater Garden City area's anchor community. The population was 23,272 at the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within ...

, and serving the western

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

and

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 ...

area. It is owned by Family Stations, Inc and broadcasts a

religious music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...

& reformed Christian teaching,

Southern gospel Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as ...

music, and

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn ...

s format. The station's transmitter is located at the North Shore Towers in Glen Oaks, Queens.

History

In 1987, the station went on the air as WDRE-FM, and in 1996 changed to WLIR-FM. Univision purchased the station in January of, 2004 and simulcast "Latino Mix" WCAA 105.9 FM licensed to

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

(WCAA would later move to 96.3 FM as the result of a frequency swap with classical music station WQXR).

On Memorial Day 2005, both stations became "La Kalle," a reggaeton-formatted station. The station at 105.9 became WCAA and 92.7 became WZAA. In late January 2007, Univision ended the simulcast and changed the call sign to WQBU-FM. In March 2007, the station announced that they would become the Spanish-language home of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

, with Beto Villa as the

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

announcer. In 2010, the station became the Spanish language home of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

, with Juan Alicea and Max Perez Jimenez with the calls. WQBU logo 2013

On November 15, 2012, WQBU-FM changed their format to Spanish Tropical, branded as "Mami 92.7". On March 31, 2014, WQBU-FM switched to a news/talk format nationally syndicated by

Univision America Univision America (stylized as Univision AMerica) was a Spanish-language talk radio network produced and distributed by Univision Communications. It was launched on July 4, 2012 on 9 U.S. AM radio stations in California, Texas, Illinois, Nevada, ...

. This makes it the 10th station overall and the first FM station in Univision's portfolio to have the Univision America network. On October 22, 2014, WQBU-FM changed their format to Regional Mexican, branded as "92.7 Nueva York". In March 2016, WQBU-FM rebranded as "Que Buena 92.7". On August 2, 2019, WQBU-FM changed their format from Regional Mexican to Spanish AC, due to 93.1 Amor having dropped the Spanish AC format in the spring of 2018 in favor of Bachata Music. On November 9, 2020, WQBU-FM began adding

Salsa romántica Salsa Romántica is a soft form of salsa music that emerged between the mid-1980s and early 1990s in New York City, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic . It has been the most commercially successful form of salsa in the last 20 years, despite crit ...

titles from artists such as Eddie Santiago, Gilberto Santa Rosa,

Grupo Niche Grupo Niche is a salsa group founded in 1978 in Bogotá, Colombia. In 1982, the group settled in the city of Cali, Colombia, enjoying great popularity throughout Latin America. It was founded by Jairo Varela and Alexis Lozano. Varela remained ...

, Jerry Rivera, Willie Colón and

Rey Ruiz Rey Ruiz (Reinerio Ruiz born June 21, 1966 in La Lisa, Havana, Cuba) is a salsa singer from Cuba. Ruiz reached international fame across Latin America, Europe and among Hispanic music fans in the United States. Biography Rey Ruiz demonstrated ...

. On December 3, 2021, it was announced that the station had been purchased by

Family Radio Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

. Upon completing the sale on January 20, 2022, Family Radio announced that, in addition to relaunching the station with its religious programming, it would change the call sign to WFME-FM. The station change occurred at midnight on Friday, January 21, 2022 and 92.7 began broadcast of Family Radio East nationally syndicated programming consisting of Christian preaching from teachers such as John F. MacArthur & R. C. Sproul, and music from artists such as Keith & Kristyn Getty, and

Fernando Ortega Juan Fernando Ortega Work ID No. 332498534 (born March 2, 1957) is a singer-songwriter in contemporary Christian music. He is noted both for his interpretations of many traditional hymns and songs, such as " Give Me Jesus", "Be Thou My Vision" ...

. The call sign change occurred on January 26, 2022.

References

External links

Family Radio Website
{{New York Mets broadcasters Mass media in Nassau County, New York FME-FM FME-FM Family Radio stations Radio stations established in 1988 1988 establishments in New York (state)