La Mega WSKQ -FM (97.9 FM), publicly known as “Mega 97.9”, is an authorized New York radio station owned and operated by the Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS). This station is a tropical format with musical styles like Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, and Reggaeton. The WSKQ transmitter is in the Empire State Building.
The heritage of the 97.9-VHW installation is based on the year 1941 when the Muzak Corporation was published as W47NY at 44.7 MHz.In 1943 the call letters were changed to WGYN. The frequency was lastly ended at 97.9 in 1947. FM Group WGYN increased due to pollution activity in May 1950.
History of the Channel
In December 1952, when the Jewish regime that owned the WEVD became licensed, the frequency was resumed with WEVD-FM. The program included Interactive Ethnic Programming, Jewish Programming, Pop Band, and Big Band.
Norman B. Furman was CEO of WEVD from 1968 to 1972. He started various programs for the minority community in New York. The telephone card was published as WEVD “The station that speaks your language.” The languages included Yiddish, Hebrew, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, German, Russian, Japanese, and Irish, serving different communities. The popular variety program “Forward Hour” was hosted by Furman for many years. He played an important role in designing and acquiring the most popular of all Jewish jokes.
Change of Format
In October 1983, SBS acquired WVNJ in Newark, New Jersey, and changed the current Big Band / Adult format to a music station with a call center called WSKQ. The station was known on-air as Super KQ, Rafael Diaz Gutiérrez, Raul Alarcon Jr. (Formerly Cuban DJ), and Adriano García the Elder (CEO of SAR Records). WSKQ is the fourth permanent Spanish station in New York after WADO, WJIT, WKDM.
In 1988, the SBS began negotiations to allow the ethnic WEVD to get a busy frequency of 97.9 FM. SBS acquired 1050AM in October 1988. The WFAN frequency pioneer replaced the WNBC at 660AM. Since it was illegal for the same company to have two AM stations in the same market in 1988, there were problems with 1050 frequency, allowing FCC SBS to use 1050 frequency to solve this problem. On the other hand, 620AM is the oldest station in Spain. On February 1, 1989, the contract between SBS and WEVD was finally closed, and 97.9 FM SBS released the Spanish music format called WSKQ-FM, but WEVD changed to 1050 AM.
The old-fashioned Spanish music format 620 AM lasted many years after the contract, and in 1995 the station adopted the Tejano format as WXLX. A few years later, SBS sold One-on-One Sports (now Sporting News Radio), which would be a Sports Talk Station.
From 1993 to Onward
In 1993, Alfredo Alonso was named Vice President and Chief Executive Officer (CIO), the station was transformed into an optimistic tropical format with name“Mega 97.9”. It presented many dances like salsa, merengue, and dance music. In 2005, it was one of the most popular radio stations in New York. The morning program, “ElVacilón de la Mañana” managed to be the best morning program in New York. The program “El Vacilon Luis Jimenez” and Sunday night “Fuego: The Daddy Yankee Show” and the “TRL Latino” program were organized by CBS News Radio and ABC Radio Network.
Latin American radio programs like La Mega offer listeners in Latin America a platform to connect with news, sports, weather, celebrity news, and comedy movies. Unlike other radio programs, La Mega is broadcast exclusively in Spanish so you can speak with non-English speaking parts of your Spanish-speaking community and share up-to-date information with the community. With La Mega, listeners can call the radio, talk about the topics they are discussing, and request and participate in specific songs. It provides “a necessary and indispensable resource” for this community.
In January 1996, when SBS acquired a license and the WPAT-FM transmitter, the Spanish adult format was restored. The WSKQ were taken from the first AM station acquired by RáúlAlarcón Senior (La Super 1380).
MEGA 97.9 FM Shows
ElVacilón de la Mañana is a Spanish radio program in the morning. The show comes from the WSKQ-FM, a Spanish radio station in New York, “Mega 97.9”, and is broadcast live in many US markets, including Providence, Rhode Island, Miami, Florida, and Orlando. Atlanta, Georgia, Hartford, Connecticut, and Puerto Rico
The word “Vacilón” does not translate directly into English. This is derived from the Spanish verb (vacillate) which means “check out” or “fun” in Spanish. Therefore, the name of the program “Morning Tease” is translated approximately to English.
Contact Details:
Address: 11 East 26th Street, New York, NY. 10010
Phone: (212) 315-9790
Email: epaulino@sbsnewyork.com
Official Website: https://lamega.lamusica.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mega979nyc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mega979nyc
Instagram: https://instagram.com/mega979nyc/[/expand]