WEPN-FM

WEPN-FM (98.7 FM, "La Exitosa 98.7") is a radio station in New York City, owned by Emmis Corporation. The station carries a Spanish-language format with a gold-based mix of Latin pop and English-language adult contemporary music. The station's transmitter is located at the Empire State Building.

WEPN-FM originally began operations as an experimental FM station in 1939, spun off from 710 WOR. It then became one of the first licensed commercial FM stations in 1941. Until 1965, when the FCC prohibited this practice in larger markets, the station served as an FM simulcast of WOR. At that time, the station—by then owned by RKO General—flipped to one of New York's first free-form radio formats, focusing on progressive rock. In 1974, it adopted a top 40 format. Amid declining listenership, the station briefly adopted an adult contemporary format modeled after Chicago sister WFYR in 1980.

Beginning in December 1980, after further declines in ratings under the AC format, the station began to transition to a format focusing primarily on dance music (such as disco) and R&B; the format officially launched in August 1981, with the station becoming WRKS-FM, and adopting the branding Kiss FM. The new rhythmic contemporary format was immediately successful. In 1983, WRKS became the first station in New York City to regularly play hip hop, furthering its success. Amid the golden age of hip hop, WRKS-FM was New York's highest-rated radio station for a period.

After RKO General's exit from the broadcasting industry in the late 1980s, the station was sold to Atlanta-based Summit Communications Group in 1989. WRKS was, in turn, acquired by Emmis Communications—the owner of its rival WQHT—in 1994, forming the first duopoly in New York City radio. In defense of the urban contemporary format of WQHT, Emmis flipped WRKS to an urban adult contemporary format focusing primarily on R&B, while maintaining the Kiss branding.

In 2012, the Kiss brand came to an end when Emmis leased the station to The Walt Disney Company under a 12-year local marketing agreement (LMA). The station flipped to sports radio as WEPN-FM, the flagship of the ESPN Radio network. The LMA was transferred to Good Karma Brands (GKB) in 2021, which continued the ESPN Radio format. In August 2024, the LMA with GKB expired; as a result, WEPN-FM's programming was migrated to the former WCBS under a new LMA between GKB and Audacy, while WEPN-FM flipped to an interim hot adult contemporary format. On January 10, 2025, WEPN flipped to a Spanish-language format with a focus on Latin and English pop hits.

In the late 1930s, WOR (710 AM), then licensed to Newark, New Jersey, and owned by the Bamberger Broadcasting Service, Inc., a division of R.H. Macy and Company, became interested in the newly developed technology of FM radio. In the summer of 1939, WOR engineers, working with Bell Telephone engineers, set up an experimental 1,000-watt transmitter in Carteret, New Jersey, with the call sign W2XWI. In June 1940 experimental operations were moved to 444 Madison Avenue in New York City, now operating under the call sign W2XOR.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began permitting commercial operations by FM stations in 1941, and Bamberger's New York station was included among the first authorizations made for the original FM band. The station was given the call sign W71NY, which reflected its operation at 47.1 MHz.

Effective November 1, 1943, the FCC updated its call letter policy to allow FM stations to have call signs similar to those used on the AM band. The station initially chose WOR-FM, but six weeks later changed it on December 14 to WBAM. In 1945 the FM band was moved to higher frequencies, and WBAM was initially reassigned to 96.5 MHz, before moving to 98.7 MHz in October 1947.