WAMO (AM)

WAMO is a radio station serving the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, market. The station, which is purchased by Martz Communications Group (through its Radio Power subsidiary) from Langer Broadcasting in December 2010, broadcasts on 660 kHz on the AM dial with a power of 1,400 watts, daytime only (to protect the nighttime signal of WFAN in New York City on the same frequency), and is licensed to Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. Its studios and AM transmitter are located in Braddock east of Pittsburgh. It operates a translator, W297BU on 107.3 FM in Wilkinsburg.
Station history.
The station was originally on 1470 kHz, and licensed to Portage, Pennsylvania, halfway between Johnstown and Altoona.
This station began as WWML, and had operated as a daytime-only station for much of its history since signing on back in the early 1960s. Through the years and format and callsign changes, (usually between country and oldies) it finally received nighttime power authorization in the early '90s, allowing it 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 rich steel-producing and coal-mining industries.
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 AC format on the station, returning this programming to the Pittsburgh market for the first time since WAMO and WAMO-FM were sold to Catholic broadcasters in 2009. On May 21, 2011, WPYT and translator W261AX (100.1 FM) signed on with the promised mainstream urban format, but they have always had a shift towards Rhythmic Contemporary. 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 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 (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. BDS would return WAMO back to the Rhythmic panel as a monitored reporter in February 2019 due to a adjustment in its musical direction.
On June 25, 2019 at 11 a.m., WAMO changed formats from rhythmic contemporary (which continues on WBZZ-HD3 and W261AX) to urban adult contemporary, branded as "107.3 The Beat". 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 will concurrently be repurposed as an FM translator for KDKA (1020 AM).